As we approach another Christmas season, celebrating the birth of our Savior, our hearts are full of gratitude. The Lord has blessed IFM over the years with such incredible ministry partners, prayer warriors and dedicated volunteers. Because of your support over the years, we've impacted over 7,000 internationals from approximately 150 nations and continue to serve 100+ countries annually!
We are blessed with such a unique opportunity in our city to share the love of Jesus with people from all over the world! We praise God for placing us, you and all of our international friends here for such a time as this!
Posted below are a few recent testimonials. We hope these encourage you as a friend and partner of IFM. We also hope you will prayerfully consider supporting IFM this Christmas season as all gifts are being matched up to $50,000 for operations and up to $400,000 for our capital campaign to purchase a new ministry center!
Your prayers and support are vital to this ministry. We can't do this without you.
We are praying for you.
With great appreciation,
The IFM Team
Testimonials
"I am thankful to God and to the people who make it possible for IFM to reach and lend support to the international families. It has been a beautiful experience for our family to participate in the different activities they offered at IFM. When I arrived in the USA from Honduras I had many expectations but also was apprehensive about many things, nevertheless once my husband and I plugged into the IFM international Bible studies, we made many friends and learned a lot about spiritual matters. We have learned so much about the scriptures and have also found peace in our lives as a result. My husband is a different person since we came here. He even wanted us to pray together after he started going to the men’s Bible study at IFM. Sometimes he even calls me from work if a difficult situation arises and wants me to pray with him—before he never wanted to do that.
ESL Classes have helped me improve my English a lot. The teachers teach us many practical things that help us in our daily life—grocery shopping, going to the doctor, talking to teachers at school. The teachers convey a sense of God’s presence to us. Sometimes if I go worried about something, I’m comforted by being in the class. Now my whole family has started going to a church that teaches the Bible and they look forward to going every Sunday. Before in our country they didn’t like going to church. Our family started praying together at dinner. Now each of the children chooses a Bible verse and reads it and talks about it. Many changes have happened in our family because of all the things we have learned. I am certain that God is preparing us to do great things once we go back to our country. This preparation has come because of IFM, and we hope we will get an opportunity to serve in our country, and so glorify God this way. Thank you for making us feel at home. You will always be in our hearts." - Denia
"My family and I are so thankful for being welcomed here. The previous family from Chile told us about International Friendship Ministries. The wife said, “Make sure you participate in the Ladies’ Bible Study because that has been a wonderful experience for me.” She also told a friend from Honduras to let me know when the Bible studies began. My husband also started attending the Men’s Bible Study which Mr. Ron led. We have loved the weekly Bible studies! We feel God is talking to us personally during the classes. Though I had attended church regularly in our country, when I started studying the Bible through IFM, I realized I really didn’t know the Lord, but now I do! What a difference this has made in my life! I have learned more the past few months than 40 years in my country. We wish we could stay in this country so we can learn more about the Bible. When I went to the Bible study group, I also learned about the English classes which were offered. I started going to the classes and really enjoyed them. The teachers were very well prepared and motivated us a lot. I feel I have learned more from these English classes than the college English classes I took.
Our children, ages 5 and 9, have also started going to the church where the English classes are. They love the Awana class and learning the Bible verses in the church. One week my son had to miss class and his teacher sent him a card. He was so excited when he received it, “Look Mommy! They missed me! I have to go back next week!” At night before my children go to bed, we go over their Bible verses again with them. God has changed our lives here in Columbus. I’m looking forward to sharing what I have learned with my family and friends in Chile." - Eliana
"My name is Sandra, and I am from El Salvador. I usually don't talk about my private life. But this time I think it's worth sharing with you one of the most rewarding experiences my husband and I have had in our lives, which is to have had the opportunity of being part of International Friendship Ministries. For José and me, it was a great experience because we not only had the chance to meet wonderful people from many countries, but we also met Jesus. We learned and understood that up to that time our lives had no reason and we were living a life without purpose. Meeting Ron and Carole Collins made our lives take a 180 degree turn, for which we will be eternally grateful. Learning from the Lord made us see life from a totally different perspective. God is never wrong. Without realizing it, He prepares us for the hard battles that life brings us, and gives us the weapons to fight those battles. For example, the fact that José came to know Christ while in Columbus helped prepare him to serve as Director of the military academy in our country, which was a huge responsibility. Growing spiritually also helped prepare him for his promotion to become General, which is the highest rank militarily speaking. I'm sure the Lord strengthened and prepared him to be able to achieve all this. On the other hand, two years ago I fought against stage four terminal cancer, and I'm sure that without His mercy I would not have succeeded. Now after all the hard times we’ve gone through, we have a much closer relationship with Jesus, thanks to IFM showing us the way to reach Christ. IFM does a great job teaching others the Word of God to glorify His name. They take the time to gather people from many countries to share experiences from different cultures without losing the main focus of speaking the Word of God. Thank you, International Friendship Ministries!" - Sandra
"I came to the U.S. with my husband who was studying in a military course in Fort Benning. Thanks to Erin’s invitation, I joined the international ladies’ Bible study every Wednesday morning, and I started to talk to God again and read the Bible. In the Bible study, I met lots of beautiful friends there, especially my friend, Trecia. We became closer, and we met separately in town regularly and had so much fun together. Before we came back to Korea, my husband Aiden and I got together with her family, building our friendship with them. Ms. Carole also asked me to do a volunteer job in her art class every Wednesday afternoon, helping with Korean children in the class. I ended up doing it and joining the Arts camp that summer! I hadn’t been to an arts camp since I was little, so it was amazing to meet lots of children and help others in God’s love. I met my ESL teacher Ms. Hannah (a sister of Erin’s) and she is the best! She taught lessons not only on academic English but also colloquial language. I improved my language so much as well as enjoyed friendship with her and her family. One day, I made a small lecture about my life experience called “Explore the World!” in her church. It was a great opportunity for me." - Sylvia
Comments