International Student Ministry (ISM) refers to evangelical Christian ministry among international students within an academic context, often carried out by Protestant college religious organizations, volunteers and churches.^[1] It is considered part of the church's mission, within the broader framework of diaspora missions.^[2] The first two decades of the 21st century have seen a sharp growth in the number of international students globally^[3] with a corresponding development in ISM.^[1]

ISM traces its modern roots to John R. Mott who established The Committee on Friendly Relations among Foreign Students in 1911, which was the first national ISM in the US.^[4][5] Some international Christian student organizations trace their origins back to the World Student Christian Federation.^[6] Since then, and particularly since the 1950s, there has been a growth of organizations doing this mainly in Western contexts.^[4][7] As of 2016 there were at least 57 organizations engaged in ISM in 22 countries.^[8]

In 2004, after a century of intermittent ISM growth^[1] Leiton Chinn convened a global gathering in Thailand of ISM leaders, and in 2007 he was appointed the Chair of the Lausanne ISM Issue Network.^[9] The two Lausanne Issue Groups of Diaspora and International Students then published Diasporas and International Students: The New People Next Door.^[10] Recent publications include those by Yaw Perbi,^[11] Jack D. Burke^[12] and Enoch Wan.^[2] The Lausanne 2010 Cape Town Commitment (section II-C-5) refers to reaching out to international students.^[13][14]

In May 2014 the Lausanne ISM Global Leadership Network became a "docked network" with the World Evangelical Alliance's Mission Commission.^[1] It operates as WIN (Worldwide ISM Network).^[15]

In September 2017 the Lausanne ISM Global Leadership Network hosted a global ISM forum Charlotte '17 which gathered 100 participants from 25 countries and 70 organizations.^[9][16]

It is suggested that ISM is grounded in the Missio Dei and is motivated by biblical precedent and trends in migration.^[17] Chinn outlines ten reasons why ISM is strategic in relation to the Great Commission and nine reasons why it benefits local churches.^[18]

Individual churches, such as Park Street Congregational Church in Boston, have welcoming ministries reaching international students.^[1] This modality-based model of ISM is attractive because every church member can be involved in cross-cultural mission at virtually no expense.^[12] Miller outlines key qualities leading to successful ISM by local churches.^[19] Chinn and Jones point out 6 strategic outcomes for international churches intentionally including international students in their ministry focus.^[20] Perbi and Brewster argue that ISM will be strengthened by the intentional involvement of "workplace Christians."^[21] Some denominational groups have established an ISM focus such as Anglican (USA),^[22] Lutheran Church (Missouri Synod), Assemblies of God (USA) and the Presbyterian Church in America.^[1]

A 2019 study based in the US concluded that "Chinese international undergraduate students identify the church and its fellowship as (1) a social support community and (2) an informal learning community, one which fills in the gap in counseling services and interpersonal activities that the university fails to offer."^[23]

Christian campus organizations, which are sodalities, have historically focused on domestic university students. These have developed campus-based ministries for international students directly linked to universities or colleges.^[24]: 55

At a global level, the Lausanne Committee for World Evangelization has an ISM issue network^[25] which connects groups internationally and interdenominationally. This network now includes a North American network on ISM.^[26] The Association for Christians Ministering Among Internationals (ACMI) is another ISM networking body.^[27][26] Networking between European ISMs has been identified as a priority.^[28]

Recent decades have seen a rapid increase in international student populations^[3] concurrent with the plateauing of some western markets, most notably the US.^{[29][30][31][32]} Students are turning to non-traditional centers of education, such as Asia.^[33][34][35] This shift is underpinned by well-formed international education policy of countries like China,^[36][37] Malaysia,^[38] Singapore and India.^[39]

The areas of diaspora missiology and its subset, international student ministry, have seen a theological and academic maturing.^[40][1][41] In 2018/2019 three key ISM-specific training resources were launched: the Lausanne Global Classroom,^[42] EveryInternational,^[43][26] and Look at the Fields^[44][45] Two ISM training workshops ran at the International Fellowship of Evangelical Students (IFES) World Assembly in July 2019.^[46] While practical ISM training is offered by a number of ISM organisations, the Charlotte '17 conference considered the need for academic training and research in ISM led by seminaries and graduate schools.^[9] Columbia International University lists a course called "Mission to International Students" in their 2019-2020 Academic Catalog.^[47]

Global mission sending organizations are recognizing the strategic nature and necessity of diaspora missions, and especially ISM.^[48][49][18] Some have refocused ISM efforts in traditional contexts because of the perceived global impact.^[50] Asia has been identified as an emerging region for ISM.^[51][52] It is beginning to take shape there, for example among international churches in China.^{[53][54][55][56]} Regarding the international students in, from and within Asia, Phil Jones has identified 8 challenges and 6 opportunities that Asian ISMs encounter.^[57] In tandem with the Indian hospitality concept of Atithi Devo Bhava ("the guest is god"), Emmanuel F. Benjamin describes the impact of welcoming foreign students in Pune, India.^[58]

Nascent ISMs exist in South Africa, Kenya and Ghana.^[1] Bill Dindi of Kenya explores the viability, trends and features of ISM in Africa. Identifying the gaps and opportunities, he seeks to "build a case for a more robust ministry among international students in Africa as well as the approaches and shape this might take."^[59] Citing the historical growth of Christianity in Africa and the central role of Christian African international students, Perbi and Ngugi argue that the continent that was a mission field now comprises a mission force.^[60] Kwiverr's 2022 research of 116 respondents from 16 African countries revealed that there are many "largely unaware and unprepared African Christian International Students [who are] virtually unseen and unsent by the African Church, the most populous and youngest in the world."^[61] Perbi's analysis in the Journal of African Christian Thought argues that international students to and from Africa have unrecognized and untapped ramifications for mission.^[62]

A global consultation of ISM leaders in September 2020 was called to assess whether ISM was still meaningful or viable given the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.^[63]