Our Vision
ICF exists to be an authentic community of international students which makes disciples who live for the glory of God and the good of their neighbors through the gospel of Jesus.
AUTHENTIC COMMUNITY
We recognize that Christian community is not formed through large group gatherings alone, but through deep connections that grow stronger through prayer and spending time together. We believe in deep fellowship through the sharing of life together in the midst of struggles, joys and everyday life. We welcome you to join us throughout the week to study the Bible and connect with other international students.
LIVING FOR THE GLORY OF GOD
Jesus satisfies our deepest need to be in relationship with our Creator. We desire to know and love God more each day. We seek His guidance in our lives and pray we will glorify Him with our lives.
AND FOR THE GOOD OF NEIGHBORS
Jesus told us to love our everyone, including our enemies. We desire to love others outside of our fellowship through meeting needs and sharing with others the eternal hope that comes from knowing Jesus. We are called to spread the good news in Queens, loving others as He loved us and making disciples.
Our Values
1. Worship through Bible & Prayer. Disciples of Jesus are devoted to worshipping and knowing God, directing all attention, service and worship towards Him alone. God’s Word, the Bible, under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, will be our sole guide for life and faith. Study and application of its transformational truths will be our pursuit. Constant prayer will be the gauge of our spiritual vitality. We want to see a shift from viewing Bible study and prayer as a weekly event to establishing consistent spiritual disciplines. Daily, we desire to know God through prayer and through what the Bible says about God (theology). Before we can work like Martha, we must first kneel like Mary. We will have consistent and meaningful times in prayer and the Bible to worship and through the guidance of the Holy Spirit, to better understand the heart of God.
2. Obedience to Jesus as Lord. Disciples of Jesus count the cost and are radically committed to Him. We want to see a shift from emphasizing Biblical knowledge to emphasizing obedience to the Bible. We will not compartmentalize our lives but will honor and obey God every day in all that we do, not just one day a week. We reflect on our lives and through the power of the Holy Spirit repent from sin. We purposefully reorder our lives to follow Jesus, who was willing to forsake family, bear the cross, and give up everything, and has asked us to do the same. In all we do, its evident Jesus is our Lord, just like the woman who broke the alabaster jar of perfume, showing she valued Jesus over costly earthly possessions. We will turn from sin and worldly ways, allow the Holy Spirit to work in us, and obey Jesus.
3. Loving Sacrificially. Disciples of Jesus love like Jesus, considering others better than themselves. We want to see a shift from doing good deeds to consistently considering the best interest of others and serving them. We seek to be an others-oriented fellowship, where sharing of lives and growing of relationships are characterized by commitment, mutual trust, accountability and Christian love. Cultivating meaningful authentic relationships is our goal. We are selfless servants who are willing to give our money and time to serve others. We make sacrifices to avoid becoming stumbling blocks for others. Like Jesus, we are willing to wash others’ feet, to humbly lay down our lives for others, bless our enemies, go the extra mile, give to all who ask, even when we don’t feel like it. We will sacrifice money, precious time, and personal space to love sacrificially.
4. Desiring Discipleship. Disciples of Jesus grow spiritually in rabbi-student relationships. We want to see a shift from personal quiet time and a mass teaching as sufficient for growth, to understanding the need for a 1-on-1 mentor. We desire mentorship for ourselves and are willing to coach and disciple others in a 1-on-1 relationship. This is where multiplication occurs. Instead of a ministry where one person is responsible for most of the work (the pastor or director), we want to see a shift from centralized ministry to decentralized ministry enabling many to lead and reproduction to occur. We model, then assist, then watch, and then leave (MAWL). Commitment is required by both teacher and student. Like Jesus with Peter, Paul with Timothy, and Naomi with Ruth, disciples grow spiritually under the guidance of others. Because we desire discipleship, we will seek out mentors and give of our personal time to disciple others.
5. Member of a Family. Disciples of Jesus live in community with each other and love like a family. We want to see a shift from being an individual who attends to understanding God has made us to belong and live in community. We prioritize sharing meals in homes and are committed to regularly eating together as we understand church is not a place but the people. Like Jesus and the disciples, we spend lots of time together. We will prioritize meal times together and seek to develop meaningful authentic relationships.
6. On mission. Disciples of Jesus are intentional in caring for others, finding spiritually open people, and sharing the gospel with them. We want to see a shift from mission events to missional communities. Initiative, concern, and stewardship will flow from us to the many who need spiritual, social and physical nourishment. Evangelism and Missions, global and local, express our heart to share the gospel’s eternal blessings with people without.
While an important mission is to share the gospel, we also want to meet physical and emotional needs. We care about all human suffering, especially eternal suffering. We don’t passively wait to meet those who do not know Jesus but actively seek them out and engage them. Like Paul, mission isn’t a once a year event but a lifestyle. We will be intentional in regularly following up with spiritually open friends.
7. Well Balanced. Disciples of Jesus are equally committed to these values. Groups only focused on mission become activist; groups only focused on worship and theology become pietist and elitist; groups only focused on obedience become legalistic; groups only focused on fellowship, become inward-focused and separatist. We want to see a balance in emphasizing worship and theology (knowing God), obedience (serving God), mission (loving outsiders), and fellowship (loving insiders). We will not care about theology more than sacrificial love. We will not focus on sacrificial love so much we don’t share the gospel. We will not be so mission driven that we neglect our brothers and sisters. And we will not be so inward focused on the family of God that we neglect worship and theology.