Are you ready?

Do you know about yourself? Are you growing into the person God designed you to be? 

It was a privilege to attend the mini conference "Discovering your calling in your life" organized by IFI last weekend (12/20-12/21). It was an opportunity to discover more about myself and my potential. We did some personality assessments, identified our spiritual gifts, and evaluated our life experience in order to have a more clear picture of God's calling. I have learned a lot and gained more confidence. 

We had about 27 students attending the meeting. It was fun!

This is the place we had training. Thanks to Charley who was so generous to give his home for our use!

Something I discovered are:
1. For personality, I am an "ISFJ" type person. I am a caretaker. I am quite thankful that it fits me well and I do want to fully utilize my personality. 
2. For spiritual gift, I have the gift of "exhortation". It was interesting to see how Exhorters can misuse their gift because I did make lots of mistakes! >< One thing is to carry others' burden too much..Well, I admit that I am not God!
3. For life experience, I discovered that God put some important people to lead me to Him, such as my junior high schoolmate. She asked me whether I believed there is spirit after we die. The question has been in my mind for so many years. Now that I recalled, she actually helped me to be more open to God and miracles. How much I hope I can see her in heaven! Also, I had some teachers in my young age that cultivated the desire for me to go abroad!

Other things like abilities & skills and value also matter in God's calling. When they are integrated by God's hand, we are bringing Him glory by being whom we were designed to be and doing what He calls to do.

"Do not let what you cannot do interfere with what you can do." This hit me hard. I was concerned about my inadequacy in counseling field. But I believe that I can be prepared and when the door is opened I am ready for it! 

Are you ready to discover your potential? Let's plan for 2015! 

Thankfulness

This post is from Yuemin:

Because Thanksgiving is coming up this Thursday, I would like to say thank you to those of people and events.

I would like to thank you for IFI organization. I came to Christ in January 2013 through attending IFI in Cincinnati. Thanks to Julie Rhine’s huge assist for my spiritual growth. I found out about the IFI internship program in Columbus, applied and was accepted.  Thanks to Estera for her thorough planning for ISEED program, which is intensive discipleship program. her devotion to the program make it more structured and meaningful.

I would like to thanks Linworth Baptist Church. I started attending Linworth in August, and getting more involved in the local church ministry. I thank God for this opportunity to develop both my professional and spiritual growth. With this gift, I work as a financial intern at IFI and also involved as an ISEED trainee.I am also thankful that Linworth has chosen to sponsor me for this program through a gift from one of their members, Russ Paine, who is now with the Lord.

I want to thank Gene & Phyllis Greene for their hospitality in allowing me to become a part of their family and treat me as one of their children. Besides my parents, nobody treat me that well.

Without those helps, the dream of being a qualified accountant and doing ministry among Chinese students will delay and being flawed. Your generosity also encourage me, if I would be financially affluent in the future, I would also support him or her for pursuing him or her dream and their spiritually growth. 

Enter His Gates with Thanksgiving

“Praise the LORD! Oh, give thanks to the LORD, for He is good! For His mercy endures forever. Who can utter the mighty acts of the LORD? Who can declare all His praise?” Psalm 106:1-2

Since it is thanksgiving week, I thought I would share with you one or two things I am thankful for. I am most thankful, that my Creator loved me enough to send His Son, Jesus Christ, so that I might have life, and have it abundantly. I find hope and joy in God’s promises. The LORD has led me through so many ups and down, valleys and mountains from a very young age. Oftentimes, I wondered why God had allowed certain painful memories in my life but now as I look back, I truly believe that it was for a great purpose. Now I’ve come to realize that my hardest times have absolutely lead to the greatest moments of my life thus far. Hence, I am very thankful that God never sends any of us into a situation alone but rather he sends his grace along and he knows we can endure. It has been incredible experiencing God’s power in my life as well as the lives of my loved ones. Without God, I would have given up on life long time ago (haha). But through his son Jesus Christ, my strength and courage have been renewed over the past few years.

            As any international student would tell you, my first year here in the US was quite a YEAR! It was challenging in numerous ways to the point where I felt like I wanted to hop onto the next plane to and go back Rwanda. But God being God, he stepped in and saw me through what I call a “roller coaster ride”. I cannot thank the Lord enough for the many ways he has blessed me throughout the past five years.  He helped me overcome low self-esteem, shyness, feeling inadequate and many cultural challenges.  I am grateful for Wofford College and its international students’ office for the love and care they showered me with during the course of my college education.  Wofford College has been a great support system to me since day 1! They connected me with an international student ministry in Spartanburg, SC through which I have grown both spiritually and emotionally. I am very thankful for everyone who is involved in any kind of international students’ ministry (IFI and many other organizations). Words can never be enough to express how grateful I am for people who have a heart to tirelessly serve international students. You all are investing into eternity. Thank you so much for taking care of us and providing a home away from home to many internationals in this country.  May you all be richly be blessed for all you do. Thanks for investing your time, resources, energy and everything in order to reach out to as many internationals as possible. Last but not least, thank you  Estera Pirosca for all you do for the ISEED program. 

Personal spiritual retreat

After struggling about whether to go for a retreat I scheduled one month ago, I decided to drag my tired body to drive for 2 hours to Cincinnati.

So here I am: surrounded by woods!

Here I was able to have a prayer walk, enjoy the nature and praise God.

I am planning to go back to China and I believer the Lord called me to do so.

Occasionally I would be anxious about what will happen when I go back. What if my dad push me to get married? What if my dad is preparing for the documents for me to immigrate? What if I can't find the fellowship similar to the one I enjoy here? What if I am asked to do some unethical things at work?

Oh Lord! Please help me! Apart from you I can truly do nothing. Even thinking about the future can create headache...

The Lord commands, "Amity, be still and know that I am God."

Here I am, not yet home, but is weary already. When can I learn to be still? When can I go rest in Him? When can I stop being obsessed with doing something? When can I say no to "self-sufficiency?

"In quietness and confidence would be your strength....."

Thankfully this prayer retreat helped me shift the focus back to God and ask for His wisdom.
Here I learned to slow down and hear what God has to say. I trust that within God's moral will, I can make the decision boldly sometimes knowing that He will bless me and the decision.

On the way back to Columbus, a thought came to my mind. It is fun to have an adventure with God the Father! Unknowns can be exciting! Hey...and we already know who will win!

Now, when I reflected on my faith journey after the retreat, I can see the seed of peace and patience has grown up a little bit more. Only He can do it!

A Trip to Heartbeat International Inc.

This post is written by Yuemin:

On Oct 22^nd, Estera and three ISEEDers are invited to have a field trip to Heartbeat International Inc. Ellen Foell, who work, as the legal specialist in this company, led us visit the entire company, introduced with every staff within this company and gave us an inspired presentation about the value of life.

Heartbeat International is a non-profit organization to assist women all over the world to escape the temptation and pressure to abort their babies. It has 200 affiliates all around the world. The mission of Heartbeat Inc. is to diminish the occurrence of abortion and take every opportunity to rescue as much life as they can. In order to fulfill their mission, Heartbeat Inc. set up the 24 hour contact center and cutting-edge website for those women who are vulnerable with abortion. Also, they build increasingly number of pregnancy center all around the world.

After visiting the whole company, Ellen gave us a presentation about The Value of The Life. I was impressed about this presentation. Previously, I did not know how harmful the abortion is, however, I really renewed my mind after this presentation. The embryo has the heartbeat after 7 weeks, but many of them are killed due to many reasons. Needless to say, abortion is absolutely equivalent to murder. In some less developed country, some motion life honor killing case the increase rate of abortion. Every single life is the masterpiece of God, but why does human-being cruelly wipe them out. Currently, the abortion rate goes up annually in the worldwide. Heartbeat Inc. makes every effort to make contribution in saving as many babies as they can. Their motion of selflessness touched me tremendously.

In the future, wherever I am in United States or China, I have the strong willing to try my best to help with anti- abortion and save many babies. 

Protecting God's artwork

Discipling Students to value life.

Last Wednesday, we visited Heartbeat International whose vision is “To make abortion unwanted today and unthinkable for future generations”.  It was such a privilege to visit this Christian organization because it is always encouraging to know that God is still raising people who can stand in “defense of his most valuable artwork”.

There is such an overwhelming rise of abortion rate around the world; it is so sad and unfortunate to see God’s artwork get destroyed every day. As Ellen Foell said: “The transformation of every human being into the image of Jesus is the ongoing work of God. When we cut off life, at either end, we are cutting off the work of God.” When a baby is conceived, God starts to intricately weave his/her life together for a great purpose. Seeing how much the abortion rate has gone up makes me wonder what God must be feeling. Have you ever spent hours working on something for e.g knitting, art, drawing or whatever it might be and then just before your work is completed someone comes and smashes everything up and literally “cut your work short”?.  It really hurts. So, I cannot image how God feels when his work gets demolished while He was just getting started. But, being a merciful God, He still loves us unconditionally and He never gets “discouraged.”

I was very touched by Ellen’s passion to hopefully one day be able to “eradicate” abortion worldwide; I could see it through her words. It is about time for more Christians to partake in advocating for life to be preserved and make the anti-abortion stance part of a larger pro-life worldview. The global society needs more organizations, people like Ellen (and her co-workers or as I call them WARRIORS) to speak against abortion and save that which God intends to flourish (life). 
We are all called to create a better world for babies to be born. Abortion is such a controversial issue and it should not be. Unfortunately, so many people still believe aborting a baby is a choice and human right. If I can quote Ellen: “When do our human rights become human WRONGS?” How painful is it that, in our society, it has become easier to hold up a sign favoring abortion (with a picture of a dead baby on it) but a lot harder to actually show grace and sympathy to a woman who got pregnant? Needs support to keep the baby?

Last but not least, I encourage you (who is reading this) to meditate on Proverbs 24: 10-12:“If you give up when trouble comes, it shows that you are weak. Save those who are being led to their death; rescue those who are about to be killed. If you say, “we don’t know anything about this”, God, who knows what’s in your mind, will notice. He is watching you, and he will know He will reward each person for what he has done”. Me and you can save at least one baby from being aborted today. It is time to ACT.  PRO-LIFE IS THE ONLY CHOICE BECAUSE IT IS GOD’S CHOICE. 

My prayer is that God continues to raise among us if not all of us pro-life activists with a heart to protect the most vulnerable.  

God PROs LIFE!

Last Wednesday, I had a chance to visit "Heartbeat International", a pro-life non-profit organization with other ISEEDers. I appreciate that IFI exposes us to other ministry and helps us see God's wonderful work. It was an unexpected experience for me and struck me personally. 

For those who don't know about this organization just like I did, its mission is to reach and rescue as many lives as possible, around the world, through an effective network of pregnancy help ministries that renew their communities for life. I didn't have any knowledge regarding the topic of abortion except knowing some people around me who had that experience. 

Isn't it a good reminder that every one of us are so precious in God's eye? He looked at His creation with a big smile and thought it's good. He loves even the unborn baby in the mom's womb. However, because of the fallen world and our sin nature, we lots of times make wrong decisions that upset and irritate God. One of those decisions is abortion. 

We watched the video together about a young lady's decision to abort her child because of broken marriage. Something happened and stopped her drink the herbal stuff that would kill the baby. It turned out that the baby became the laster well-known pianist Beethoven. 

The idea is not that people are killing the talented. It is rather that everybody has intrinsic value. Everyone is God's masterpiece. God's work is to transform every single human being into the image of Jesus. 

My application is that I will treat everybody equally with respect regardless of their status through God's help and conviction. Secondly, like Ellen said, do what God does. 

He protects and values life so we do. He loves people so we do. 

The whole workshop reminded me of my friend who told me about her abortion. I want to pray for her to know Christ and that she will not be ashamed but have the faith that she will be a new creation in Christ. 

A royal diadem in the hand of God

This post is from Angelique:

As most people would agree, moving to a new place always comes with its challenges, dislikes and likes. With that said, moving here to Columbus, OH made me taste each one of the above-listed experiences.

To say the least, Columbus has been a self-discovery place in several ways. I moved up here feeling like some “damaged good” that needed to be either thrown away or kept in a place for it to regain “life”. But, over the course of the days, I have been getting made “brand new” in various ways; thanks to the wonderful people God has been surrounding me with since the first day I got here. I would like to thank God for providing me with a wonderful host family (David and Mai Duff and their lovely daughters Hannah and Sarah). Their home is been my home away from home. They are loving, caring and fun people. Their humility has personally touched me .Mai serves as an example to me in so many ways. She has infused my heart with compassion and love for others. I do not know what your story is but mine, in a nutshell, is that “I have experienced God’s greatness birthed in my brokenness and disappointments”. What I have often looked at as “hardest times of my life” have brought forth delight and a sweet-surrendered dependence on God’s unconditional love. I truly believe that my eyes would not have been opened to see God’s greatness had I not took off this year and invest it in the ISEED program. God is surely using this year to reveal his goodness to me.

I just cannot wait to see all the wonderful plans/things HE has in store for me unfold one by one. I can smell it already. Isaiah 62: 3-4 says “You will be a crown of splendor in the LORD’s hand, a royal diadem in the hand of your God. No longer will they call you Deserted, or name your land Desolate”. This reminds me that I am a precious jewel of God, thus I encourage you (who is reading this) to see yourself as “a royal diadem in the hand of God”.

P.S If you are reading this and is feeling like God is telling you to pray for me, here is my prayer request: Pray that I learn to cope with some of the things that will require me to get out of my comfort zone and those which will challenge me.

First arrive at Columbus

“Yuemin, I will miss you! Take care of yourself!”

“Remember to call me when you feel lonely in Columbus!”

After my graduation from University of Cincinnati, with the fully blessings from my lovely friend, I start my IFI intern journey to Columbus. When I was heading to Columbus, there was a lot of uncertainty came up to my brain: What the life in Columbus will be? Will I get along with the people in Columbus? Will my host family accept my character? I drove on the I 71 highways with tons of question marks, excitement and a little doubt.

Once I arrived at Gene and Phyl’s house, they showed their hospitality to me and helped me to settle down. I felt full of welcome and it decreased my doubt. They just like my mom and dad. We had a wonderful potato and salad for our light dinner.

On the following two weeks, there are seven temporarily housing students living in Greene’s house. I assist Gene and Phyl to host them and help them as much as I can. I took one of the students Rui to purchase her laptop and also took all of them to Easton shopping center. I am so pleased that they feel welcome when they first came to United States, just like I feel welcome when I first arrived at Greene’s house.  I also appreciate Alan and he shows his huge interest in Bible study and Sunday church service.  I assure that God has his right timing to let Alan come to Christ someday in the future.

Throughout these hosting activities, I have learnt to show my mighty hospitality to the people to need it, especially the students who first come to another country. Warmly welcome will remit their insecure and help them adjust to a new environment. Just like God loves me unconditionally. 

First Hosting Experience

Assisting the host family with airport pickup/temporary housing is part of the ISEED training. Since I don't live in a host family's house, then I will be a host ;) It was a very exciting experience for me. The Bible said, "It is better to give than receive". I felt so blessed that I can put two more extra beds in my room and use them for hosting.

We picked up and hosted two Chinese girls and later on hosted a visiting scholar. Before they arrived, me and my two other roommates planned ahead and assigned the jobs of serving. 

I will share about my pickup experience.

On the Aug 17th, I went to the airport to pick up Linlin. Her flight was delayed until 1 AM so I went back home from the airport and then go back to the airport. It was quite a challenge for me since I started to get up early in the morning around that time. However, I can do all things through the One who strengthens us! I also met another guy who came with Linlin and he didn't request service. I offered to give him a ride to campus and help another guy (who also didn't request service) find a ride from a volunteer I met at the airport.

Here is some pictures, enjoy!

Before the school started, we hosted a hotpot party for these new comers. They love to have food from their home country!

My roommate Tuyata, me, Linlin, Junyan, Menghan, friend, Roommate Chen

Two ministry houses prepared a welcome dinner for the new students on the date before school started. After dinner, we watched the movie "God's Not Dead" together.

I am very glad that Menghan, the girl whom we hosted, is actively involved in an IFI bible study. She even cared for us and reminded us to wear more clothes when the weather got cold. 

Through the hosting experience, I come to realize that serving is really a choice! It can be challenging for lots of people but God will surprise us with either lessons or wonderful experience with the students. I will continue to show hospitality after I go back to China! >< So exciting!!!!

They will be called Oaks of Righteousness

The Vision of ISEED (International Students as Equipped and Empowered Disciples) is to see internationals raised up as oaks of righteousness among the nations.

An acorn is tiny insignificant.

But inside it contains all the nutrients it needs to grow, to mature, and to become a mighty and strong oak. That's what we desire for our ISEED participants this year. That God would raise them up, shape them to become strong, mighty oaks.

Watch video: Oaks of Righteousness

ISEED 2014-15 Kick Off Celebration Lunch

On Thursday, August 28, we had a celebration lunch at the IFI Office to kick off the ISEED 2014 - 15 training year. Many wonderful people attended, and we are so grateful for their presence. We had our Executive Director, Rich Mendola, ISEED alumni, mentors, supervisors, and host families.

We proudly present the 2014 - 2015 ISEEDers:

Angelique Nyinawabera from Rwanda:


Yuemin Zhan from China:


And Amity Lin from China:


To learn more about them, check out their profile at http://www.ifipartners.org/interns.php

A Look to the Past: ISEEDers Yesterday, Disciple-Makers Today

Here's a slideshow with an overview of ISEED as well as updates of our alumni. Enjoy :)

EMI training

At the week of July 18th-July 25th, Estera led us to attend a training called "Equipping Ministries International" in Cincinnati. If you wonder what it is about, click "http://equippingministries.org/". 

The courses we took include "Listening for Heaven's Sake", "Quick to Listen Leaders", "Speaking the Truth in Love", "Renewing the Mind", "Irresistible Evangelism", and "Confronting Conflict". I will recommend these to whoever is reading the post. 

It really renews my mind. It is biblical, practical and relational.

Most importantly, I was able to use them:

1. I spoke the truth in love to my friend whom I thought didn't respect me. 
2. I listened to a friend who was asking for advice about which major to choose. 
3. I apologized for my part to someone who had a conflict with me and let God take over the rest.
4. I tried to identify my beliefs when I had mixed feeling about an event. 
5. I spoke the truth to one of my Christian friends about something I was concerned with.
6. I renewed my identity in Christ and not let my dad's condemnation have a chance to ruin it....and etc.

You might wonder: Wow..so many things happen!

Life consists of moments when we can set aside our desire in order to serve people more, when we can put off our pat answers in order to feel what people feel, when we can give up our time in order to save a soul......

May God give us wisdom and guidance in our life.  

Now it is time to enjoy some pictures: (Woohoo~)

Estera, Angelique, Amity, Wenqi, and Caty. We are at Dewey's Pizza ;)

On Sunday, we had a break. We visited a church called "Crossroads" and then we headed to Jungle Jim's!

Courses wrap-up

Columbus group with the EMI staff.

This is our class.

Hospitality

Last Sunday (6/22/2014), I invited 10 people from my home church to have brunch in my new place.  My host family likes to spend time with their family and friends. I have been treated so well the last 4 years. They kept showing hospitality to the students. One thing I have learned from my American friends is to be a good steward of the resources that are given to us and share it with friends. The resource can be food and your home!

I like cheerfully sharing food and developing friendship with people whom God brings to my life. 

I like cooking, especially. Sometimes I tend to invite just one person to my place and then after dinner, we can have a good conversation. We usually will share our highs and downs and encourage each other. 

I thank God for the friends He provides, the affordable outreach, and time to spend with people. 

Our brunch: Cracker with Guacamole, Dumplings, Croissants, Fruits, Cereals, Sausage, Tea and Coffee, and Omelets. 

I am cooking omelets.

After having brunch, we headed out to the park near my condo and played volleyball, badminton, and tennis there. We were so excited!

I borrowed Tuyata's badminton set and set the net on the field. 

We are forming our team.

We had so much fun and laughter. We attracted people to stop and watch us playing.

A hard lesson

Yesterday, I heard from my mom that one of our relatives passed away. Let me call her Xia here. Xia died of disease. Xia divorced with her husband. They have two daughters and each person owns one. Xia found a new boyfriend and they lived together with the older daughter. After passing away, the guy left the family and now the little girl lives with her grandparents on her mom's side.

My heart was sunken when I heard this. Last Summer, I visited her and I told her I am a Christian. That is all what I said. How bad I want to go back to the past and tell her that God loves her so much...

My mom then told me that she has been talking to my dad for 40 days. I told her that, "Mom, I know you don't like to hear this...but what I really want you to know is that Jesus loves you..Jesus can give you a new life, He can change people's heart. I know I was a jealous and bitter person before, but He covers me with His love..I really would like you to know Him and have real peace.." I wanted to cry. She shifted the topic. I can feel her brokenness and her helplessness.

I know God has His own timing. It might take years for them to come to Christ. Oh how dying am I for me to see my family accept God!

God is teaching me a hard lesson that can only be learned from suffering and pain. Pain is truly a gift. I am learning to appreciate that. Cry out to Him...Simply tell Him that, "I am not able to handle all of this.." "Could you please reach out your might hands and heal me" "Lord, please help..."

Beautiful Sunday - Baptism, Food, Friend

Last Sunday, we had a baptism for a girl in our home church. Her name is Janice. She has been a believer for a year. We are so happy to gather to hear her testimony even some students still have finals.

We couldn't find tub at first and then we prayed that God will provide since it is important. A student's host mom found out her friend has a hot tub, so here we are in a beautiful backyard, with sunshine and breeze. 

The picture above describes our attention toward Janice's testimony. 

I am deeply touched by her story. She described how nice her host family is and how much unconditional love she received. She and I had some connections too. Her host family arranged her and her boyfriend to meet the college group in Xenos. And Jon, the son of my home church leader, invited them to the home church. At that time, they just started the international home church and waited for a sign from God to continue the home group. And her boyfriend invited his friend. This friend invited me. I am truly blessed to see God's amazing work. I identified with her story and knew for certain that IFI is doing an amazing work to bring people to Christ. Lots of people are part of work. 

Imagine a student didn't receive any service from IFI, but her/his friend did and then spread it. How wonderful is that connection! Praise the Lord for His mighty hands!

Enjoy some pictures:

2014 IFI Fellowship Dinner/Fundraiser

Last Friday, IFI had its annual fellowship dinner/fundraiser. We had 92 tables of 10 and approximately 900 people attended. It's so wonderful to have people with the same heart and passion to gather together and share experiences and praise God.

 

Before the dinner, Amity and I went to the union to help setting up. We put the flowers in the center of the tables, the programs on each of the chairs and hung flags of different countries around the ball room. It was so excited to think that several hours later this place would be filled with friendly and loving believers, good conversations, sincere prayers and laughter of joy.

 During the dinner, we had good food, listened to cheerful music and watched the presentation of IFI's ministry. I can feel that people's heart being touched, especially when Pyung On's video was played. (you can watch them on http://ifipartners.org/afterdinner.php#movie )

After the dinner, I joined the rest of the accounting team to process people's donations. I was deeply amazed by how generous people can be. Large or small, their contribution will be utilized fully to serve international students and be committed to the great mission!

Trip and some Thoughts

Lexie - 3/10/2014

After a busy and cold winter, my friends and I decided to relax ourselves and head for a soothing road trip. We were really excited and had multiple plans and ideas for our upcoming trip. In the end, we all decided to take a few days road trip from Columbus to Washington, DC for two days. After that, we changed our course to Baltimore for a day, and then we headed to Philadelphia for another day. Finally we headed to Pittsburgh as our last destination and returned to Columbus on the next day.

I still remember how exciting we were on the road heading to DC until someone found out that we were almost running out of gas. We were in the middle of no where on the highway with the “low fuel” light blinking. Upon checking the GPS and our phones for the nearest petrol station, it was miles away. And without knowing how long our remaining fuel might last, we were terrified. With no choice, we drove to the nearest petrol station we could find crossing our fingers and praying to our Lord to provide fuel for us. To our dismay, it was a family operated small petrol station and most importantly it was closed.

Our hearts sank as we turned off our car engine to save fuel in the wintery cold night. Stuck in our car, the only thing most of us could do was to pray. The other nearest station was around 15 miles away and we had no idea whether our fuel could even last that long. Battling between the thoughts of gambling we had enough fuel or to call 911, one of our friends suggested we should ask the neighbors for advice.

As a last resort, our driver head to one of the neighbors and knocked on their doors desperately. The man that answered the door was surprisingly friendly and told you we will have at least two gallons of fuel and the nearest petrol station is within our reach.Finally, we made it to the nearest operating gas station with little fuel. It reminds me of one story from the Bible, which was Jesus feeding five thousands people with only five loaves of bread and two fish. God will always provide and protect us in all circumstances.

Overall, the journey was relaxing and inspiring with great experiences of how mighty our God is. We were astonished on how beautiful the world that was created by our God is with all these great scenery and views. We really had fun during this road trip relaxing, conversing many topics about god and listening to worship songs. It definitely strengthens the relationship between our friends and with our God.

Alleviating Poverty Through Entrepreneurship Summit 2014

This post is from Lexie, one of our 2013/14 interns.

On March 22nd, as one of the IFI interns, I was glad to have the opportunity to attend 2014 Alleviating Poverty Through Entrepreneurship Summit Conference at The Wexner Center for the Arts.

I don’t have much experience attending seminars like this, but the 2014 APTE Summit definitely left me a deep impression. There are several innovative leaders, who established or helped to established their organization gave speech targeting different situations of poverty and  how that triggered them to do something about it.

During the break, what Phil mentioned to us was rational and made me think more deeply about the conference, the speakers and ourselves. It was the verses from Genesis that Phil mentioned which tells us that God created the whole world and human beings according to His image. God has already put something valuable and unique in each one of us, and even sometimes we doubt and deny ourselves, we are special in God’s eyes and we are able to do something by using the characteristics and gifts that God put in us. Such as those speakers, they couldn’t have known everything when they started their business/organization. On the contrary, there were obstacles and difficulties, however, they just took the step forward simply by their faith in what they were doing, to help alleviating poverty in the world. I am appreciated that we are the children of God, and in Him we have no fear.

Be inspired and change your perspective

I am touched when I saw the passion flowing in the APTE Summit. They are using social business and connecting with resources and capitals to alleviate poverty. Brilliant and creative! They address social problems like sanitation in Africa. Other than the topic itself, I did learn a lot from the speakers about social business and was inspired to take action. I will share here.


"A for-profit business with the heart and soul of a non-profit...it just feels right to do right". I had some ideas about taking the community into better direction and I didn't realize how people's comments gradually tore down my ideas. Without experience, we as recent graduates feel so hard to take action on something big. A speaker shared "The best way to learn is to start by doing." 

What action am I going to take? Let's first see what God has to say:  ^"Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much, and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much." Yes, I am going to be faithful in small things and wait for God to give bigger assignment. 

-Begin by changing myself. 
-Love people around me. 
-Be conscientious at my work. 
-Use my talent in a way God is pleased with. 
-Speak the word that build people up. 
-Give.  
-Smile and be grateful.
-Be social minded and pray for opportunity.
etc....

I am thankful that Phil asked us several questions afterwards. What is your purpose here? Why are you an IFI intern? What can you do? 

I think, for me as a Data Intern, I would like to see IFI have more clean data LOL and I am looking for ways to improve that. I pray that my work can bring the glory to God. Pray that God gives me the wisdom. I want to see people come to Christ and bring the good news back to more people. I want to be a witness for God by acting my faith. I want to be motivated by love, thanksgiving, and delight to serve God. 

I don't want the thoughts just run away as time goes by. Don't be motivated for just a moment. Keep the inspiration going :) It is about passion !!!!

Reflection on Alleviating Poverty Through Entrepreneurship Summit 2014

On March 22nd, 2014, I attended the Alleviating Poverty Through Entrepreneurship (ANTE) Summit 2014 with Lexie and Amity. This event was to present entrepreneurs with their vision, business model, as well as their endeavor to break the poverty circle.

(http://blogs.bournemouth.ac.uk/research/2011/05/26/global-poverty-action-fund-open-for-applications/)

God has blessed my life with material abundance. I could not imagine how life would be if I were one of the people there that suffer from poverty. While I felt gracious, I also sighed for the suffering people. God loves every human being equally. If it's a true statement, why would some people have less or even none, whereas some have many or even everything? This question has been on my mind even before I believe that God exist. In fact, it was one of the biggest huddles for me to put faith in Him.

After attending this event, I feel amazed how people could put their talent into utilization and vision into reality. We know that God created each one of us with unique gifts and inspires us with little things that happen in our lives. This combination defines our destiny, which is made suitable and perfect by God. These entrepreneurs have their destinies - alleviating poverty.

Love your neighbor as yourself. It is God's commandment. He also had prepared us to fulfill this commandment, by giving us talents and visions. For the entrepreneurs in this specific event, the "neighbors" that God made them to love in particular, is the poor. By creating good values through business, with their talents and visions, they give the poor love and better lives.

What gifts had God given me? What is His vision for me? Who does He want me to love in particular to best fulfill his plan for my life? I can see a blurry blueprint of my life unfolding in front of me. I'm patient and awaiting His further message.

Some Thoughts about a Recent Trip

After a busy and cold winter, my friends and I decided to relax ourselves and head for a soothing road trip. We were really excited and had multiple plans and ideas for our upcoming trip. In the end, we all decided to take a few days road trip from Columbus to Washington, DC for two days. After that, we changed our course to Baltimore for a day, and then we headed to Philadelphia for another day. Finally we headed to Pittsburgh as our last destination and returned to Columbus on the next day.

I still remember how exciting we were on the road heading to DC until someone found out that we were almost running out of gas. We were in the middle of nowhere on the highway with the “low fuel” light blinking. Upon checking the GPS and our phones for the nearest petrol station, it was miles away. And without knowing how long our remaining fuel might last, we were terrified. With no choice, we drove to the nearest petrol station we could find crossing our fingers and praying to our Lord to provide fuel for us. To our dismay, it was a family operated small petrol station and most importantly it was closed.

Our hearts sank as we turned off our car engine to save fuel in the wintery cold night. Stuck in our car, the only thing most of us could do was to pray. The other nearest station was around 15 miles away and we had no idea whether our fuel could even last that long. Battling between the thoughts of gambling we had enough fuel or to call 911, one of our friends suggested we should ask the neighbors for advices.

As a last resort, our driver head to one of the neighbors and knocked on their doors desperately. The man that answered the door was surprisingly friendly and told you we will have at least two gallons of fuel and the nearest petrol station is within our reach. Finally, we made it to the nearest operating gas station with little fuel. It reminds me of one story from the Bible, which was Jesus feeding five thousand people with only five loaves of bread and two fish. God will always provide and protect us in all circumstances.

Overall, the journey was relaxing and inspiring with great experiences of how mighty our God is. We were astonished on how beautiful the world that was created by our God is with all these great sceneries and views. We really had fun during this road trip relaxing, conversing many topics about god and listening to worship songs. It definitely strengthens the relationship between our friends and with our God.

Group pride

Last Thursday we were talking about pride vs. humility during our training session and Karen shared about racial prejudice.
I was quite shocked when I heard that the first intern in IFI knelt down in front of her world history class classmates to ask for forgiveness of what her country had done during World War II. That led me to some other thoughts. Her humility gave me a refreshment about what humility is about.

Well, pride...It is not just I consider myself better than the others..
I think I am good/humble/religious....
Have you heard of group pride? I think there is one...
We think our country is good. We are PROUD of our country...It is not wrong to love our country but if we look down upon other countries, that kills. Don't ever think we only need to deal with our personal pride.

I have been thinking about "Put no confidence in your flesh". I am surrounded by a world that put so much confidence in the flesh. I have known someone who said "I don't believe in God or Buddha, I rely on myself..." Pride prevents people from knowing God! Also, before coming to the US, someone around me told me not come to the US because of how great China is doing and how much more opportunity I will have if I stay in China. Oh well. I didn't say anything because I didn't know what to respond. Now, reflecting back to what I have experienced, it is worthy to come here to gain my education, and know God. Hopefully the group pride didn't work.

Pride destroys. Keep a humble heart and be ready to be proven wrong.

God's Creation

It has been a long time that Columbus was covered by snow and rain this winter. When the temperature finally increased to 60 last Thursday, my friends and I was so excited and decided to go running outside. We went to the Olentangy Trial, and I am so glad that we made it because it was such a good time for us to go running on a such beautiful day. Although some of the trial was still muddy and wet with leaves and branches, we still enjoyed the weather and time together. 

The beautiful sunshine and surrounding environment remind me of the creator of all these treasures, the almighty God. And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day. (Genesis 1:31). God has created the earth and everything on the earth with morning and evening, with different seasons and scenes which is so amazing. For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. (Colossians 1:16-17). It clearly shows that everything we see and we have come from Him and only God has the power and ability to create such beautiful things on earth. He is the creator and ruler of everything. Just like David praise the Lord “Bless the Lord, O my soul! O Lord my God, you are very great! You are clothed with splendor and majesty, covering yourself with light as with a garment, stretching out the heavens like a tent. He lays the beams of his chambers on the waters; he makes the clouds his chariot; he rides on the wings of the wind; he makes his messengers winds, his ministers a flaming fire. He set the earth on its foundations, so that it should never be moved” (Psalm 104:1-5). God, you are very great.

Mark 6:1-6

Today, I am reading Mark 6:1-6.

Jesus left there and went to his hometown, accompanied by his disciples. ² When the Sabbath came,he began to teach in the synagogue, and many who heard him were amazed.

“Where did this man get these things?” they asked. “What’s this wisdom that has been given him? What are these remarkable miracles he is performing? ³ Isn’t this the carpenter? Isn’t this Mary’s son and the brother of James, Joseph,^[a] Judas and Simon? Aren’t his sisters here with us?” And they took offense at him.

⁴ Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honor except in his own town, among his relatives and in his own home.” ⁵ He could not do any miracles there, except lay his hands on a few sick people and heal them. ⁶ He was amazed at their lack of faith.

I realized I made the same mistake as those townspeople did. When I was writing a letter to my potential donors, I saw my friend's name. I knew that he was saving money so I told Estera that whether I sent him a letter or not. Estera said she had the same kind of concern before but Rich told her, "You don't know what will happen..(Something similar)". During fundraising, I made lots of prejudgment before I did it. However, I probably was limiting God's work because of my prejudgment based on my feeling or my association with the people I am asking for funds.

Jesus could not do any miracles there because they were skeptical about his authority. Hey, I don't want God to not be able to do a miracle on me as well~I want god to be amazed by my faith instead of my lack of faith~

Sum it up:

By Amity