AMY: Leading Through Friendship by Amy Moldenhauer My business card says Director, International Friends Ministry, St. Matthew Lutheran Church, Walled Lake, Michigan. International Friends serves hundreds of international families, most of whom are Japanese brought to the Detroit area for three- to five-year business stays. As director, I spend a lot of time writing lessons, leading English conversation classes, training volunteers and planning for the ministry. But perhaps the largest part of my time is spent simply being a friend. A typical week for me might include having a conversation in the hallway with an international woman who's been invited to an American graduation open house and is unsure about what to bring, responding to an email from an international friend who has returned to Japan and is missing her life in Michigan, or fielding phone calls from new arrivals who have heard about our program. Sometimes I am called for an emergency. "I had car accident," I hear a shaky voice say. Even though I can't speak Japanese, I can speak slow, simple English and be a familiar face on the scene to help in a conversation with a police officer or explain what it means to get a ticket. I have even had to dial 911 from my office when an international friend called in a panic because her two-year-old was accidentally locked in their van. I've been delighted to be the very first person to hear, "I have a secret. I'm pregnant!" I have also cried with my friends when they break the news that they will be moving back to their home country. Before serving at International Friends Ministry, I learned first-hand the importance of friendship in an unfamiliar culture. I spent two years as a missionary teaching English in Slovakia through LCMS World Missions. God taught me the value of having good Slovak friends who could gently correct my cultural blunders and help me understand the world in which I lived. I experienced how much it means to have a native-speaker accompany me to a hospital, where systems and equipment don't look like the doctor's office at home. Many times I was in the uncomfortable situation of being the only adult in the room who had a smaller vocabulary than a two-year-old (and much worse pronunciation). I found myself in some pretty difficult and occasionally scary situations. But God showed me I could trust in Him because He always provides, and frequently that provision came through the kind heart of a Slovak friend or even stranger. I think Jesus understood the importance of caring friendship. By meeting the physical or emotional needs of hurting people, He freed them to receive spiritual healing as well. This principle really hits home for our Japanese friends, who feel like strangers in a strange land. Since Japan is less than one percent Christian, most of the men, women and children who walk through our church doors do not have a saving relationship with Jesus. They may never have heard the real story of Easter! So why would they bother to spend their time in a church, hanging out with Christians? Because their needs are being met-needs for friendship, English language practice and increased understanding of American culture. Then, through friendships with the American Christians, they also learn about God's unconditional love for them. Leviticus 19:33-34 says, When an alien lives with you in your land, do not mistreat him. The alien living with you must be treated as one of your native-born. Love him as yourself, for you were aliens in Egypt. I am the LORD your God. That directive from God's Word has been an inspiration for International Friends Ministry since its beginning about 11 years ago, when a handful of women from St. Matthew noticed the large numbers of international people in the area and felt called to reach out to this local mission field. Without really knowing what to do, they simply invited some Japanese women over for coffee and conversation. It was so much fun that they met again the next month. The monthly visits grew into weekly chats. The international women brought friends and more friends. What began as a group of seven American women and 14 Japanese women, turned into a variety of classes that serve more than 400 men, women and children each week. So what about you? You might not have many stamps in your passport, but you probably have had experience with moving into a new community or being the new person at work or going off to college or joining a new church. At some point in our lives, we've all been outsiders, needing help from someone on the inside. Look around you. Is there someone waiting for your friendship? Is there someone who needs to see God's love in action through you? God can use you to impact the eternal future of someone outside the fold. You may be just the person through whom God will reveal Himself to someone who does not yet know Him. Maybe God will call you to a foreign mission field, like He called me for two years. Or maybe He'll call you to put on the coffee pot and invite your neighbor over to practice her English. And through a cup of coffee and your gentle care, your friend can encounter God's awesome love.