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Our Mission Statement: To meet the emotional, social, and spiritual needs of Internationals at American University and the Washington, DC area through friendship activities, cultural exchange and community building. Our Core Values:
1. Friendship and community building is a vital key to cultural unity and harmony.
2. There is no superior culture in the eyes of God, only different ones.
3. We aim to meet the needs of the whole person – physical, mental, social, emotional, and spiritual.
4. We endeavor to bridge the cultural gap between Americans and Internationals
5. Every International needs a channel to express his or her cultural values and traditions.
Although we are a Christian group, we embrace and love Internationals regardless of their race, beliefs, and creed. Global Friends History In 2002, Pastor Cito Cruz joined Kay Spiritual Center as a volunteer part-time chaplain and started Global Friends with a weekly lunch and other friendship activities such as home dinners, outdoor activities, and trips. Later on we had dinners in Leonard Hall twice a month. Then it evolved into the present Global Friends Cafe and other friendship activities. During this time other wonderful partners such as Reston Presbyterian Church, Fourth Presbyterian, Derwood Alliance Church, International Church of Fairfax, Cabin John Methodist Church, Chi Alpha, International Student and Scholar Services, InterFACE ministries, and International Students, Inc. joined us to make this endeavor a success. We would have never reached where we are now without these great partners.
Welcome Message:
  Dear International and American friends,
My family and I welcome you to Global Friends! I’m glad you took the time to join us because we cherish your friendship as much as you value ours. And that’s what Global Friends is all about. Our mission statement is to connect Americans with people from all nations and meet their felt needs and nourish them spiritually. Perhaps you are wondering why we are doing this. I mean, why we spend so much of our time organizing dinners and other activities that you and others can enjoy. People have been asking questions like, “Who pays you? Does the university or the US government support you?” The truth is, no one pays us to do this. We are all volunteers. I am a volunteer chaplain at the Kay Spiritual Center. Our lead team members are volunteers from different churches in the area and so are our friendship partners who host Internationals and sacrificially cook and serve the food during our dinners on Saturday evenings.
The other question you might ask is, “Why are we doing this if we are not paid to do it?” First of all, we just enjoy doing it. We love to learn from other cultures and we gain so much from your friendship. We appreciate your sincerity and depth of friendship which is seldom found in our society today. We just love to laugh with you and listen to your life journeys. Your friendship will linger with us the rest of our lives.
Secondly, some of us were either foreign students ourselves or new immigrants who struggled to fit in the American culture. We know how you feel. We understand the sense of isolation and homesickness which plague foreign students and new immigrants. We have felt the pain of learning and speaking a new language and trying to fit in a new culture. We understand what it feels to adjust our lifestyle from 85 degree sunny weather in our countries of origin to sunless and snowy days. Like some of you, we suddenly switched from rice and fish to McDonald’s. In short, we feel your pain.
And lastly, we are doing these things because our lives have been changed by God’s love with the entry of Jesus Christ in our lives. We can not keep this special sense of spiritual love and eternal security to ourselves. That would be selfish. We want to share this love with you. We want it to ooze out of our lives so you can have it and feel it too. We want to express this love with no strings attached. And that’s why we are loving and serving you in so many ways expecting nothing in return. With that said, we welcome you to Global Friends. God Bless you!
Cito Cruz
Global Friends director and chaplain
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