Foreign exchange students welcomed at Anoka

By Matthew Oates
Hoosier UM News Correspondent

ANOKA, Ind. -- There's nothing new about seeing tractors on the roads around this Cass County community. And there's nothing new about seeing tons of cars in the parking lot of Anoka UMC -- or foreign exchange students around the church either. But when you combine the three, you have a formula for a grand helping of Hoosier hospitality.

The church was giving their foreign exchange students a grand send off at the end of the school year with a cookout and hayride recently.

Don Strasser, Anoka's lay leader and a coordinator of Youth for Understanding International Exchange, a national organization that places foreign exchange students, said church members have housed students for years.

"We try to give them a good flavor of Christian life in middle America," said Strasser.

And it's not just housing the kids that the church members do. The entire church sees it as an outreach ministry as well.

"The church has been very good to us," said Strasser about what the members do for all of the kids. The church throws a cookout and hayride twice a year to welcome and say good bye to their new family members. This year, 52 teens attended the fall session and 32 the spring session.

Anoka families housed 5 students this year. "Everyone's curious to hear about their lives," said member Traian Jay. "It opens your eyes a lot."

"It's awesome, it's so different from a German church."

Mark Schneider, a 17-year-old from Switzerland, had a homecoming of sorts. While living with an Anoka family, he was placed in the area because he was born in Lafayette while his father was earning a PhD at Purdue University. While a student at Logansport High School, he participated in track and soccer and enjoyed coming to church. "It's (church) better than what is in Switzerland."

Another exchange student who attended Anoka UMC was Kristin Ay, a 16-year-old German. "It's awesome, it's so different from a German church," said Ay of Anoka UMC. The main difference is that German church-goers just "go in and out," unlike Americans who talk and eat with each other before and after the service. "This is like a family."

Last updated on 01/14/2004

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