Student exchange offers witnessing opportunities

Many Alabama Baptist families have found their own homes can be transformed into missions fields. By hosting a foreign exchange student, families are able to introduce Christianity to students who often have never attended church.
   
Hollis and Elli Armstrong, members of Faith Baptist Church, Moulton, place foreign exchange students in the homes of Christians.
   
Elli said attending church is a vital part of the students’ experiences: “I place students willing to go to church because church is so much a part of the social and cultural experience of the South. We feel if we are going to have a cultural exchange program, the best part of the culture is found in our churches,” he explained.
   
Rex and Michie Mooney, also of Faith Baptist, hosted a foreign exchange student from Brazil. Vinnie, their “son,” was saved during the four months he stayed with the Mooneys.
   
Michie remembered a moment of realization for Vinnie: “After someone in the church rededicated their life, Vinnie said, ‘Oh, I understand. You can be a believer of Christ without being a follower of Christ.’ We knew we’d gotten through.”
   
Michie noted, “He really gave us an exercise in what we believe. He asked questions like, ‘Why would a loving God send people to hell?’”
   
The questions helped the family equip themselves as better witnesses for Christ.
   
“Although [hosting a foreign exchange student] was challenging at times, I haven’t regretted it for a minute,” she said, noting families who want to host a student should be well-educated about their commitment. “Go in with your eyes open,” she said. “Realize that there certainly will be challenges.”
   
As agents for International Cultural Exchange Services (ICES), the Armstrongs visit prospective families and help them prepare for their incoming family member. According to Hollis, a host family can expect three transitional periods.
   
During the first period, both the host family and the student are excited about their new circumstances. The anticipation of actually meeting leads to an exciting beginning.
   
The second period entails bouts of homesickness. The student will miss his or her family, and the unfamiliar new culture he or she now faces will seem intimidating. The student may distance himself or herself from the host family. 
   
Bonding, the final transitional period, occurs when both parties work to find common ground. Celebrating differences and recognizing similarities lead to a mutual respect.
   
“When you open your home and share your lives, the kids will ask why you are so kind,” Elli said. “They will ask, and you can tell them, ‘It’s Christ.’”
   
International student at Samford University, Daniel Rahabani, is originally from the Middle East. Before coming to study at Samford, Daniel was an exchange student for three years in Czechoslovakia.
   
While attending an international Baptist church in Czechoslovakia with his host family, Daniel chose to follow Christ. He had never attended church in his home country of Syria. Daniel was baptized by retired international missionary Joe Turman, a member of Mount Carmel Baptist, Guntersville.
   
Daniel, who now attends Brookwood Baptist Church, Birmingham, enjoys the way churches create a new family for international students. “They are very much involved in your life. I like the way they feel like a family,” he said.
   
Daniel admitted that the hardest part of being a foreign exchange student is homesickness. “The hardest thing is being away from your family, especially around the holidays.”
   
Adjusting to different backgrounds and cultures seems to be the most challenging issue in the lives of foreign exchange students. “Most students struggle as they try to adjust to their host families’ backgrounds and their ways. I prefer for people to tell me, in a loving way, if I am acting in a way that is not culturally acceptable,” Daniel said.
   
Students like Daniel anxiously await their foreign exchange experiences.