- Pray -
Why it's key to get God in on the ground floor, and tips on how to do it well.
“The earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and produces wonderful results.”--James 5:16 (NLT)
“Prayer is a privilege. It is a powerful tool. Without it you will be a foolish worker in the fields of the dead. Pray and ask the Lord of the harvest to raise the dead to life. Bend your knees in fellowship with your Lord. Let Him wash you in His presence and fill you with the Holy Spirit. Prayer is where you meet Him. Prayer is where you are shaped. Pray.”
—Matt Slick, The Importance of Prayer in Evangelism, Christian Apologetics & Research Ministry (CARM)
Prayer is the foundation for any Kingdom endeavor. As expressed above, “without it you will be a foolish worker in the fields of the dead.” Prayer opens the door for God to release His full purpose and power in any human effort. Why miss this advantage?
So, if God has placed the stirrings to develop an IWC on your heart, first put it before God in prayer. Ask Him to put the names of like-minded people on your heart and give you the means to contact them. Ask Him to be moving on their hearts at the same time. Prioritize building a cohesive prayer team that is committed to regularly praying with you.
In this age of busy lives, it may be impossible to bring together several people in a single place to pray on a regular basis. While you might consider a twice-annual meeting for those involved to see one another face-to-face, it’s important to approach this issue of consistent, group prayer with creativity. With all the online tools available to us now, praying together consistently can happen virtually. Think about pursuing the following:
“Prayer is a privilege. It is a powerful tool. Without it you will be a foolish worker in the fields of the dead. Pray and ask the Lord of the harvest to raise the dead to life. Bend your knees in fellowship with your Lord. Let Him wash you in His presence and fill you with the Holy Spirit. Prayer is where you meet Him. Prayer is where you are shaped. Pray.”
—Matt Slick, The Importance of Prayer in Evangelism, Christian Apologetics & Research Ministry (CARM)
Prayer is the foundation for any Kingdom endeavor. As expressed above, “without it you will be a foolish worker in the fields of the dead.” Prayer opens the door for God to release His full purpose and power in any human effort. Why miss this advantage?
So, if God has placed the stirrings to develop an IWC on your heart, first put it before God in prayer. Ask Him to put the names of like-minded people on your heart and give you the means to contact them. Ask Him to be moving on their hearts at the same time. Prioritize building a cohesive prayer team that is committed to regularly praying with you.
In this age of busy lives, it may be impossible to bring together several people in a single place to pray on a regular basis. While you might consider a twice-annual meeting for those involved to see one another face-to-face, it’s important to approach this issue of consistent, group prayer with creativity. With all the online tools available to us now, praying together consistently can happen virtually. Think about pursuing the following:
- Use an email list to share prayer requests so people are praying on their own at anytime, and use it to set up regular group prayer times using the tools below.
- Use a conference call service like Freeconference.com to set up a weekly or monthly prayer time with all prayer team members, free of charge.
- Use the conference call feature on Skype to accomplish the same thing.
- Survey Your Area & Resources -
When you have a good idea of who and what's available in your area, you can move forward in confidence.
You’ll want to first survey the area to discern how to best plan for your IWC. Here are some ideas to get started:
- Check Open Doors or contact our Volunteer Services Department to find out how many international students are on your campus.
- Connect with the International Student Adviser (ISA) to see if you can determine how many wives of international students there might be.
- Ask the ISA if he/she knows of any felt needs of international wives he/she sees that are not being met yet and if the International Student office would help you advertise.
- Ask international students whom you know to connect you with international wives and other international student women. Ask what their needs and interests are.
- Find out if there are Conversational English classes being offered for students and if any international wives are attending.
- Discern what outreach to international wives and women students there are from other campus ministries and churches. Also, determine what felt needs and interests these women have that are currently not being addressed by other individuals and groups.
- Recruit a team of women that is also committed to this outreach. Their gifts and desires will help form the type of outreach you will have.
- Develop Your Outreach Plan -
Many ideas fail for lack of a good plan. Don't let yours be one of them!
Luis Palau offers a challenge to us all: “Dream big dreams, plan big plans, pray big prayers!” When we focus on the God we serve and His heart for the international women in our midst, let’s trust God for amazing outreach opportunities!
Once you’ve assembled your prayer team, have people praying for direction in your ministry, and you’ve surveyed the area/ resources, you’re now ready to develop an outreach plan for your IWC.
Here are some questions to ask:
Write out a schedule for accomplishing your goals. Be specific for Year 1 and broader for Years 2 & 3.
Check out a special resource prepared specifically for you. It is our International Women's Connection Manual, which you can download as a PDF. You can also access a sample manual for your leadership team from one of our IWC ministry groups.
Once you’ve assembled your prayer team, have people praying for direction in your ministry, and you’ve surveyed the area/ resources, you’re now ready to develop an outreach plan for your IWC.
Here are some questions to ask:
- What did our survey tell us about the number of international student women and wives and the needs they have?
- What resources do we have? (Current ministries, people, buildings, ideas, skills, etc.)
- Who might we need to recruit?
- What skills are we missing on our current team?
- Who is going to lead this ministry (team leader and ministry team)?
- Brainstorm what you would like your ministry to look like over the next three to five years. (Think big!)
- What can we do successfully in Year 1? Year 2? Year 3?
- From where will the finances come to carry out this plan?
Write out a schedule for accomplishing your goals. Be specific for Year 1 and broader for Years 2 & 3.
Check out a special resource prepared specifically for you. It is our International Women's Connection Manual, which you can download as a PDF. You can also access a sample manual for your leadership team from one of our IWC ministry groups.
- Choose Your Communication Strategy -
So many different ways to communicate. What are your options? Which work best
How will you connect with international women?
Ask students and wives for their ideas. Here we offer some of ours:
Ask students and wives for their ideas. Here we offer some of ours:
- Ask the International Student Office to advertise your events.
- Ask professors to promote among their students.
- Post advertising flyers in areas students and wives frequent (with permission, as needed).
- Ask apartment complex managers to advertise for you.
- Word of mouth is always the best. Ask international women that you know to promote for you. Provide them with small invites with all the information that they can carry in purses and backpacks to give to other women.
- Build an email list of contacts.
- Start a Facebook page for women to connect.
- Use this Facebook page to invite women to events.
- Advertise at all events. If, for example, you have a regular Conversational English class, advertise an upcoming trip or cooking class.
- Always encourage attendees to be attentive to wives that are alone in their apartments or homes and to invite them.
- Be sure you have a plan to follow-up with those who come and have something else (another activity or event) into which to include them.
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