A Wittenberg Welcome

A Wittenberg Welcome
From the Wittenberg Door Campus Ministry News Desk - prepared August 27, 2026 but not posted until September 23

  One of the foundational concepts articulated by the Lutheran Reformation is the centrality of Scripture as God's Word. To put it briefly, Christians are to live in accordance with what the Bible says. Scripture interprets Scripture. The Bible tells us, among other things, that we are to care for strangers (Deuteronomy 10:19; Psalm 146:9; Zechariah 7:9-10; Leviticus 19:34; etc.). In Matthew 25:35 Jesus speaks of being welcomed when he was a stranger. And Jesus' welcome of those who would trust in him is the motivation for welcoming others, in Paul's lettter to the Romans (15:7). It's something we are called to do. And it's a delight!
  From its inception, Wittenberg Door Campus Ministry has purposely worked to make vital connections with visitors from other nations and cultures. We've done this through matching people with conversation partners who can help them with fluent communication. We host dinner and conversation evenings, which serve to welcome people from all nations to come together in caring communication. And we are always working to build and maintain relationships with the Mizzou International Center and with the Asian Affairs Center.
  In this work of helping people from a variety of backgrounds to welcome one another, we find that having a minivan or an SUV available is really helpful. Here's an example.
  In the summer of 2026, the Mizzou International Center asked for volunteers who could help a group of five students who were scheduled to arrive at the Columbia Regional Airport. I volunteered on behalf of Wittenberg Door. We'd be delighted to pick them up and help them get to campus. We have plenty of room for them and their things. It turned out that these were five undergraduates from different universities in Russia, here for a summer exchange. A total of about 800 undergraduates out of the entire collegiate population in Russia participated in the program, and five of them were sent to Mizzou.
  We met as strangers at the airport. We got them to their residence hall and helped with the confusion caused by a security software upgrade that interfered with entry into the building. We got them a good meal.
  The next day, knowing that our new friends probably needed to get some things that they didn't have in their suitcases, we made a quick shopping trip to those exclusive boutiques - Dollar Tree and Walmart! The selection was incredible, compared with what they would find at home. Of course, since they came to research and learn, I encouraged them to get one of everything in the snack aisle to test it!
  We invited the students to join us in the Divine Service in case they would like to see what an American church service might be like. All of them chose to do so, and one of them continued going throughout the summer.
When we saw one another on-campus, we had good opportunities to visit and encourage one another. After all, how does friendship grow? When the summer production from the theater department was up and running, the four who had worked on the sets asked us to come to the play as their guests. You don't refuse a chance at that!
  Because the group had a lot of side trips involved in their summer program, we had multiple trips to the airport, the bus station, and everywhere else under the sun. It was a good time.
  As the group from Russia returned home, it was time to prepare to welcome more internationals into our community. Mizzou currently has about 1560 international students registered from 113 countries, plus over 700 researchers and educators. The international community makes up about 5% of the student population. We love welcoming people from all over the world! We love caring for them as Christ has welcomed us.

Our Russian Friends were impressed by the campus and by selection in stores!

After the summer programs, we re-started our normal school year activities, including our dinner and conversation evenings. Several new families and individuals have joined with us this year.