Each year thousands of International students (IS) come to the UK to study, life here may seem very different, IS may miss their friends, family and often find British culture unfamiliar and sometimes puzzling. Like Paul in 1 Thessalonians 2:6-8 we are called to delight in not only sharing the gospel of God, but our lives as well. The Christian Union has a unique opportunity to meet and befriend IS from all around the globe right on your doorstep.

The Gospel is for the world. It is not a white, nor a western commodity. It is Jesus Christ who is heard, understood, and believed by students from many parts of the world who are studying in the UK. God’s call to Abraham in Genesis 15 is that he will go into the nations and be a blessing to them. We see throughout the Bible this theme of worldwide worship to the Lord culminating in Revelation 15:3

“Great and wonderful are your deeds,
Lord the Almighty!
Just and true are your ways,
King of the ages!
Who shall not fear and glorify your name O Lord?
For you alone are Holy.
All nations shall come and worship you,
for your judgements have been revealed.”

“God is pursuing with omnipotent passion a worldwide purpose of gathering joyful worshippers for himself from every tribe and tongue and people and nation. He has an inexhaustible enthusiasm for the supremacy of his name among the nations… the great commission is first to delight yourself in the Lord Psalm 37v4 and then to declare ‘Let the nations be glad and sing for joy’ Psalm 67:4” Let the nations be glad, John Piper

International students statistics

In 2003/2004, there were:

• 243,000 international students in UK universities, or…
• 1 million international students – if we include FE colleges & language schools, contributing…
• £3 billion to the UK economy
• International students constitute about 11% of all tertiary students in the UK.

The numbers are set to continue rising, with the figures for mainland Chinese students tripling.

Friendships:

• 85% of Chinese undergrads…
• 70% of international postgrads…
• 51% of international undergrads…
• and the vast majority of language school students…

Top ten difficult social situations for overseas students to handle (social psychologist research)

1. Making British friends of your own age
2. Dealing with somebody who is cross/aggressive
3. Approaching others, starting up a relationship
4. Appearing in front of an audience
5. Getting to know people in depth
6. Understanding jokes, humour
7. Dealing with people staring at you
8. Taking the initiative in keeping the conversation going
9. Being with people you don’t know very well
10. Complaining in public

Top ten (non-EU) sending nations

1. China (35,200)
2. India (12,500)
3. Malaysia (11,800)
4. USA (11,600)
5. Hong Kong (10,100)
6. Japan (6,300)
7. Taiwan (5,500)
8. Nigeria (4,600)
9. Singapore (4,200)
10. Cyprus (3,900)

World Leaders who studied in the UK

• Robert Mugabe (Zimbabwe)
• Lee Kuan Yew (Singapore)
• Benazir Bhutto (Pakistan)
• Yitzhak Rabin (Israel)