Category Archive

What greater joy is there than making a dream come true?   I knew the very moment who I would choose to be my very first student to host when I read his story and heard him speak of his dream to come to America. What greater joy is there than making a dream come true? This experience has been … Read More

I am so grateful to our friends for opening their hearts and their homes to our family (Testimonial from a host mom after she spent time in Norway and Germany visiting the natural parents of the students her family hosted.)   “Ten years ago, and then seven years later, our family made the decisions to invite exchange students into our … Read More

Should you host an exchange student? Yes! 100% Yes! (One of our Texas host mothers wanted to share her experience after taking her exchange student back to the airport.)   Should you host an exchange student? Yes! 100% Yes! Even though I could never accurately describe what hosting a foreign exchange student was like. Nora has been our main focus … Read More

A relationship to last a lifetime   “Having three young kids at the time, it was hard to imagine having room or energy for a long term guest. But my family and I decided to open up our home to Johanna from Germany and I am so glad we did! She quickly became a loved and cherished member of our … Read More

Miguel has been a pleasure from day one   Wow… Where do we start? Miguel was not our first Exchange student; he happened to be our 3rd student. From the very first glance at his paperwork and spotting his birthday was the exact same as our youngest, we know he was the perfect fit for our family. Miguel has been … Read More

Our Exchange Experience   We decided to bring our first foreign exchange student into our home in March of 2017. Initially there was some hesitation with the idea. After meeting with the local coordinator, we signed up to be a welcome family. After reviewing profiles of many worthy students, we narrowed our selection and ultimately settled on a young man … Read More

Hosting Federico this year has been a great experience for our entire family and community!   We are Italian, so having a student from Italy has been so much fun. We have had opportunities to compare traditions and recipes, even with extended family. We have made homemade ravioli, enjoyed authentic Foods from Italy from Fed’s family and have even had … Read More

“Ellina you have made us better people by sharing your life with us”   Dear Ellina, Wow! It has been a year since you came to me on that cold, snowy night in January, 2017. Remember the array of stars and full moon shinning, lighting our path up the hill to my house. Pulling your huge suitcase, I often wonder … Read More

Natasha has been all smiles   Sadly, I failed being on time at the airport to meet and greet our newest family member, but from that first moment on, Natasha has been all smiles. She just laughed off our poor “first impression”, and things couldn’t be any better. My wife Mary was an exchange student her Junior year in high … Read More

Hosting Paloma from Spain was one of the best decisions our family has ever made!   One day as I was scrolling through Facebook I had seen an article about the need of host families by ICES. As I read through the article I was intrigued at the possibility. As a blended family we don’t have all our children through … Read More