In the Field: Speaking Their Language

Memorial Union, where Chi Alpha and English Club meet on Mizzou's campus
Photo screenshot from a video provided by Marta Payne

Saying goodbye at the bus station
Photo courtesy of Becca Clay

People milled about the station, exchanging letters and words of encouragement. Goofing off and taking pictures. They had just come from a formal end-of-school-year celebration. Now, it was time to say goodbye. Thankfully, the bus was running late, allowing them extra time to spend together before some of them returned to Japan. Outside, the rain was coming down in torrents.

Finally it was time to leave. They gathered together to pray. Those headed to the airport boarded the bus. The rain continued to pour down. As the bus pulled away, those staying behind stretched their hands forward and prayed once again. Tears were shed. They weren't just sending off their friends; they were sending off family.

"How do you do this every year?" one student asked. "Is this really what it's like all the time?"

"Yep, this is what it's all about," Becca said.

That was the end of Becca Clay's eighth year at Mizzou. Becca is a campus missionary with Chi Alpha (XA) at the University of Missouri - Columbia and Columbia College. She is the director of XAi, the ministry's outreach to international students. She joined Mizzou Chi Alpha in 2009, during her freshman year at the university. During a regular service that year, on February 23, 2010, she knew she would be dedicating her life to missions instead of continuing with her plan of becoming a math teacher. Then in her senior year, she was at missions conference, when God further confirmed that she should stay at Mizzou. "I remember getting really excited at one point and turning around to Tom and Missi, and I was like, 'I can stay right?' And they're like, 'Welcome aboard'. So I got to stay," she said.

When she graduated in 2013, she began an internship with them. In her second year, Tom asked her to begin leading XAi. In 2015, she officially joined the ministry staff.

"In that moment, you could feel the weight of how important it is to love these students every moment that you have, to sacrifice your time to allow yourself to have new, authentic, genuine relationships," Becca said of the night at the bus station. She said it was a reminder of why she does what she does.

Becca's vision for XAi is that every international student on any campus in Columbia, Missouri, would leave having heard about Jesus. That is broken down into three components.

1. They meet the needs of international students without separating from the rest of the ministry.
2. They equip international students to return to their home countries with the confidence to lead others to Jesus.
3. They teach American students that "they have XAi in them" and creating a sense of responsibility in reaching international students.

Prayer at English Club
Photo courtesy of Becca Clay

When Becca first started helping with XAi, very few American students in Chi Alpha knew any international students. According to the International Center at Mizzou, 80% of international students never enter an American home. "We've changed that statistic on our campuses over the past year or so," Becca said.

In working to reach every one of the 2,700 international students, XAi has several methods. "We meet them, and we just invite them into our lives, and we do English Club," Becca said. "To me, English Club is a welcome mat into the rest of the ministry."

In English Club, students learn common English phrases, particularly ones that won't make sense with a direct translation. Then they play a game to demonstrate an understanding of the phrase. One week, they taught the phrase "party animal." Becca said students started "flailing and dancing" during their skits that night, and they were able to bond over it further at the Halloween party later that week. Another time they learned phrases that had to do with love and relationships. One of the students demonstrated understanding of their new phrase by saying, "Everybody has eyes for Becca." "They liked to flatter me, because they thought that would get them more points," Becca said.

Becca starting a game at English Club

Video courtesy of Marta Payne

This year, there will be some changes. Taking a clue from team members who worked with a similar ministry in Indonesia, conversations at English Club will be less about games and more about the important topics of life - religion, family, culture. "My hope is that we're going to go deeper, faster, that real connections are going to be made," Becca said.

Becca with students at the XAi Thanksgiving and
Christmas dinner
Photo courtesy of Becca Clay

Students also get connected with conversation partners. They lead an Intro to Christianity class, which this year will utilize the Alpha Courses, a series that introduces people to the basics of Christianity. A banquet is hosted every year before Thanksgiving to introduce foreign students to American holiday traditions and the Christmas story. This year, Becca hopes to have one XAi team member in every small group Bible study, called delegates. Their purpose will be to connect international students to other members of the ministry.

Becca explained some of the differences in ministering to students from other countries. Many need practical help with getting around and making phone calls. Sometimes, a trip to Wal-Mart is the best chance to talk about Jesus. There are other differences though.

"A lot of these students have never heard of Jesus," Becca said. "Some of these students is as simple as sin. What is sin? Who's God? You mean there's something out there that's not me?" Even once they understand who Jesus is it can be difficult for them to make a decision.

"We have a lot of students who are so close to accepting Jesus, to making that commitment," Becca said. "And typically when students, especially students from Asian culture, they're fully committed. It's not half in, half out. It's all in. And they know that, so every decision is weighty. I have students that are weighing the cost. Choosing Jesus could mean disappointing your parents for the first time."

Mizzou's group at the national All Nations conference
Photo courtesy of Becca Clay

But Becca and her team are doing their job well. "We're starting to get recognized because we are doing things with excellence and they're seeing," Becca said. She has been able to form a relationship with the national XAi director and his wife where she can learn from them. The national director has asked for her help planning the yearly national conference as well as teaching other students and leaders how to reach international students. "I think my involvement will grow nationally," Becca said. "I really do think it's an honor, because I think it again speaks to the fruit."

Some of that fruit can be seen in the Japanese students she saw off at the bus station last year. They are returning to Japan ready to start a new Bible study on their campus. Mizzou Chi Alpha is doing what they can to help and possibly connect them with a pastor who will go work with them.

For now, Becca's plan is to stay at Mizzou Chi Alpha. But she is always checking with God if that plan should change. "I've counted, and I have friends in over 30 countries at this point. And my heart is all over the place. Every year I make deeper and deeper connections with students where it's harder and harder to say goodbye or see ya later. I have to constantly ask, 'Okay, am I supposed to go? When do I follow a student home?'," Becca said. "As far as I know, I'm here because God hasn't told me otherwise yet."

Prayer requests from Becca:

• That she would be fully supported so that she can help support other missionaries, particularly her students both foreign and domestic who end up working abroad
• For her team members to be prepared for the increased opportunities to minister this year's changes will bring
• For the students who are still counting the cost, that they would have the peace and confidence to choose Jesus

If you are interested in Becca's work, you can visit mizzouxa.com or contact me. If you are interested in being part of her support team, you can join here. You may also contact me for more information.

In God's Garden

I can't grow things. Really, plants come to my house to die. I think I've even managed to kill a succulent - the type of plant that people buy when they can't keep a plant alive. I've certainly never planted a seed and watched it produce fruit of any kind. (Except that one year when my grandpa let me help plant his garden, but let's be real. He did all the work.)

My sister, on the other hand, practically had a jungle growing out of a soda bottle once. Then my mom tried to repot it. (See? I come by my plant-killing ability honestly anyway.)

Do you think it's dead?

Every time I try to keep a plant alive, I think about my past failures. I compare it to my sister's successes. I look at my poor succulent and wonder if it's worth it to keep trying. The one that I've watered and kept near the window for sunlight. The one that I turned away from the sun thinking maybe it was leaning over because the sun was on that side, and turning it around would make it grow the other way. I really don't know what I did wrong this time.

I tend to do the same thing in my walk with God.

I look at the fruit everyone around me is producing. I see the number of people they are leading. I hear them talk about how the people they mentor are growing. Then I compare it to my own life. I look at my failures. I see all the times I've messed up. I hear all the unanswered prayers echoing around in my head.

And I wonder what I'm doing wrong.

A few weeks ago, I was reading the parable of the sower in Matthew 13. In that story, Jesus tells about a farmer who sowed his seeds. The seeds landed on all different kinds of ground, and as a result, each seed had a different harvest. Normally, the seed and harvest from the good soil stands out to me. After all, who doesn't want a multiplied harvest? But this time, it was the seed that landed among the thorns that caught my attention.

Jesus explained, "As for what was sown among thorns, this is the one who hears the Word, but the cares of the world and deceitfulness of riches choke the Word, and it proves unfruitful" (verse 22).

In the past, I have pretty much always equated "cares of the world" and "deceitfulness of riches." Or I've read about the cares of the world and thought about doing well in school or making sure all the errands are run or caring too much about the latest news. I've thought it meant worrying about what's going on in your relationships. It could mean stressing over a bad day.

This time, I realized that the cares of this world could be more. It could look like measuring someone else's fruit. It could sound like questioning how deep their roots go. Just because something sounds spiritual doesn't mean it's of God.

It's a slightly odd way to look at it, but I thought of a seed that's planted. If it had a mind of its own, the seed could focus on what's around it - dark, cold dirt; the strong, deep roots of the other plants - it's not going to grow. Those things are never going to bring it out of it's protective shell so it can begin to grow. Or the seed could focus on what is above it - the sunlight that helps produce it's food, the water that refreshes it.

More flowers that I didn't plant (in Monet's Garden)... But they remind
me of how beautifully things turn out when God works.

It is the same for us. If we see all the bad situations around us or if we focus on how well everyone else is doing, we'll stay trapped. We'll try to protect ourselves. But we don't need to stay protected. We need the Son of God. We need the Living Water. If we focus on Him, we begin to reach for Him. Instead of being choked by the cares of this world, our roots go deep into His Love and we grow into something beautiful and unique.

So, I still might not be able to rescue that succulent in my kitchen. But when it comes to my spiritual fruit, I'm ready to let it grow. I'm ready to focus my attention on the One who can make it grow instead of on all the people around me. And if we all focus on Him together, we'll have one amazing harvest in season.

Join the conversation: How have you allowed the cares of this world to choke your fruit? How do you remember to keep your focus on Jesus instead of others?