LOS ANGELES –As a child, Lizzie Fortenberry tagged along with her grandmothers to weekly prayer groups and meetings of the Woman’s Missionary Union. She remembers praying for missionaries and vividly recalls wearing a dress from China, marveling at the fact that a girl on the other side of the world might be wearing the same outfit. For Fortenberry, the seed for her calling to missions was planted at a young age.

 

Now, Fortenberry serves as one of the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship’s field personnel, ministering to international students and their families in Los Angeles. She specifically works to build community among the wives of international graduate students at the University of Southern California (USC), which has the highest population of international students of any college in the United States.

 

With their husbands focused on school, living in Los Angeles can be an isolating and lonely experience for these women, many of whom are young and in their first year of marriage. They must often navigate the nuances of the English language and American culture without the support of family, a community or even a friend.

 

“I do what I can to make their experience in America welcoming,” said Fortenberry, a native of Clinton, Miss. “And I offer hospitality and love, so that they might find a place to be known and have a place to know each other. I believe that’s what Jesus does – Jesus calls us by name, and we know that God knows us intimately. For these women, that is something tangible for them to hold onto – I can offer a holistic gospel to them.”

 

Through a partnership with American Baptist Churches USA, Fortenberry, along with CBF field personnel Aaron and Stephanie Glenn, serve as the Baptist chaplains for the university and have offices at USC’s religious center. Fortenberry hosts a weekly cooking class at the center, along with conversational English classes, lunches and other activities. The women who participate are natives of countries such as Korea, China, Japan, India, Chile, Argentina and Poland.

 

Aya, who participates in the weekly cooking classes, said, “This class is good because we get to practice our language with people from other countries and from our own country. And otherwise we would just go home”

 

“They are learning to care for each other in ways they probably never thought they could, especially considering the different cultural backgrounds,” said Fortenberry. “What comes from these interactions are some really beautiful moments – you’ve got a Japanese woman and Argentinean woman who care for each other. What I hope is that they go back to their countries and not only have a hopeful impression of America and Christianity but also of other cultures.”

 

A Japanese woman and wife of a professor told Fortenberry, “I would have never considered reaching out to the international population at the university in Japan. But because of my experience here, the love I’ve experienced here, I’m going to go back and do that for other people.” 

 

Fortenberry, a graduate of Truett Theological Seminary, a Fellowship partner, encourages congregations to seek out international students in their own communities. She suggests simple and practical steps for building bridges with students – inviting them to dinner, providing a ride, cooking together or sharing an aspect of American culture.

 

“Even if you are in the smallest town, my bet is that there will be an international student there who needs a friend,” she said. “We talk about the passage from Leviticus – loving the stranger as if they were your own kind. That goes hand in hand with Jesus’ commandment to love your neighbor as yourself. By embracing internationals in your midst, you’re responding to that calling.”

 

For information on reaching out to international students or to partner with CBF’s ministries in Los Angeles, call (800) 352-8741. To financially support Fortenberry’s ministry, give to the CBF Offering for Global Missions at www.thefellowship.info/OGM.

 

CBF is a fellowship of Baptist Christians and churches who share a passion for the Great Commission and a commitment to Baptist principles of faith and practice. The Fellowship’s mission is to serve Christians and churches as they discover and fulfill their God-given mission.