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Lots of people give coffee a shot, but we thought we'd give tea a chai.
FEBRUARY, 2023
35 For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, 36 I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.’ 37 Then the righteous will answer him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? 38 And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? 39 And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?’ 40 And the King will answer them,
‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.’
Matthew 25:35-40
What if we CAN catch students during a study break?
What if we CAN catch students during a study break?
The story of how we began Chai to say Hi
It all started when one of our students from India, Rahul, invited us over to his place for chai and Poha, an Indian dish that he loves to make. Lauren, some other students, and I went over to Rahul's place where he not only fed us and gave us chai, but he wanted to show us how to make traditional Masala Chai from the recipe his family uses back home.
Rahul even went with us to San Diego's best Indian grocery store: Miramar Cash & Carry. He showed us around and told us about special South Asian fruits, vegetables, and other foods.
We had such a great time with Rahul and the other students and discovered just how important a truly good cup of homemade Masala Chai was to Indian and other South Asian students.
We brainstormed with these students and came up with a fun concept. We decided to call it...
Once every 2nd Thursday we would post up on the 2nd floor of Price Center, a town-hall type of building where students come to eat, study, and congregate. We would post on our Instagram, send out an email, and use word-of-mouth to let our international students know where we were.
Equipped with freshly homemade Masala Chai and store-bought cookies, we would invite them to come for as much or little of the 2 hours as they wanted and to use us as a study break. It started with us making the chai at the location.
Pretty soon, though, we realized that it was best to make the chai at home that morning and put it into a thermos to bring to campus. This really streamlined the process and the chai was always still very hot when we poured it into their cups.
One thing we know for sure, though, is that this Masala Chai is good. We continue to get rave reviews from South Asian students and I (Sam) have even gotten a new nickname in the process: "International Grandma."
I've never been so proud. 😉
We've been able to have some great conversations and meet some new students through this new event. We are still working out some bugs and want to make this event even better and, hopefully, have it more often.
There have been times when very few students showed up and other times with a great turnout. There are multiple factors involved, such as time and location, so we will continue to tweak it to make sure that this service event indeed works well as a community-building and evangelism tool.
This last photo is of the most recent Chai to Say Hi event. Rahul is there on the left. He helped us start this ministry event and is such a great guy, and we are sad to see him go. He had to fly out of San Diego a couple of days after this photo was taken.
Please pray for this event to grow and be a place where students come to feel refreshed from their studies.
Pray that students will wonder why we care so much to give them snacks and homemade chai, so that they might ask more and learn about Jesus.
Sam Davis has focused on international student ministry since 2010 and is on staff with Cru and Bridges International in San Diego, CA. His passion for leading others into a close relationship with Jesus is shown in his general love for people and focus on discipleship.
Sam and his wife, Gloria, love to travel, meet people, eat great food, and hike.
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