Greetings,

The Friendship House has given me the opportunity to learn and grow in many ways during my time in East Lansing.

• The teachers at Friendship House have helped me tremendously. There are senior professors with as many as 30-50 years of teaching experience in schools here and around the world, as well as bankers, businesspeople, pastors, and artists. By studying there, we can not only learn to speak English, but also learn from the rich life experiences and engaging personalities of the dedicated instructors.
• The courses at Friendship House have given me a lot of personal growth. There are not only English topics, but also daily conversations, Bible studies, news and newspaper readings, art discussions, sewing courses and international cooking courses. We can also learn about gardening, crafts, games, and Qigong courses are offered to support international family members. I have participated in almost every kind of course. Here we have gained knowledge, friendship, blessings, and love.
• Friendship House activities bring me a lot of fun and joy. Together, we go sightseeing, visit Christmas towns, cut down Christmas trees, pick strawberries, blueberries, and apples, visit the Meijer Gardens, and go hiking and tubing in the snow. Celebrating holidays is a fun and educational experience as we decorate the Friendship House from New Year’s to Christmas, and everything in-between including every classmate’s birthday. We experience the change in seasons together by planting and weeding the garden, basking in the warm sun, and raking leaves in the autumn.
• The international students at Friendship House are distinguished. They are all outstanding talents in various fields. It is a large international community with students and scholars from more than a dozen countries and regions. We have established deep friendships here. We communicate and share, study and grow together. I have gained beautiful friendships during my time here.
• The sponsors of the Friendship House are particularly significant. During the preparation of the annual report every year, we realized that there are so many great sponsors who continue to support us, generously and selflessly, to maintain the Friendship House. Thank you, sponsors, for all these years of contributing to the growth of the Friendship House ministry. You are making a significant difference in our lives.
• The “captain” of Friendship House is particularly kind and responsible. We’d like to express our profound gratitude and high respect to Dan, and Dan’s wife Cindy, for selflessly giving us support and love, guidance and help every day to solve various difficulties that we, as international students and scholars, encounter in studying and living here. You answer all our questions, invite us to your house, take us on tours, and help us in numerous ways. In addition, every Friday Dan shares about specific topics on culture, sports, society, the economy, and he also invites experts from various fields to give lectures. We are very thankful for the captain of our ship, and his first mate.
• My daughter and I arrived here about one and a half years ago with no friends and no transportation. Life was full of unknowns. Friendship House has given us what we desperately needed – love and encouragement, warmth and joy, spiritual support, and educational and practical help. I will always remember the fires in winter and the warm sunshine in spring, the encouraging smiles of teachers, and the warm hugs of classmates. We drank coffee and ate study together, and watched the seeds we planted together take root, sprout, grow flowers and bear fruit. I finally have the courage to stand here and share my gains and growth with you. Our lives are different because of all of you.
• The last thing I want to say is, thank you Friendship House for everything you have given to me and the other international students and scholars and our families, with the fruit of the Spirit, love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.,.
• We hope we will also have the opportunity and ability to help others in the future, we will always remember the love and joy we experienced here. In conclusion, I encourage all of us to be joyful, spread love, and spread the spirit of Friendship House.

Go GREEN ,go White!

Thank you so much!

About the author:

Ling majored in Commercial Law in her home country, China, where she previously worked as a lawyer. She is a VIPP visiting scholar at Michigan State University and she has been attending friendship house for one year to make friends and improve her English communication skills.