Meet some special friends
As we have had the honor of working with international students, we have met some very special people. Here are their stories.
This is Jiang Wei, who is from China. Beth met Wei in 2011 at ISF (the local club for ISI in Lincoln, NE). Wei's husband Yunshen Zhou was working at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln at the time, and Wei came over to spend some time with him. Wei and Beth began meeting together weekly for Bible study and English conversation practice. After several months, Wei had to return to China to resume her job teaching English at the middle school level. Over the course of the next several years, Wei returned to Lincoln to visit her husband, Zhou. She would call Beth and say, "I'm here! When can we start Bible study again?" After several years of meeting together for Bible study, Beth asked Wei if she wanted to become a Christian. She said yes, and Beth had the privilege of assisting with her baptism on March 16, 2015! Wei and Zhou are in China now, but we maintain regular contact with them and their young son Jonathan.
Meet Dat Nguyen, from Vietnam. He arrived in Lincoln in August 2012. When Beth met him at the airport to take him to the dorms, he remarked that he had attended Nebraska Christian High School in Central City, Nebraska for his senior year of high school. When Beth asked him if he was a Christian, he assured her that he was NOT a Christian. When asked if he would like to participate in a Bible study with us, he said okay. Dat came to our home many evenings for Bible study and for our home group. He did not want to become a Christian because of pressure from his family. In the fall of 2014, Brian and Dat had a long conversation about what it means to be a Christian. Dat was baptized back at his church in Central City in December 2014. He just graduated in May 2021 from seminary.
(Arthur Lopes from Brazil, via FB Messenger Chat, May 4, 2019)
"Hey, I’m leaving on Wednesday. I just like to thank you for everything you’ve done, not just for me but for all the people you helped. We’re thankful for you. Thanks for showing the love of God. Thanks for bringing us closer to God without talking about religion or anything like that but doing what he wants us to do. Also, thanks for inspiring me. I’ll be doing projects to help people soon. The world would be better if we had more people like you."
(Arthur Lopes from Brazil, via FB Messenger Chat, May 4, 2019)
"Hey, I’m leaving on Wednesday. I just like to thank you for everything you’ve done, not just for me but for all the people you helped. We’re thankful for you. Thanks for showing the love of God. Thanks for bringing us closer to God without talking about religion or anything like that but doing what he wants us to do. Also, thanks for inspiring me. I’ll be doing projects to help people soon. The world would be better if we had more people like you."
