++ EVANGELISM

In the Evangelism slot, we will have seminars about the following topics:

++ Panel discussion on reaching Muslim students

• In this panel discussion on reaching out to Muslims, we will hear stories from the three speakers about reaching out in the Middle East, Central Asia and among Muslim international students. There will be insights into how to serve Muslim students, the fun elements, the "what to dos" but also the "what not to dos"! There will also be time for questions and discussion.

Speakers:

• Kevin: Kevin has come to know that life with Jesus is a life not only full of joy and peace - even in difficult times, but it is also a life of adventure. Kevin has been able to go places he never imagined, meet people he never would have thought to meet, and it is all because of the Gospel! Kevin is part of the Fellowship of Christian Students in Israel (FCSI) which serves Messianic Jewish, Arabic Christian, and international Christian students studying in Israel. The FCSI’s goal is to help believing students in Israel live out Jesus’ calling in Acts 1:8 literally and together. Kevin is also an ordained pastor with the Christian Missionary Alliance. He lives with his wife and two kids in Jerusalem, not far from the Old City.

• Wesley: Wesley has been working with IFES for 20 years in China, Hong Kong, Taiwan and the UK. He is the co-ordinator of the ministries with Muslim students, internatioengnal student and engaging with students.

• TingTing has work with IFES for 20 years in China, Hong Kong, Taiwan and now is located in the UK. She is the Resources Person for East Asian IFES in couselling and care. She provides counselling, coaching, coaching supervision and walk with young leaders in East Asin movements!

Reaching East Asian students

• This seminar will be about reaching East Asian students. We will look at East Asian culture and worldview (including a interactive quiz!), think about practical ways to build relationships and adapt Bible studies. Finally we will consider how to practically support international students returning to East Asia - looking at some personal testimonies and case studies.

• Gail is from Friends International in the UK. She first got involved in international student ministry at university and have been doing it ever since, first as a volunteer and now as a Friends International Staff Worker. In her city she meets many students from East Asia and alongside work she studies at a Bible college. In her spare time she enjoys figure skating, and travelling.

• David is from the Netherlands doing international student ministry in Utrecht with IFES. He grew up in East Asia, and he loves the people, food, and culture there. He has too many hobbies, but his favorite will have to be playing all kinds of sports.

Reaching Atheist Students

• More and more do we encounter people, who call themselves atheist. But the range is great. Some just don´t care about faith, others are sceptical towards the major religions and others are against any idea of a supernatural being. How can we reach these people? In this seminar we will distinct three types of atheists and think about how to reach them and where to find common ground.

• Silas loves to engage with ideas and people. His curiosity led him from a Bavarian town in Germany into the Peruvian jungle, then to studying applied chemistry in Germany and then to Bulgaria, where he works for the Bulgarian IFES Movement. His passion is to discuss and exchange different ideas and thoughts about life and faith and to point out the significance of Jesus in daily life. Silas spent 4 years as a student in the German IFES movement SMD in Nürnberg. After graduating as a chemical engineer moved Silas to Bulgaria and has been serving with the Bulgarian IFES movement for the last 3 years.

Reaching Indian students

• Indian diaspora is one of the largest in the world. It is hard to imagine a University in Europe without Indian students. We generally think Indians belong to Hindu faith. That would make them doubly alien in our universities: culturally and by faith. But who are Indians? Are they all Hindus? What do Hindus believe? Is there a possibility of reaching out to them? What are the challenges and what are the opportunities?

• Charles Christian describes himself as a slow reader, aspiring writer, learning father and an accidental PhD researcher. He is passionate about studying theology, religion and culture, and creatively communicating the gospel. He has been living in Groningen, Netherlands, since 2019 with his wife, Jacklyn, and two children, Anaya (8) and Aahan (5).

Hospitality as evangelism

• We all want our international student friends to hear the gospel, and to come to follow Jesus. But often, they are not interested and decline our invites to come to church or a bible study. How can we show them God’s love practically and open up conversations about faith? In this seminar, we will look at the impact of hospitality on our evangelism and chat through practical steps how we can include that in our daily lives as well as our IFES group’s outreach on campus.

• Rebecca is from Germany and is married to Alex, who is British. After studying biochemistry in Germany, she moved to Malta and worked there with the local IFES movement for two years. For the past 6 years, she has lived in Glasgow, Scotland, supporting churches in reaching international students with the good news of Christ. She is currently serving as the Centre Team Leader for Friends International Glasgow, and has taken on the role of IFES ISM Coordinator for Europe in September 2023. In her free time, Rebecca enjoys having people round for dinner or going for a walk in the Scottish countryside.

++ LEADERSHIP SKILLS

In the Leadership skills slot, we will have seminars about the following topics:

Resolving Conflict

Objectives of the workship:

• Being able to identify the source of a conflict
• Understand God's action in conflict
• To be able to defuse a situation of conflict
• To be able to identify what could trigger me/others
• To understand the existence of different sensibilities in conflict.

• Lauricia is French, lives in Paris and is newly married to Fabien. She is currently a Relay worker (intern) for the IFES National Mouvement, especially for the ISM (a part of the IFES mouvement in France) that she has been part of the ISM team since the beginning in 2016. She holds a degree in Didactics of Languages and Interculturality and worked (and will be working again) as a teacher of French as a foreign Language.

Working together towards ISM

• Jesus tells the story in Matthew 20 about a landowner who hires workers at different times of the day to work in his vineyard. Though the parable is mainly about a pay dispute, it also demonstrates the need for more workers to complete the job. Let’s explore ways to gather more workers, work together with others, put aside small differences and further expand the Kingdom of God.

• Ron Riesinger serves as Assistant Ministry Staff Coordinator for InterVarsity Christian Fellowship/USA. Ron leads a team of five staff in three countries, including Israel and Ukraine. For the past 9 years of his 40 in student ministry, he has traveled for InterVarsity/Link to thirty-two countries encouraging, developing, and training ISM staff, students, and volunteers. He has preached in a major city in the former Soviet Union, ridden horses on a ranch in Kyrgyzstan, slept on overnight trains across Ukraine and had coffee in Turkish-controlled Northern Cyprus. Every couple of years, Ron’s wife (a Nurse Practitioner) accompanies him, like on their 2022, ten-day trip to Cuba, where they spoke to the Koinonia IFES. Ron and Karen have grown twin daughters, Amelia, and Carolyn.

Leadership skills 101 (How to lead cross-cultural/multicultural teams)

• Have you noticed that most cross-cultural training teaches you to cross one culture? What happens when multiple cultures are in the room? It is no longer a cross-cultural leadership question but an intercultural leadership question! For example hierarchical cultures find egalitarian leaders too hands-off while egalitarian cultures find hierarchical leaders too controlling. Whose cultural preferences do we go with? What is the most important value while leading an Intercultural room? Join us to wrestle through these questions on intercultural leadership.

• Alice is passionate about all things intercultural, whether it is applied to relationships, ministry, training, and yes even food. As a third culture kid who was born in the Philippines to Hong Kong Missionary parents and who grew up in the U.S., she has spent many years digging deeper into her own bicultural identity. Alice has worked in college ministry for 20 years with InterVarsity and currently works as a supervisor and trainer for international student ministries with IFES Netherlands. She co-teaches the Cross-Cultural Christianity class at Tyndale Seminary and holds a master's degree in biblical counselling from Westminster Theological Seminary.

Engaging the university as international student

• What are the unique contributions that international students bring to the university and their disciplines? Are there particular injustices that international students face? What are the conversations that international students are having in our campuses and how does the Gospel speak into them?

• Wesley has been working with IFES for 20 years in China, Hong Kong, Taiwan and the UK. He is the co-ordinator of the ministries with Muslim students, international students and engaging the university.

How to lead a cross-cultural bible study

• Starting and leading a cross-cultural bible study group is an adventure ! You never know, who will join, who will be missed, you often do not know the person knocking on your door. You will find a very mixed group of people in your living room with a variety of experiences, backgrounds, expactations. Its a great challenge to navigate the meeting, to read the bible, to talk about GOD, to share the gospel. How to start a cross-cultural bible study group? How to create pleasant atmosphere? How to lead the bible-study? How to invite people to come again and stay? What should be considered and what should be avoided?

• For more than ten years Harald & Susi are leaders of international ministry, in church and with SMD-International - Germany. They started a variety of missionary projects and activities for intercultural groups, now mainly focussed to reach out to international students - believers and non-believers, to welcome them in their home and church, to share the gospel, to give a helping hand, to serve and reflect GODs love for each and every person. Cross-culture bible study groups are of crucial importance in their ministry.

++ DISCIPLESHIP

In the Leadership skills slot, we will have seminars about the following topics:

How to deal with injustice

• God is a God of justice. How does that connect with being a God of love? Let's study John together to find out more. Also He wants us to participate in bringing justice to His fallen world. What can be our role then? And how about the students we are working with? If you are interested to find out more please join this seminar!

• Francina de Pater is National Director for International Student Ministry in the Netherlands and Associate General Secretary in the Regional Team of IFES Europe. Before she has worked for 14 years in a ministry reaching out to people in prostitution where she has learned a lot about (in)justice in this world.

• Likoko is passionate about the inclusion of marginalized groups of people, and is an advocate for social equity. She has spent many years exploring the socioeconomic and geographic exclusion of different groups of people. Likoko is one of the IFES trainees. She has worked in the development sector for many years and currently works as a policy advisor at the Wageningen University Research in the Netherlands. She has experience in anti-prostitution/human trafficking intervention, and is one of the founders of Full Circle Trust- A prevention and rehabilitation center for women in prostitution. Likoko holds a Masters’ degree in Sustainable Development from Uppsala University, and is currently a PhD candidate at the University of Amsterdam focusing on Governance and Inclusive Development. She was born and grew up in Kenya, but considers herself a global citizen, having lived in Sweden, the US and the Netherlands .

Helping international students return home

• International Students may have a great time in our country and make significant changes to life, particularly if they decide to follow Jesus. We want them to thrive not just when they are with us but also making the appropriate changes when they return home.

• Alan Tower lives in Reading, England. He and his wife Margaret have four grown up children. They are part of a Baptist Church and worked in Bolivia in the 1990s. He has some education in Politics, Biblical and Cross-Cultural Studies, and Business Administration. He is the National Director of Friends International, a ministry working with International Students in the UK and Ireland.

3D gospel - The gospel in different worldviews

• We make sure that we share the Gospel in a language that people can hear, but do we share it in a way that their hearts and minds can understand. This seminar will explore the Gospel and how to share it through the Guilt/Innocence, Honor/Shame, Fear/Power, and Clean/Unclean worldviews.

• Kevin has come to know that life with Jesus is a life not only full of joy and peace - even in difficult times, but it is also a life of adventure. Kevin has been able to go places he never imagined, meet people he never would have thought to meet, and it is all because of the Gospel! Kevin is part of the Fellowship of Christian Students in Israel (FCSI) which serves Messianic Jewish, Arabic Christian, and international Christian students studying in Israel. The FCSI’s goal is to help believing students in Israel live out Jesus’ calling in Acts 1:8 literally and together. Kevin is also an ordained pastor with the Christian Missionary Alliance. He lives with his wife and two kids in Jerusalem, not far from the Old City.

Selfcare and dealing with loneliness

• Selfcare, a word being used more and more frequently by a generation becoming increasingly aware of its impact and need. But what exactly is healthy selfcare, and how can you practise it? These questions will be discussed in the workshop, where also a specific lens will be used to look at loneliness and how to deal with it as a part of selfcare. Join this journey with Brian Welsh and Dorota Fierloos as we dive into the topics, with a realistic angle in today's world.

• Dorota Fierloos grown up as a bi-cultural mixture of Persian and Dutch blood, finding her way through different cultures conflicting and calibrating. She is enthusiastic about God's transformative power, which she believes both touches the individual and heals the nations and cultures. Her passions relate to the fields of healing, prophecy, writing, and anything legal. She longs to see the Church develop a healthy doctrine in knowing God's truths and principles in healing in body, soul, and spirit - and in such, help Christians heal in a deep level, so that the Church may make an impact on the world and guide it towards Jesus in the topic of mental and spiritual health, selfcare and the Gospel in general.

• Brian serves on the IFES Eurasia regional team. He is married to Olena and they have 3 daughters. Brian is originally from the state of Kansas (U.S.A) and lived in Kyiv, Ukraine from 1998 until the war began in February of 2022. He and his family have since relocated to Budapest, Hungary. Over his years of ministry Brian held a number of different roles with IFES Ukraine before joining the regional team in 2015. Since his time at University he has had a passion for student ministry - especially among international students. In his free time Brian enjoys watching and playing many different sports and is an avid board game player.

Spiritual Formation Through the Arts

• In an image-driven society, what role do the arts play in connecting faith and worldview? What does the Bible reveal about how God views the arts? Is art just for artists or can students from all fields of study discover and express worldview through creativity? And how can people grow closer to Jesus through engagement with the arts? Come explore these ideas and participate in a worldview and art discussion activity that you’ll be able to contextualize and bring home to your international students!

• A professor’s daughter, Diane Tyndall Nelsen grew up developing friendships among the international academic community, which led to her follow God’s invitation to international student ministry after receiving her Master of Divinity degree. She currently lives in her hometown in the United States ministering as an IFES campus staff among graduate students at her university alma mater. She is newly married to Evan, who was part of that graduate fellowship when he was a Biophysics PhD student. Diane also serves as the Assistant Director for ISM Training for InterVarsity/USA where she has the joy of walking alongside new staff as they grow together in fellowship and learning. She has a particular passion for seeing how individuals live into their God-given gifts as they explore their place in God’s Story.