Chinese Family Christmas Guests

The International Friendship Ministry presents the chance to share our love for Christ with a “mission field” that God brings to our doorsteps. Hosts can make an impact on a university student’s life for eternity by reflecting Christ’s love to him/her.


This year 50 international students (and family members) from universities around the country came to Orlando area for the holidays, some who did not know about Christmas. Students stay with Christian families, attend church and experience Christmas celebrations with them, visit area attractions with the IFM group. Students attend a conference on Christmas Eve where they hear the Creation Story, the Christmas Story and the Story of the crucifixion and resurrection. All the students actually learn to tell the Christmas story.

December 22-30, 2008 I hosted a family of 3 from Beijing, China in my condo via International Friendship Ministry. Jin, the mother, is a PhD student in electrical engineering at Univ. of SC in Columbia. With Jin were husband Goa and 13-year old son Jonson.

~ Jin enjoys cooking and I love Chinese food. It was fun learning to make pork dumplings and egg drop soup.

~ We attended a beautiful Christmas Eve service at Northland, A Church Distributed and the family went with me Sunday morning to New Beginnings (formerly First Church of God, Orlando).

~ Jin's family joined the Caldwell (two missing from pic) and Schaeffer/Bryant families and I for Christmas dinner.

~ Sunday afternoon we walked around Downtown Disney and visited in a nursing home a 90-year old blind widow from my church. They shared New Years greetings in Chinese.

~Jonson and I both love jigsaw puzzles, we all put together a 700-piece sea scene puzzle with Orca whales.

To help encourage the family spiritually I gave them reading material: Jon-NIV Teen Study Bible; Goa-The Power of Praying Through the Bible, Omartian; Jin-Become A Better You, Osteen (a favorite author of hers).