This summer, international students and scholars from 29 countries attended the TRUE Leadership Conference in California, an event sponsored by our Deep Common Journey partner, International Students, Inc. (ISI). We had members and one student serving at the event as leaders thanks to financial assistance from Blacknall: Tanya and Dan Kronstad and Andre Chan. You can hear about their experience and the conference's impact on students during our services this Sunday, Aug. 10.
The annual conference creates cross-cultural experiences for people from around the world to find friendship, develop leadership skills, and receive mentorship to enhance their lives and careers. Throughout the conference, the Blacknall team heard from international students how group bonding activities and speakers helped them feel connected with one another, learn skills in humility and trust, and gain self-confidence to express themselves in new ways.
Tanya, the TRUE Leadership Conference organizer, said that an exercise in considering and practicing forgiveness was particularly moving.
“Watching students learn about the power of forgiveness in the morning, giving them space to write a forgiveness letter in the afternoon, and watching some of those letters be burned in the campfire in the evening was a powerful visual of the transformation occurring in our midst at TRUE,” she said.
Dan, who works as ISI’s Area Director for North Carolina, South Carolina, and Virginia, highlighted the value of being a part of an event like TRUE thanks to Blacknall’s Deep Common Journey partnership with the organization.
“God has been and continues to transform the lives of students and volunteers,” he said. “The faithful prayers and generous financial gifts from Blacknall have aided us in ministering to international students. ”
As many international students arrive in Durham this month for college, Blacknall members and friends are invited to welcome and bless them.
You can join on Wednesdays at 1 p.m. as we pray for Blacknall's campus ministry. During a 20-minute prayer session on Zoom, everyone is welcome to ask the Lord for guidance in how our church can steward our location near East Campus faithfully and to minister to nearby students.
Volunteer with our ISI team to host international students for dinner or help them with shopping needs at grocery stores. Email Ron Manila for more information.
See more from the TRUE Leadership Conference in this video: