Across the country, colleges and universities are opening their doors to Chinese international students. Last school year, 274,000 Chinese students studied in American institutions. According to one news source, last year’s numbers were a 17% increase from the previous year and the tenth year in a row that the number of Chinese international student in the United States increased. Needless to say, China’s elite and middle classes are in love with American education and families are holding nothing back in order to send their children here to study. Pray with us this week for these students to meet Christ and to be loved well be his people in America.

How to pray:

• Pray for students to be well oriented and taken care of in the initial weeks of the semester. Pray for them not to be overwhelmed by culture shock, but to quickly acclimate, especially linguistically. Pray for school administrations to know how to help these new Chinese students.
• Pray for Chinese international students to have good housing situations. Pray for healthy roommate relationships and for lasting friendships. Pray for Chinese students to know how to make friends with American students, while also maintaining important connections with their fellow Chinese.
• Pray for local churches, campus ministries, students, and professors to befriend and care for Chinese international students on their campuses. Most of the time, Americans are the ones who must make the first move in befriending internationals, so pray that God would lay a great burden on his people to boldly pursue friendship with the cultural “outsiders” they come across.
• Pray for students’ families back home in China. Pray for parents and grandparents to have peace while their children are so far away. Praise God for communication tools like Skype and Wechat that enable these families to stay connected despite the distance. Pray that as students have opportunities to hear the gospel here in America, they will share the good news with friends and family back home. Pray also that as those in China hear the gospel, they will share it with their children living abroad.

Articles:

• “Why do so many Chinese students choose US universities?”
• “International Students Stream Into U.S. Colleges”
• “The Economic Impact of Chinese International Students in the United States” 
• “The Tenuous Relationship Between American Universities and Chinese Students”