This is a guest post from a friend of international students:

When international students come to the U.S. they are confronted with multiple challenges and often struggle with life’s difficulties. Often, they have to face it alone as they are far from their family and close friends. It’s an opportunity for us as believers to come alongside and be a listening ear as they process through a lot of questions about their own life and future especially during the difficult times.

I recently had the opportunity to attend multiple graduations, and what I observed was when the names of the graduates were called out, there were clusters of family and friends cheering them on — almost to the degree (no pun intended) of being obnoxiously loud.

But then, as you heard a string of international student names read, there would be a sudden drop of silence. Every now and then you would hear a couple of cheers from the crowd for an international name read aloud, but often no one was there to cheer them.

Some international students are fortunate to have their families come, but often many are left with the echoes of silence after their name is called out.

It’s unfathomable to know that our God knows each and every person by name. That’s a whole lot of people! I have trouble remembering a few names, but He’s cheering us on to come to Him, whether we know Him or not. It’s the mystery of His boundless love.

We may not be able to ‘cheer on’ or come alongside every international student out there, but we go with a simple prayer of, “okay God, lead us!”