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Two students Testimonies
Shohei Kajiwara November 2007 SFSU fim major (photo) Host families provided me a lot of opportunities to learn about their culture. I’m sure it was a huge sacrifice for them. I felt their hospitality when they welcomed me as a part of their family even though we were complete strangers. As a foreign student, such sacrificial hospitality done with a loving, caring and dedicated servant’s heart really blessed me. Rodger Brarda - September 2007 Forty two years ago I was an international student arriving in San Francisco for the first time. I had just arrived at college; I remember the beautiful campus was. It was like a small village. My dorm room was comfortable, spacious and had a garden with a water fountain view. The food was delicious. I did not know a person could put on a few pounds so quickly; the student body was very friendly. I had everything a student could ask for. I was happy right? Wrong! For the first time in my life I was away from my family and in a strange land, I felt so alone. The one thing I needed the university alone could not provide. I needed my father, my mother and my brothers. I needed my family. I was invited by Internationals Students Inc. “ISI” San Francisco to attend an International Student Conference. There they told me I would meet American’s who were genuinely interested in getting to know me. The conference was organized by ISI and sponsored by local churches in San Francisco. Being a Christian, I jumped at the chance to go. At the conference I was invited to stay at the home of the Petersons. They made me feel a part of their family from the start. Through this weekend, I experienced Christian hospitality. To this day I am grateful to ISI and the Peterson family for the decades of love, fellowship, and support when I needed it the most. I hope to return their love by showing others the same Christian hospitality that I have experienced.
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