The World at Your Door: Reaching International Students in Your Home, Church, and School

Tom Phillips and Bob Norsworthy are both executives with International Students, Incorporated. "The World at Your Door" is written as an introduction to IS: its purpose, its importance, and how one can get involved. Every year, students from other countries come to the United States to study at our colleges and universities and earn bachelors, masters, or doctoral degrees, and even engage in post-doctoral work. They are the "cream of the crop" in their countries and will often go on to be leaders in government, the military, industry, banking, education, etc. Their time in the United States will influence their opinion on this country and Christianity for the rest of their lives (they often come from "closed" countries like China and Middle Eastern nations). Phillips and Norsworthy point these facts out to the reader and introduce the many needs such international students have. Chief among these needs is friendship and guidance. These international student leave friends and family behind (sometimes even spouse and children) and enter a country where norms, customs, language, and...just about everything else takes tremendous effort to get used to. Loneliness and depression are common among new international students. ISI matches Christian Americans up with international students for weekly to monthly conversation (practicing English), fellowship/friendship, mutual learning, and cultural exchange (including introducing the international student to Christianity). The book is well written. It depicts the situation the international student faces in a way that makes the reader's heart go out to him/her. It gives a great deal of practical advice, common pitfalls (e.g. ethnocentrism, lack of commitment, pushiness), and shows that friendship with an international student is beneficial, fun, and easy for both parties. It is assumed that the American friend would be desirous to share his faith in Christ with the non-Christian international student, and the book gives helpful advice concerning how this might be done. There are few negative aspects of "The World at Your Door." The only one that comes readily to mind is that the beginning and closing several chapters tend to read like a commercial for ISI as opposed to a "how to" for American friends of international students. I understand that ISI can help the American-international relationship in many ways, but the fact that pages were saturated with references to ISI products and services was overkill. Nevertheless, this negative aspect of the book did not detract greatly from the book's overall purpose and methodology. I recommend it to Christians who live near universities, colleges, and even junior/community colleges. It provides helpful, practical advice for initiating and building relationships with international students, and also about sharing your faith with these willing and eager audiences.