What if you could get a degree—your undergrad, your masters, or a post-graduate degree—while immersed in a spiritually strategic country where only a handful of true believers live?

You can! Heres’s three reasons why studying abroad is a spiritually strategic thing to consider, and the next steps to take.

But first, let me be honest here. We’re not talking about getting a degree in just ANY foreign country. Don’t imagine wandering the streets of Paris, or Salzburg, or Rome, sipping french roasted cappucinos from tiny, porcelain cups or sampling the mouth-watering flavors of Italian gelato, while a soft, spring rain falls lightly on your fashionable red jacket.

Three billion people in the world have LEAST ACCESS to Jesus, and they are mainly in majority Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist, and formerly Communist countries. So, this is about purposely pursuing a degree in one of those kind of countries. Countries like India, Saudi Arabia, Thailand, the United Arab Emirates, Turkey, Indonesia, Pakistan, or Egypt. Even smaller countries like Sudan, Bangladesh, and Morocco house international universities that welcome foreign students with open arms.

Imagine yourself studying in cities like Mumbai, Riyadh, Bangkok, Dubai, Istanbul, Jakarta, Lahore, Cairo, Khartoum, Dhaka, or Casablanca. You’re sipping ginger-laced chai from paper cups and sampling the mouth-watering flavors of biryani, hummus, or chicken liver on a stick in the markets while sweat drips from your forehead onto your colorful scarf.

Yes, I’m flipping the script.

I often tell followers of Jesus to reach out and welcome international students from Muslim, Hindu, or Buddhist countries studying in our home country. NOW I’m asking you to consider BEING one of those students who studies directly in a Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist, or formerly Communist country.

So, if you’re up for exploring the option of studying in a spiritually strategic country as a student (or you’re mobilizing young people to GO), here’s three reasons to consider it.

One: Natural Affinity

When you study abroad, you’ll be immersed in a subject that you love and want to learn more about, surrounded by people interested in the same thing, who are from unreached people groups.

Do you have a heart for bringing the Kingdom of God by alleviating poverty? Get a degree in International Development in Mumbai, India while living next to one of the largest slums in the world, with access to every unreached people group in India living in this metropolitan city of 22 million.

Are you drawn to stewarding the earth, like Adam, loving the idea of living off the land, and diving into sustainable agriculture? I drove by an entire campus focused on Agriculture at a university right in the heart of southern Bangladesh, with eight million Bengalis in the surrounding rural districts.

Are you an entrepreneur, with a business mind, ready to get your MBA and create jobs in areas where unemployment is high? Just choose ANY of the cities mentioned in this article so far, and you would be studying with other entrepreneurs and other business students from the very country you want to influence, who have probably never met a follower of Jesus before.

Do you just really want to learn another language? Study one of the major languages of the world like Arabic, or Hindi, or Mandarin in Jordan, or Kolkota, or Xinjiang, where millions of unreached people groups or as in the case of China, where persecuted ethnic minorities live. Locals will love that you are intentionally learning their language IN their country, and it will immerse you deep into their everyday life.

I know of post-grad students (you know, those smart, research-y, intellectual kind of people) who’ve written their thesis in-country on subjects like: environmental solutions to toxic air conditions, or effects of the rickshaw labor force on social constructs, or trauma counseling for asylum seekers. You name it. Then you can study, research, and DO something about it because it’s a subject you care about.

There’s something attractive to people in other cultures when you do what you love, and you ARE who you are.

Two: Natural Access

When you study abroad, you have a natural way to enter a country that’s majority Hindu, Muslim, Buddhist or formerly Communist, on a visa that’s widely accepted, understood, and welcomed.

Most followers of Jesus bringing the Kingdom of God to the ends of the earth struggle with how to enter and live legally in their host country—and in a way that is understandable.

We need valid visas to enter and live in other countries. It’s preferable to get a visa that gives us a bit of time to adjust to the culture, and learn the language as well.

A student visa will give you several years of time to pour into culture acquisition. If you are already a student, local people expect you to make mistakes because you’re a learner. They’ll want to help you. You can ask a lot of questions. Growing INTO a culture takes time.

Being a student will also give you time to learn the local language fluently—before you need a long-term solution to living in the country. Fluency in language is one of the best practices to crossing cultures with the good news of Jesus Christ. It takes most stellar language learners about two years to gain fluency in a language. For the rest of us, it might take longer.

If you’re concerned about not knowing the language well enough to take classes, be assured that English is the language of business in the world—and it’s also a common universal language in upper education. Ask if classes are offered in English, and if they aren’t, you’ll get a crash course in the language in an immersive situation.

Furthermore, as you interact in your new host culture, God will also give you ideas and access to decide a valid strategy for living there long-term.

For example, if you are a business major, you might continue in country on a business visa, as an entreprenuer. If you are getting a professional degree, you might apply for an international company on an employment visa. If you are getting a community development degree, you might join an NGO in the country.

There’s a third reason for considering studying overseas in a spiritually strategic country—the networking opportunities.

Three: Natural Networking

As a student in a specific discipline, you will form deep and natural friendships in a setting that encourages networking, learning, and growing, all important aspects of entering and acclimating to other cultures well over time.

Imagine if you are getting your MBA. You’re sitting and studying next to other entrepreneurs, peers who will eventually be starting businesses alongside of you. You’re interacting with professors in the business world, who have contacts with other business leaders in the community. You are known as a star student, the next upcoming business innovator in the city, someone who wants to bless the city and create jobs. Over time, you earn your way into influential relationships, people who will become your lifetime friends in this foreign country.

Or, imagine you’re studying international community development. You get to visit and learn from all the development efforts already existing in the city, as a student and learner. You see what’s working…and what isn’t working. You learn who is who, and how the community responds to aid, to foreigners, what their mindset is regarding poverty or disease eradication. All of this will be helpful if you are interested in wholistic community transformation. In this context, it makes sense when you approach anyone in the culture and say, “I’m a student at such and such a university, studying such and such a degree, and I’d like to ask you a few questions about such and such a thing.”

I’m Interested! What Do I Do Next?

If you’re ready to explore becoming a student in a spiritually strategic country, here’s what I would do next.

First, decide which people bloc God would have you serve: Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists, or people from formerly Community countries, who are probably either one of the three previous religions or Secularists.

Second, find a long-term sending agency to send you. Don’t do this alone. Research my TOP Sixteen Effective International Faith-Based Organizations. TWO that I know will offer to send you as a student overseas to a strategic country with a team are Frontiers if you’re serving Muslims or Pioneers for Muslims, Hindus, or Buddhists.

Ask the organization about locations and team options available to study overseas in your particular major, and if you can see some potential fits, then fill out the long-term application for the sending organization and follow their process.

Third (or this could also be Second), research an unreached people group living in specific place, and start researching universities in that city, just like you would if you were planning to study in your own country.

Fourth, once you narrow down specific universities in specific cities that you could consider, you’ll likely need to connect with people from your culture on the ground, who know the host culture and language well. (Thus, the value of connecting with a long-term organization). They will likely need to fill out a lot of paperwork, and make several in-person visits, to get your application considered UNLESS the university is used to international students and already has a process for you to follow.

Fifth, INVITE your friends to sign up with you. If you are married, your spouse will be a crucial support for you. If you’re not married, recruit and inspire at least one, two, three, or more other people to do this adventure WITH YOU. There’s a reason why Jesus sent people out in two’s to bring good news to those without it.

Getting to unreached peoples and places takes PERSEVERANCE and TENACITY.

Being a student in a strategically spiritual place will also take PERSEVERANCE and TENACITY.

You can do it, with God’s help!

I went LIVE on Facebook to talk about studying abroad in a strategic country—with more stories and examples, so come on over and hang out with me. If you miss it, you can click below and watch the REPLAY.

Study Abroad In a Spiritually Strategic Country

One: Natural Affinity

Two: Natural Access

Three: Natural Networking

I’m Interested! What Do I Do Next?