Welcoming the Nations & Equipping Kingdom Ambassadors

Dear Friends,
The ancient Chinese classic, Tao Te Ching, says: “At that time, the broken will be made perfect; the bent will be made straight; the empty will be filled; those who having little will obtain much; and those having much will be overcome.”  This thought captures the reality we all know, and have been feeling acutely the last few months, namely that our world is broken and we suffer emptiness as a result.  But the hope RUF International at UT holds out to our Chinese friends - and friends of EVERY culture and color - is not that some impersonal cosmic principle will make the crooked paths straight and the rough places smooth.  Rather, it’s that God, through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, was Himself broken for us to heal our brokenness, and to fill us with the joy of his presence forever.

Hello Hangout After the Hangover

Nothing about the late spring and early summer has been easy, except the commute to work (10 steps from my coffee maker to the desk in the garage!).  We canceled our last 5 in-person events, including our annual “Finish Line” party.  We have done lots of “Zooming” around, like many of you have, trying hard to stay connected with lonely, struggling international friends.  We did have the privilege of bringing the party to them on the night of May 2, as we delivered Yassin’s Falafel to 50 friends from 16 countries.  But what a special joy this past Sunday night was to carefully welcome a group of 35 to the Yates’ home for an outdoor “Hello Summer Hangout”.  Many that came shared what a relief it was to be together once again, after battling the mental and emotional fog of lockdown for so long.

Signs of Growth

In international student ministry it’s not every day, or even every month, that we encounter students hungry to grow in their Christian faith, since more than 95% of our global guests are from non-Christian backgrounds.  But lately we’ve been truly encouraged!  Anto and Isi from Chile asked if they could read the whole Bible with us over the summer, and Anto even quipped: “I did the math…it would mean 12 chapters a day!”  Fabian from Costa Rica said he’s going to begin reading The Reason for God by Tim Keller after I told him our staff was going through it together.  Leticia from Guatemala is just beginning the Jesus Storybook Bible.  Anastasiia from Russia is jumping into Women of the Word.  And after our spring Bible study ended, Mariana from Sudan told me she’d been reading through the Old Testament Prophets during her devotional time.  Praise be to God for how He is at work through His Word - the Gospel of Grace! 

Glancing Back

We rejoice that this past year, with your help,  RUF International at UT was able to welcome 377 students from 62 countries!  Our Staff and volunteer ministry team have been privileged to serve them in many ways, like: hosting events, teaching English, delivering meals, opening our homes, making grocery store & airport runs, listening in times of anxiety & grief, celebrating milestones together, as well as exploring the global Hope Jesus has come to be from those from ALL nations.  Thanks for your vital prayers and for your indispensable financial support!  We’re especially grateful of your sacrifice in these challenging days.

The last year has been a bit of a roller coaster, following the June 19th house fire the night we moved into our new rental.  Now, 4 hotels and 7 dwellings later, we feel overwhelmed by all the boxes to unpack and improvements to be made - Jen’s time to shine!  Yet, we’re grateful for how God met us at each step and also to finally be in our new home in our old neighborhood.  Our hope here is that the Gospel of grace becomes more embedded in our hearts and expressed through our lives to those the Lord connects us with.   

Our other huge news - he is 6’4” - is that Phillip officially graduates high school on June 18 and will begin The University of Tennessee in August.  That will make 2 of us walking the campus! He’s lifeguarding and working as a mover this summer, apparently in order to help keep Sonic and Cookout in business (!).  Daniel is halfway through Wheaton College and looking forward to getting into his Bus/Econ “major” classes, as well as finally being healthy enough to get on the football field (fingers crossed his team still has their season!).  Our girls love being able now to walk to the pool with friends each day and rotate houses to sleep at with them.  Annie is soaring at art and excited about MS volleyball practice starting soon.  Neissa “dove” into swim team this week, and has been working hard in hopes of making the cheer squad for Bearden MS as a rising 6th grader.  Both girls were troopers with quarantined homeschooling.

Prayer & Praise

-Praise for getting to reconnect with a group of international friends on June 7 after 3 months of Covid-necessitated separation!
-Pray for new international students to be able to obtain visas so they can enter U.S. universities (including UT) this fall
-Praise for finally moving into our new home on June 8 and all the ways God cared for us this past year after the fire. Pray for patience, as it needs lots of TLC!
-Pray we reach our $4,800 funding goal by Aug. 1 to meet higher expenses for our 2020 budget
-Pray for a rich summer of relationship building with International students & scholars
-Pray our staff will find spiritual refreshment this summer & renewed ministry vision for fall.

In Their Own Words…

"This is the first time I’ve ever sat down with a priest…ever…in 28 years!”
(Grad student from Latin America)
“There is no good life on earth; it’s only in paradise.  Imagine if at the end we won’t go to paradise.” (former PhD student from N. Africa)
“I received the gift card. Thank you so much. Although I have to say that the real gift was getting to hang out with you guys. It was so much fun and I really enjoyed it. It made my day. Thanks a lot for all you do!”
(“AB” - PhD student from India)

Lee and Jen Leadbetter
RUF-i at UT