By Dirk Wiese, Pastor, Redeemer Church
The Good Life College Ministry has had numerous events and meals that allowed for more interactions with international students from across the world. Recently, we hosted a hot pot meal in one of our homes. A hot pot meal is a communal meal that is easy to set up and execute. We had one of our Chinese friends set up and prep the meal (highly recommended!). A hot pot uses an electric skillet to continually cook food throughout the meal. Once food is cooked and eaten more is added.
We hosted several of our Chinese friends over for the meal and hanging out afterwards. We have been building relationships with some of these students for over a year and we were able see the relationships grow even more with a simple meal that they love and were able to share with us. They were able to teach us about the specific food used, how to cook it, and how to eat it. At the same time we were able to ask more questions about their culture, share stories, and laugh together. We are continuing these gatherings for more conversations that lead to the gospel and for them to experience the people of God serving them.
We are also excited about being connected to the greater Chinese community in the Cedar Valley. Some of the students are married to employees at the John Deere facilities in the Cedar Valley and have given our church members who work at Deere an easy in-road for them to connect with their co-workers and show them gospel hospitality. This has been a huge blessing from God as we have brought focus to reaching the nations across the world. We know that some of us will go as missionaries, but God is also bringing the nations to us! We are looking forward to the future opportunities of connecting with these new friends and seeing God move in power.
