My first two month with ISEED

Hello readers! I’m Tony from Thailand. I’m a part of IFI’s ISEED since February 2016 and this is my first post on the blog. The fifth day after working with IFI, I joined a Chinese Lunar New Year party held by IFI. I enjoyed meeting and talking with students who joined the party and I was touched by the message presented by Rich Mendola at the party. I was excited for many activities provided by IFI such as travelling to Washington, DC, and attended training.

During the month of February through March 2016, we had an opportunity to have lunch at three IFI staff’s house: The Sermons, The Chows, and The Mendolas. Each of them shows their hospitality and gave their time to make wonderful food for all of us. We all had a great conversation with them. They also shared their testimony and their stories. One thing we all of us ISEEDers wanted to hear is how they met each other and began a lifetime partnership under God’s direction so they can work faithfully to advance God’s kingdom.

During the OSU spring break we went to Washington, DC for five days. When we arrived in DC, it was a rainy day. We walked with the students in the rain to see the Washington Monument. We had a chance to see the whole DC from the top of Washington Monument. Besides seeing city life in DC, we also see the natural sites when we visited two beautiful waterfalls during the drive to/from Washington, DC. I also feeling thankful from my DC host family; Ralph and Helga Myers who opened their house for me and the international students for five days. They show us hospitality, the love of Christ. They shared with us their story about how God blessed their life. And of course, they made delicious meals for all of us!

After the trip to Washington DC, three ISEEDers (Samanta, Xi and I) were in a Leadership Training called Transformational Leadership. We studied about how to approach others, making apology, self-identity, personal growth, etc. The second day of the training we studied about how to applied these theories with the word of God. I feel this training is a good foundation for my future career.

In the last week of March, I had an opportunity to be a speaker at Xenos bible church. My topic was about “Building relationship with Buddhists and sharing the Gospel with them” Basically, I presented about basic knowledge of Buddhism, what Buddhists do and don’t’, what is their viewpoint of life to the American Christians.

Now I see how God has been working through many people I have met. I thank God that he answered my prayers that I will grow spiritually and be transformed to be more Christ-like. I feel that these two months are precious to me and those activities are shaping me to be a better person.