Chris and Karen Cunningham

Our ministry is involved in helping to bring the good news of Jesus Christ to the thousands of international students and scholars who are studying in the United States. Our particular focus is where we live, on the campus of Penn State, in State College, PA.

Some of the ways in which we serve these very special visitors include providing help with learning to speak English, finding housing, offering free furniture furniture, sponsoring trips, and hosting lots of fun social events. For our Christian internationals we provide Bible studies, fellowship, retreats, and conferences. For non-Christian internationals we also provide opportunities to learn more about the teachings of Christ and Christianity -- for many it is their first time to seriously consider what it means to have a relationship with Jesus Christ.

We welcome all students and scholars to our activities regardless of their religious beliefs and pray that our actions will speak just as loud as our words. We know that the heart of our Savior is that all the world come to know him (Matthew 28:18-20), so we seek to show God's love in very tangible ways to the international community here at Penn State.

Recently a young man from a country where it is very dangerous to speak openly about Christianity noted that many students at Penn State were leaving campus on the Friday before Easter. He asked what was so "good" about Good Friday, and what was the meaning of Easter. This led to a long discussion about the life of Christ, including Jesus' death, burial and resurrection. This student had never heard this information before and was grateful to have an extended dialog on this topic. For many internationals, being away from their home country affords them the opportunity to investigate the teachings of Christianity for the first time.