OUR STORY
How did we get started?
After 21 years of ministry in the Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania area, God led us to the Pigeon Forge-Sevierville area not knowing what we were to do next. (Like most life stories there are more details that we would like to share with you anytime.) As we were looking for a church home God led us to a church who was reaching out to international summer Work-Travel students. At that moment we knew we wanted to help with this out-reach. Over 1500 international students come to the Pigeon Forge area each year to work. Through this ministry, we have met wonderful students from over 26 countries and have participated in numerous activities with them. We had the opportunity to demonstrate and share with students the love of Jesus Christ. A few of these students we continue to keep up with on a regular basis.
We decided to launch Hearts for Internationals in 2021. With the pandemic, we could not predict how many students would come to the area. We started working with a local hotel and their students. We had a blessed time connecting with 20 students from 2 different countries. We had outings to the GSMNP and celebrated Thanksgiving, Christmas, Easter, and the 4th of July. These different activities gave us a great opportunity to share about Jesus.
The summer of 2022 it is anticipated that about 1500 plus Work-Travel international students will be in the Pigeon Forge area. Our desire is to reach out to these students. We recognize that we cannot reach all the students; however, we can meet several of them. We are grateful that there are other groups reaching out to student too. Hearts for Internationals mission is to love on students, encourage them and “Declare His glory among the nations” which Psalm 96:3 states best.
We hope you will join us in this unique opportunity to be a part of reaching the nations for Christ.
