RISEN

About

RISEN stands for ‘Reaching International Students in Every Nation’ and is an initiative of followers of Jesus who are committed to sharing the Good News and demonstrating the love of Christ to international students all over the world with the aim that those international students would influence their respective nation, tribe and people with the Gospel.

Values

Prayer and listening to the Holy Spirit

God precedes us in His work and invites us to partner with Him. Prayer and listening to the Holy Spirit demonstrate our dependence on him. Every movement has to make prayer (and fasting) a top priority.

Hospitality

God has welcomed us into his family. In the image of this reception, we seek to demonstrate the value of hospitality through concrete acts.

Faithful friendship

Beyond all the activities that we organize, we seek, above all, to build sincere and faithful relationships that will last even after the students have returned to their home countries.

Proclamation of the Gospel

The primary need of international students is to be reconciled with their Creator through Jesus Christ. We not only demonstrate love in action but we also proclaim the message of reconciliation and hope in a way that is relevant to each community and each student.

All nations

We address all students regardless of their cultural or religious background. We do not prioritize any particular community or religion, even though we seek to proclaim the Gospel in a culturally relevant way.

Community

We see beyond the students themselves entire communities being reached. We therefore think of our witness not only to individual students but also to their communities. God has gathered us into communities---our churches---and it is with and/or through them that we want to reach international students.

All generations

RISEN seeks to encourage believers from all generations to take part in this wonderful ministry. Whether retired people, families, singles or couples, as well as students, all of them can make a huge difference in the lives of international students.

Distinctives

Focus on receiving countries and sending countries as well

We work both on inbound mobility (receiving countries) as well as on outbound mobility. Some countries where believers are numerous send a large number of their students compared to the number of students from outside their countries that they receive. That is the case of Brazil or Nigeria, for instance. In those countries, we focus our ministry in mobilizing, preparing and equipping the future international students who are disciples of Christ to intentionally reach their future classmates from all over the world.

Incarnational witnessing in language schools

Alongside traditional international students, in recent years, we have seen an incredible growth of the number of people who go abroad in language schools to learn or improve a language. We think the best way to reach them is to send believers who both want to improve their language skills too and who want to witness to the nations.

Adaptability

The way that the ministry is done can differ from one place to another. In some places, our emphasis is more on preparing students in their countries to be part of the global mission. In other places, it's more on welcoming international students. And there are places where we do both. In some countries, we only focus on languages schools.

Pioneering spirit

Pioneering is in the Gospel DNA so that we are always on the lookout for new locations to start the ministry. We focus on places where reaching out to international students appears to be most needed and where we observe no ministry or very little compared to the opportunity.

Focus on receiving countries and sending countries as well

Incarnational witnessing in language schools

Adaptability

Pioneering spirit

Where we operate

Europe - Africa

LINK

Internationally

Listen on:

From the Vanuatu "island time" to the punctual European rhythm: trusting in God's faithfulness

Mon, 02 Feb 2026 07:53:47 +0100

What do Vanuatu and New Caledonia have in common? They are both in the South Pacific region or Oceania. In this new episode, Varick tells us more about these islands where he lived, and shares some personal insights that help us better understand his context of origin. Though he was surrounded by a strongly Christian culture, Varick had no personal knowledge of Jesus. It was through the witness of a high-school friend that he came to know Christ personally. As he later left the South Pacific region to study in France, he grew to appreciate that God is with him wherever he goes and that he calls him to share the hope of eternity and sense of belonging to those who, like him, are away from home.

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De l'île tropicale de Madagascar aux températures extrêmes du Québec en hiver: connaître un Dieu qui ne change pas à travers les saisons et les latitudes.

Mon, 26 Jan 2026 07:00:00 +0100

Evelyne est née et a grandi dans le Sud de l'île de Madagascar. C'est là qu'elle rencontre Jésus. Elle part poursuivre ses études universitaires en bâtiments-travaux publics dans la capitale, Antananarivo. Son rêve à terme ? Partir au Canada. Là-bas, elle cherche à se spécialiser en bâtiments. Son parcours pour un départ au Québec est parsemé d'embûches et exige d'elle une grande patience pour l'obtention du visa. Arrivée à Montréal, les choses ne se passent pas comme elle l'avait rêvé. La réalité est différente mais Dieu n'a jamais changé toutes ces années-là.

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From the island of Carmen, Mexico to Nantes, France: a big jump across the ocean, the story of a new follower of Jesus

Mon, 19 Jan 2026 07:00:00 +0100

Cecilia, a student from an island of Mexico, shares about her upbringing in that small island and her experience as an international student in France. Having previously lived abroad, she thought the move would be smooth. Yet, she discovered another reality as she struggled with cultural shock. Through her ups and downs, she came to know Jesus, to give her life to him and trust him more and more.

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De Séoul en Corée du Sud à Paris : la philosophie de l'art, les stéréotypes et Dieu dans tout ça

Mon, 12 Jan 2026 07:00:00 +0100

Younho a d'abord étudié la philosophie de l'art à Séoul avant de s'envoler pour Paris avec son mari Kim. Le jeune couple est embarqué dans une nouvelle aventure dans un pays dont la culture est si différente de celle dans laquelle ils ont grandi. Younho nous parle de sa passion pour la philosophie de l'art, des stéréotypes sur les Parisiens et les Français plus généralement, des difficultés culturelles et linguistiques auxquelles elle a été confrontée et de la manière dont Dieu lui a montré que Christ ne change pas : il est le même à Séoul et à Paris.

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A Gabonese student in Rwanda: led to take a different path, transformed into a different way of thinking.

Mon, 05 Jan 2026 07:00:00 +0100

Loïc had a different plan for his life before having to face failure which redirected the course of his life to a country he had not even thought about before: Rwanda. There he learned English. It was also there that he discovered a whole new culture and even more than that, many new cultures. Through his encounters with people from other cultures, the Lord opened his mind and his heart to the way the Gospel is meant for people from all nations and cultures.

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Una Peruana en Luxemburgo que estudió en Francia aprende a través de sus migraciones estudiantiles.

Mon, 29 Dec 2025 07:00:00 +0100

Grace nació y creció en Lima, la capital de Perú. Siempre tuvo el deseo de estudiar al extranjero. Un día, su sueño se realizó y acabó en Francia donde estudió, rodeada de personas de los cuatro rincones del mundo. El camino no fue fácil pero a través de sus migraciones estudiantiles, hizo la experiencia de la presencia de Dios en medio de ellas.

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Ola, salut, hello, hallo... Le parcours de Frédéric, un étudiant aux multiples identités européennes.

Mon, 22 Dec 2025 07:00:00 +0100

Quand on lui demande d'où il vient, Frédéric aurait quelque peu de mal à répondre directement. Il est, à lui tout seul, un condensé de multiples identités européennes : Portugal, France, Royaume-Uni, Allemagne...Cet épisode nous permet de voyager avec lui à travers ces territoires et de voir l'empreinte de Dieu dans chacune de ses cultures.

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Growing up international, meeting and serving Jesus internationally

Mon, 15 Dec 2025 07:00:00 +0100

From a very young age, Mia traveled because of her mother's work that took them as a family from one country to another. Moving from place to place was her normal life. In the midst of her traveling, Jesus revealed himself to her as a university student in France. As soon as she met him, she joined an international church where she has grown in her faith and in her understanding of the God of all nations.

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Un Burkinabé au Maroc puis en France : "Au Maroc, Dieu est mentionné partout ; en France, on cache Dieu."

Mon, 08 Dec 2025 07:00:00 +0100

David du Burkina Faso part étudier à 17 ans, d'abord quelques années au Maroc avant de s'envoler en France. Dans ces deux contextes d'études, Dieu se manifeste à lui de différentes manières et lui rappelle l'importance de Le connaître et de faire connaître Son nom parmi les nations.

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Le podcast LINK Internationally

Fri, 05 Dec 2025 12:58:24 +0100

Le podcast LINK Internationally raconte les récits d'étudiants internationaux anciens ou actuels. Ces récits nous permettent d'élargir notre vision de ce que Dieu fait à travers les migrations d'étudiants internationaux dans le monde pour faire connaître sonnet parmi les nations. Un épisode sera publié tous les premier et troisième lundi en anglais et tous les deuxième et quatrième lundi en français. Et lorsqu'il y a un cinquième lundi dans un mois, un épisode en espagnol ou en portugais sera publié pour permettre que cet outil soit disponible à un public plus varié.

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What Congo Gave, Kenya Taught, and the Netherlands Revealed to Me

Mon, 01 Dec 2025 07:00:00 +0100

This premiere episode in English tells the story of Steven, a Congolese student who moved first to Kenya for his studies, then later to the Netherlands to pursue further studies. Through his experience of living abroad and being a stranger, the Lord revealed to Steven who He is as a child of God and how his identity is far bigger and better than anything the world could ever give him. This interview is in English.

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Welcome to LINK Internationally

Fri, 28 Nov 2025 11:46:42 +0100

The LINK Internationally podcast tells stories of former or current international students. These stories enable us to enlarge our vision of what God has been doing in and through international student migration around the world in order to make his Name known among the nations. An episode will be published every first and third Monday in English and every second and fourth Monday in French...And when there is a fifth Monday in a month, an episode in Spanish or Portuguese will be published in order to make this tool available to a wider public.

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Our beliefs

Please click here to read our statement of faith. RISEN affirms the Lausanne Covenant and the WEA statement of faith.

Contact

RISEN Antsirabe, Madagascar

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