FI: expanding support
Despite a fall in numbers, the Christian
organisation, Friends International
(FI),
has expanded its support for international
students.
Online courses and a bespoke mobile app
to support students are ready to roll out
in September for the new student cohort.
Southampton University invited in the FI
team because
it
recognised
the problems
facing
international
students,
including
protective measures
restricting access
to
relaxed socialising which will still be in place at the start of term.
Friends International: plans to expand
In response to the rapidly growing numbers of international students, Friends International announced an ambitious set of plans to expand its network of local centres to provide friendship and support to thousands more international students living and studying in the United Kingdom and Ireland.
The current network of 40 centres reached 11,000 students for the Gospel in 2019. But Alan Tower, National Director of Friends International, said: ‘We are only scratching at the surface and the sheer number of international students demands an increased presence’.
To every nation in the UK
2017 saw 11 Friends International summer teams in seven cities across the UK and Ireland with hundreds of volunteers coming together to befriend, serve and study the Bible with international students.
In Bournemouth, around 50 people joined the first evening meeting, which included a traditional cream tea and a quiz about the Royal Family. Numbers fluctuated through the rest of the week, but some guests came back every night. A small group of students joined members of the team for a Bible discussion. Many of the students were from countries where studying the Bible would have been dangerous or impossible. On the first evening, seven young men from Saudi Arabia joined in. Later in the week there were students from Oman, Turkey, Slovakia, the Czech Republic, China and Taiwan.
