newcomers – Jerry Lout ⚬ Writer ⚬ Speaker ⚬ Mobilizer

Though not entangled in political mischief and court dramas, our trio of “John’s” might have in some ways been likened to the famed Three Musketeers.

Our auto-savvy-Johns (McCants..Wood..Yokum) along with veteran Insurance agent Eddie Huff heeded a call. Marshalling their combined talents in a great enterprise: ISM’s Car Care Clinic. Dan Sterling, our ‘rotating luncheon chef’, brought his great mechanical skills into the mix, too.

Ninety minutes after our students from abroad took their seats in the Clinic classroom, they stood gazing wide-eyed into a car’s open hood in a nearby parking lot. While they absorbed key tips on checking fluids, brake pads and the like they made the most of capturing fresh new lingo tied uniquely to the auto industry.

Priceless insights supplied by our friendly industry craftsmen were all made available without charge. The annual mini-course was first launched as a response to students making a heartfelt, straightforward appeal. Beginning with the phrase, “I need help”. Help on how to shop for a car, how to properly maintain the vehicle. Learning to drive the vehicle fell into the mix somewhere along the way!

The flagship organization that first alerted me to cross-cultural student ministry (International Students, Inc.) highlights a crucial focus. Discover a student’s most keenly ‘felt needs’. Strive however possible to address at least some of these needs.

Helping meet felt needs, I was coached, includes “offering an authentic sense of community, combating feelings of isolation and loneliness, helping newcomers navigate American culture. Offering support on practical, down-to-earth aspects of living in the US.”

By taking to heart that last bit (selflessly helping internationals with practical aspects of navigating life in the U.S.) our delightful Car Clinic guys met that challenge and then some! Year by year, empowering the latest arrivals to navigate by the most poignant of ways. . . on wheels.

Turning onto Xanthus Ave that Thursday evening, I glanced at my watch. “How will this go? Who will show up? Will I be on my game (whatever that means)?

The young lady of last night’s call had suggested the newly-arrived grad students I was preparing to meet were open to learn something of the story of Jesus. “Had any of these scholarly young men ever seen a Bible?”, I wondered, Influenced and shaped as they likely were by their homeland’s official doctrine of atheism.

A niggling question played at my own conscience, “How mindful am I of Jesus Christ in the course of my routine days?”

Dialing back the musings, I eased the car along the curb before the Jesus Inn. Minutes later I was settling into easy introductions and conversations with our new arrivals. The easy part was much to the credit of Weili, her cheery personality mitigating any sense of awkwardness. “At last,” I thought, smiling, “we have a face to go with that sing-song voice from the phone visit!”

That first evening at Jesus Inn – engaging, laughing with, welcoming the newcomers – served as a treasured early catalyst for us at the university. Propelling the ministry forward slow-motion, as we inched our way to becoming a truly transcultural family. We (students, volunteers, friendship partners) could with God’s help, steward a faith culture flowering in deep-hearted care, engaging throughout in meaningful acts of service.

Now – three decades in – the miracle of good seed planted, and of lives yet being changed for the good, stands as evidence that any misgivings or nail-biting angst earlier on were mere distractions. Several of the Jesus-Inn graduate students with their specialties (geology – information technology – petroleum) have proceeded wonderfully forward, bearing fruit within their fresh-discovered faith.

Issuing from the overflow of a young lady’s renovated heart.

Tag: newcomers

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