God is at work through you to accomplish his great purposes. Though ministry looks very different this year, we are still hearing of students turning to Jesus. If/When a student you are working with decides to follow Jesus, please send an email to with their full name, date and a brief story of their journey to faith.

Participation from many nations has increased this fall. It is much more common to see students from Hindu or Muslim countries participating in IFI activities. Please pray with us that we will continue to grow in favor with God and people.

In answer to your prayers, we have had 2 very successful mini-events with dozens of great spiritual conversations taking place. For the Hocking Hills trip in mid October, over 30 volunteers were matched with 88 students from Argentina, Benin, China, Colombia, Egypt, India, Indonesia, Iran, S. Korea, Malaysia, Nepal, Pakistan, Singapore, Taiwan, UAE and Vietnam. Walking through the beautiful creation led to meaningful discussions with students from Egypt and China about the source and purpose of life.

See some event pictures: HOCKING HILLS

For the Pumpkin Carving parties last weekend we had 17 volunteers that were matched with 47 students from Argentina, Bangladesh, Benin, China, India, Indonesia, Iran, Lebanon, Nepal, Pakistan, Taiwan, and Vietnam! I was privileged to host students on both Friday and Saturday. On Friday, we hosted 6 students from India and China, most of whom had never carved a pumpkin before. We had a great time sitting by the fire in my fireplace after dinner talking through a passage from Matthew 6 on being salt and light (trying to pick up on the theme of lighting pumpkins). On Saturday, we hosted 7 students from Indonesia, Iran and Bangladesh. God is opening the doors to longer term relationships with Hindu and Muslim students so that they can see the word of God and answers to prayer.

See some event pictures: PUMPKIN CARVING

--Phil (IFI Columbus City Director)