“We really need a good number of hosts who love the Lord and have heart for international students.”

Craig Macartney
Spur Ottawa Writer

Roughly one in five students at Canadian universities come from another country. Many are lonely, but also curious about Canadian culture and traditions. Friends for Dinner is challenging the believers in Ottawa to open their doors and invite these students to share a Thanksgiving meal and hear the reason the Church is thankful.

“Many local universities and colleges have reduced in-person classes and activities, which causes students to have fewer opportunities to connect with other students,” states Jevin Maltais, a Friends for Dinner organizer. “This lack of connection increases the need for initiatives like Friends for Dinner to facilitate safe and meaningful friendships.”

Founded in 2012, Friends for Dinner partners international students with host families from local churches, to experience a Canadian holiday meal. The environment makes it easy to form lasting friendships and presents simple opportunities to share the Gospel.

“Friends for Dinner is such a simple, relational, and practical way to reach out.” Photo courtesy of Friends for Dinner.

“Sharing a meal with friends is one of my favourite things to do,” Maltais explains. “Friends for Dinner is such a simple, relational, and practical way to reach out to those who are lonely and share the hope of why we are thankful during this season.”

From the outset of COVID, Friends for Dinner had to shift gears with host families delivering a meal to students and sharing the experience via Zoom. This Thanksgiving, families have the option of hosting remotely or welcoming students back into their homes, while following strict protocols.

“We have to work prayerfully, in His wisdom, but we should not fear to open our hearts and doors to the international students,” says Henk Wolthaus, another Friends for Dinner organizer. “The impact is huge. Loneliness and depression, stress, and even the loss of motivation have increased greatly among students.”

The team is short about 35 host families for Thanksgiving weekend. So far, they have 140 students signed up, but they expect more will register. Hosts and students are matched to account for any food allergies and host families receive information about the student’s cultural background and tips to help prepare.

“We really need a good number of hosts who love the Lord and have a heart for international students.” Photo courtesy of Friends for Dinner.

“We really need a good number of hosts who love the Lord and have a heart for international students,” Wolthaus says. “The first week of registration we saw a flow of registrations coming, unlike anything we have seen in previous years. In the past, the wave of registrations came just before the closing date, so we may still see another wave of students registering.”

Maltais says they have about 50 students currently on a waiting list. Wolthaus adds that hosting students often forms powerful bonds.

“Actually, a number of students have asked us if they could call us dad and mom!”

The opportunity to reach students with God’s love is wide open. The mission fields are coming right to the Church’s doorstep.

“Hospitality is so easy and so rewarding. Just be His ambassador, to invite the stranger and love him or her with the Love of Jesus.”