“awesome trip!!!!!” – Student

“I just want to thank you for the perfect weekend. We had a lot of fun this weekend and I am sure that none of us will ever forget this trip” – Another Space Weekend Student

(see pictures & video) This last weekend was a very special weekend for me. Over 100 international student from both the DFW area and the Houston area had the privilege of going to visit the NASA Space center and also meet an astronaut at this special event sponsored by ISI in both Houston and the DFW area. We left early Saturday morning for houston from campuses around the metroplex and after much traffic arrived at the Space center around 2 PM. We toured the Johnson Space Center, and enjoyed the museum. We then stopped for dinner at various restaurants in the area. Some of us ate pizza, other ate Vietnamese food, some hamburgers… I personally ate mediterranean food with some Persian, Indian/Kuwaiti, and American friends and had a great time learning about this new cuisine.

“The student went to meet the astronaut but returned with a new deep friendship with their host families that they will never forget.”– A staff colleague…

We then went to University Baptist Church where we met Astronaut Steve Nagel (he is married to Astronaut Linda Godwin who also was there and they were host families too). It was really cool when we arrived, the student got their first taste of the loving hospitality of their host famlies as the host famlies stood in a row a the door, expectantly holding up signs with their students’ names. It was an amazing gesture of love and care. For many of the students, this was first time in a Christian church and there were a bit of nerves. One of my Persian friends asked a lot of questions about churches… it seems the most prevelant question was, “what is the difference between the different types of Christian churches.”

After pictures with Nagel (see pics), the students hear a talk about his experience as an astronaut and about the space program and then the Pastor of the church gave a very well done presentation of the story of the Bible leading to talking about Jesus and who He is. It was genuine, gentle and yet all truth. The students were presented with the opportunity to receive a video about Jesus and we were touched by how many of the students took them. It was very encouraging. You could also see how the host families were already bonding with the students as they sat together and the “parents” really made sure the students know what was going on. This translated to some wonderful contact time between he students and their host families and they all went home after the presentation. I wish we all could have heard some of the conversations. The next day, when we all met together again, it was clear really bonding was happening.

The next day, after visiting the host families’ the students visited the churches of their host families and were exposed to “regular church” and we all went to the beautiful bay boardwalk city of Kemah to enjoy more time together and for lunch. As I walked with friends, it was fun watching the students and American hosts almost operating like one family. Finally, we met, took a picture and boarded our buses and cars to go home. One of the cool things that happened at Kemah… I was waiting with the host families coordinator and some of our team to be seated for lunch. The coordinator got a call from her daughter as we were talking. She took it and we found out one of the Korean students who was a regular part of fellowships had prayed to accept Christ with her host families. WOW! It really reminded us about what this is all about!

Another interesting story… The trip started in an interesting way. Before we even left, we weren’t sure we would have enough housing or rides for all the students. As late as Tuesday, I have seen God work in miraculous ways in this regard in the past but it is always nerve racking until the very last minute. This was no exception. The Tuesday before the trip itself, we had only enough beds for 80 people with 120 people signed up. We were prepared to have our staff and volunteers sleep on floors of people’s homes and in church gyms but we were still short on housing for the students. I even reserved a motel room for a few of our staff. By the time we arrived, we had enough room for all the students AND volunteers with some space to spare. I even HAD TO cancel the motel room…:-) It was amazing. The transportation issues were just as amazingly taken care of. As many of our partnering ministries, including BSM, Salvation Army, Church ministries, Campuses without even a student, student volunteers etc. came together and provided the needed transportation to bring these 100+ students down. It was truly amazing to see the Body of Christ working together to be the Body of Christ.

For follow-up, we have set up a facebook group where student, hosts, volunteers and staff alike can share pictures, videos, swap stories,  and there is already some traffic including pictures, videos etc. The friendships made on this trip will likely last for a long time. What an amazing trip! God is Good!