How many internationals attend the colleges near you? How can your church hold a yard sale for international students? Church of the Saviour in Wayne, PA welcomed these students and help them out.
Thomas arranged a yard “sale” at the church just for these new neighbors! The congregation was directed to a link on the church website where they were asked to donate gently used furniture. A list of suggested items such as tables, study desks, chairs, mirrors, couches, bookshelves, lamps, pots and pans, mugs etc were provided.
A total of 65 students signed up and 53 showed. Students were picked up from their universities and returned “home” on the day of the event.
The students registered in the welcome room upon arrival and enjoyed some refreshments. They filled in their contact information (including their address for delivery) and completed a short survey hosted online by Survey Monkey on how the church could help them in the future. For example, they were offered…
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a ride to get groceries periodically,
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to develop a relationship with a church family,
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to receive orientation to navigate the American culture,
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to attend church events with others their age and
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to be invited to holiday meals.
The response to the survey was very positive, which sets the stage for continued interaction and relationships.
Some announcements were made in the welcome room, The students were instructed to only take what they needed. Each student was given a limited number of stickers with their unique number After these instructions, nearly everyone headed across the hallway to the gym where all items were displayed. The items were given away for free. Each student was limited to four large items:
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one from the living room section,
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one from dining room section,
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one from the bedroom section,
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plus one additional large item.
