Students International is embarking on a new ministry location in California, not far from our International Service Center in Visalia, CA. Ivanhoe is a small farming community with many migrant farm workers. 

Joe and Rosie Torres have been working with and serving the people of Ivanhoe for several years and are now our field directors for SI California. They have built great relationships with families and are well respected in the community. Joe and Rosie are overjoyed to have students come and serve alongside their ministry as they bring hope and the love of Jesus to a city where poverty and lack of education are the norm.  

This past month we had our first team of fifteen students and leaders from Heritage Bible Church in Bakersfield, CA spend their Spring Break serving the community of Ivanhoe. The students put on a Vacation Bible School every morning for the children and the afternoons were filled with various projects around the community. Some were involved in a sports ministry, others painted over graffiti, and a group of students helped an elderly woman clean her yard and plant a garden.  

The team from Heritage Bible Church made an incredible impact in the community of Ivanhoe, and Joe and Rosie look forward to many more teams coming to work with them throughout the summers to come!

If you are interested in leading or joining a team to Tulare County in 2010, you can contact Shellie or Pam at the Students International Service Center at (559) 627-8923, or by email at students@stint.com.

Enjoy the pictures here

Why is SI doing outreach trips geared for adult participants? These trips help flesh out the SI calendar year when students are in school. As lifelong learners, and professionals, adults can have a lot to offer those they serve. Most importantly, the adults on these trips tell of the many ways they’ve been blessed and changed by the people they’ve been sent to serve. 

Recently, women participants have returned from Guatemala on the first ever SI all-women outreach trip. Trip leader, Janice Hansen, writes about this trip: “It is not just to students, but to the people, specifically the poor, of Guatemala to whom Students International has been called. The SI staff represent the constant presence of Jesus and His unconditional love as they oversee ministry sites and welcome outreach participants. Like student outreach participants, we come alongside the staff as an extension of what they do year round. As adults and professionals, however, we are also available as resources to their individual sites. Helping with their projects, teaching English, vaccinating cows, making paper maché globes are just ways to continue in the building of individual relationships. In so doing, we are earning the trust and love of the people and opening the door to sharing the good news of Jesus.”

In February 2009, Students International hosted the first ever Women’s Outreach! Women of all ages gathered in Guatemala to experience God work in and through them. Women from California, Texas, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic and Guatemala spent a week ministering in occupational ministry sites and sharing a home and their lives with Guatemalan families. There were many opportunities for corporate worship, sharing life stories, and testifying to God’s faithfulness!  The week was full of exciting adventures!  The women saw the first water purification system created by Matt MacIntire for the homes in El Gorrion and it was the first outreach with the new media site up and running!  Many members of the outreach also helped with the El Gorrion medical clinic where over 100 men, women and children from the community received much needed medical care.  The outreach was lead by Janice Hansen, with co-leaders Pam Christy and Shellie Bowman, and the Students International Guatemala staff.

See the photo Gallery here

Note from the President:

Early spring presents a unique opportunity for Students International as our field ministries have time to grow and develop before the “rush” of students over spring break and continuing over the summer. We have discovered that this is a great time for adults to go and work alongside our staff, to bless and to be blessed by them. Our adult outreach participants offer professional insights to our staff as well as build relationships among participants.

My wife, Janice, just returned from one of these trips to Guatemala. This happened to be the first “women only” SI trip! The women staff from Guatemala and Costa Rica was invited to participate in all aspects of the outreach. They were also joined by Maggie Slabach from the Dominican Republic. It was such a blessing to all 38 women who participated.

I will soon be leaving for the “men’s only” SI trip to Costa Rica. This has always proven to be a great blessing and adventure as we live and work in community while experiencing what God is doing in another culture. The invitation is always open for you to join us in the future!

“Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children and live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.” Ephesians 5:1 & 2

See photo gallery here

See photo gallery here