Conversation Partners for International Students

Looking for a way to develop relationships with international students? Do you have a few committed students that would love to build a relationship with an international student for the purpose of sharing the gospel?

What is a Conversation Partner?
A Conversation Partner is an American student or adult that agrees to meet regularly with an international student and help them with their English and their understanding of American culture. How should the program be set-up? A Conversation Partner program is not difficult to begin. Here are a few helpful hints for beginning a program from scratch:

1. Before you begin a program, check with the university and see if there is a real need for this at your university. Some universities provide international students with Conversation Partners as part of their study.

2. Determine your parameters for volunteer Conversation Partners. What are your levels of expectation for a Conversation Partner? Do you need to provide orientation or would you prefer to keep it informal?

3. Determine how you will recruit American volunteers for your program. Are you a campus minister with instant access to students or do you serve or work in a local church with people interested in ministering to international students. Make sure that you have enough volunteers to meet the possible demand. Campus Ministers can easily recruit college students on campus to serve in this ministry role.

4. Determine how you will inform/recruit international students for the Conversation Partner program. Publicity for and recruitment of international students is different than American students. Publicity should be in simple and clear English and/or in additional languages. If you have a large number of students that speak a particular language you might want to have part of a flier translated into that language. Contact the Baptist Collegiate Minister on the campus where you are interested in ministering and ask for their advice and help for publicity to international students. Be creative with publicity and make sure to abide by university regulations. You will catch more bees with honey than vinegar!

5. Begin to pray in advance for open doors and interest among international students.

6. Set a start date for your Conversation Partner program that is near the beginning of the semester. Fall and Spring semesters will probably work better than Summer semesters.

7. Assign students with a partner and contact both partners quickly and ask the American partner to arrange a meeting with the international student within one week.

8. Set up a central e-mail account and phone number that can be used on all publicity. If you have a web page, you can allow students to sign up and get information from your page.

9. Train American Conversation Partners. Holding a training session will allow you to clearly explain expectations for Conversation Partners and also allow the Conversation Partners time to ask questions. It is good to have Conversation Partners sign a contract for their ministry time that outlines expectations and information in the event of a problem with their partner.

10. Get resourced!

Click here >>>>Conversation_Partner_Agreement.pdf to view a sample Conversation Partner Agreement.

Click here >>>>>>>Creative_Ideas_for_Conversation_Partners.pdf to view a sample list of creative ideas of things to do with their Conversation Partner.

Click here for web resources on witnessing to people from different religions.

Conversation Partner ministry is an excellent ministry that allows Christians to spend one-on-one time with international students in the hopes of meeting a felt need of the international student and also opening a door for an opportunity to share the love of Christ.