Tulane's International Hospitality Program

One of the most exciting aspects of campus ministry is the international aspect: hundreds of thousands of students from pretty much every nation on the planet come to study at America's colleges and universities every year! While they are here, God's people have an amazing opportunity to fulfill the commands of welcoming the stranger in our land (see Lev 19:34 and much more).

At Tulane, we have been given an amazing opportunity to connect with students t

hrough the Center for International Students and Scholars (CISS). Jen is the coordinator for the International Hospitality Program (IHP). Through this program, incoming international students are partnered with an American hospitality partner (family or individual). This hospitality partner helps to welcome and orientate the new student to life in America and New Orleans, as well as developing a friendship filled with cultural exchange and, most often, tasty exotic foods.

Through this program, we are able to recruit individuals and families from around the city to spend time, once a month or so, with an international student, carrying out the hospitality that characterizes the follower of Jesus.

If you would like to know more about this program, please give us a call or an email.

If you are in the New Orleans are, we can get you signed up to be a hospitality partner this fall! Or, if you are from elsewhere, we can help you find a similar program at the college or university near you.

photos: (top) Matt's IHP partner, Jay (from China), dressed as a Christmas tree at a Chi Alpha Christmas party at our house. (bottom) Jen with her IHP partner, Inas (from Baghdad, Iraq), bowling in Michigan this past Christmas.

A Week at Youth Camp

Each summer, the Louisiana District Youth Department hosts 3 week-long camps for teens in Woodworth, LA. Each week, Chi Alpha Louisiana sends a representative or two to hang out with the teenagers, get to know the youth leaders, and to get the word out about Chi Alpha for those juniors and seniors looking at making the transition into college.

Last week, Jen and I took our turn for the second year in a row. It can be quite an exhausting week with hundreds of teens! (Keep the District Youth Director, Allen Chapin, and his wife, Angela, in prayer this week as they recover from 3 straight weeks of it!) However, we had a great time playing wacky games, and cheering on the teens, just getting to know some great young people, praying with them during impactful services, and connecting with some amazing youth leaders, ministers, and volunteers.

Our week was quite successful along the lines of connecting with young people headed toward college. I don't know if we've ever met so many in one week, before, and I think several of them really had their interest piqued by the idea of Chi Alpha as they head toward the college campus.

What was icing on the cake for us was that we met students planning to attend university in New Orleans! This is usually quite rare, as the private schools in New Orleans are so expensive and selective, and usually only locals attend UNO, and not many teens from the New Orleans area make it to camp each year.

This year was different, though, and we met an incoming UNO freshman while reconnecting with a returning UNO student, both of whom are quite interested in connecting with the Chi Alpha community there. Also, we met two high schoolers (a junior and a senior) who plan to attend Tulane of all places!

That was exciting and fun for us. Even more than that was the honor of witnessing the Holy Spirit do some powerful work in the lives of teenagers.

Please pray with us as hundreds of thousands of Christian teenagers take the plunge into university life this fall for the first time. This is often a difficult transition for students in their life, and especially in their faith.

Dr. Francis Collins Confirmed for January 22nd 2009

A few weeks ago, I introduced you to the Veritas Forum, and our quest to establish Veritas at Tulane with the hope of kicking off our first go 'round with Dr. Francis Collins, director of the Human Genome Project and author of The Language of God.

Yesterday, I heard the exciting news that Dr. Collins has agreed to come to Tulane with the Veritas Forum, and has confirmed the date of Thursday, Jan 22nd 2009! Praise God!

There is still lots of work to do in planning, publicizing, PRAYING, and fund raising. If you would like to give to support the Veritas Forum at Tulane, please drop me a line.

We believe this will be a divine appointment for students and faculty: for those struggling with their faith in Christ in an antagonistically secular academic environment to be encouraged in the reasonableness of faith, and for those unsure or even opposed to faith in Christ based on intellectual reasons to have an opportunity to ask honest questions and receive honest answers.

Pictures for the Year

Take this link to the flickr account I set up for our new alumni.

There are 114 photos that cover the past academic year, as well as the Chi Alpha history of our May graduates.