At the start of the fall semester, the University of South Carolina Baptist collegiate ministry welcomed a new minister to international students: Wendy Middleton. When one first meets Middleton, one can tell right away that she is genuine in her love for students and for internationals.
Wendy Middleton, Baptist collegiate minister to international students, talks with David Doan, a student from Vietnam.Middleton grew up on the west and east coasts, along with living overseas, and developed a love for different kinds of people early on in her life. She says she’s always been fascinated with languages and different cultures.
Her fascination with different cultures and people influenced her decision to work with the international ministry at the Carolina Baptist Campus Ministry during her undergraduate years at USC and now as the minister to international students. Her ministry goal is to reach out to internationals in different ways, mostly through building relationships, and by using campus ministry as a platform to reach out to lost students.
Middleton spends most of her time hanging out with students and getting to know them in an effort to build relationships and earn the right to share the gospel. She befriends internationals at His House, an on-campus ministry that provides lunch for more than 100 internationals weekly.
She also encourages American students involved in BCM to reach out to internationals. Her aim is to “multiply herself” so that the other students can have a part in the ministry and be prepared to share their faith.
Originally from Vietnam, David Doan, a student at Carolina, has a firsthand understanding of the needs of international students. He says about the ministry, “It’s good because, being an international student, I can understand what it’s like living in a foreign country, meeting new people and adopting a new culture.”
The ministry allows David to connect with those students who have the same needs that he did. “God showed what kind of joy he had brought to me by knowing him, and I want to share this same kind of joy and happiness with other students.”
Middleton loves to work with college students, particularly because she says that “college students are seeking direction” and that this “generation is one that appreciates people who speak to their lives.”
Middleton believes that the main need of international students is to feel part of a community. “They come here and know no one, and they need people to reach out to them and make them feel welcome,” she said. She sees this as an important step in sharing the gospel with internationals.
Having spent some time overseas doing a teaching program, she can relate to being an adult in a foreign country. She says, “Some of them are going to be leaders in their country, so we have an opportunity to pour the gospel into them while they are here.”
In her third year of seminary at Columbia International University, Middleton is completing a master’s degree in intercultural studies. She feels that her call to reach international students with the gospel is a lifelong calling. Middleton says, “I can’t imagine doing anything different.”