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As an international team, we want to carry the vision of Campus Connect — “God is real, so are we. Let’s change our world.” — into the international communities within our student ministry.
Did you know that there are around 420,000 international students and doctoral candidates in Germany? That means hundreds of thousands of young people from all over the world are coming to Germany to study, build their careers and start a new chapter of their lives.
We have made it our goal to reach them and to offer them a spiritual home here in Germany.
That’s why we create all kinds of opportunities to connect with international students. We offer language courses where students can learn German in a welcoming environment, organize intercultural evenings, host international cooking nights, and create many other spaces where people from different cultures can meet and build friendships.
Our desire is to meet the people who come to Germany for their studies, to make them feel at home, to offer them genuine community and friendship — and, most importantly, to introduce them to Jesus.
We want to walk alongside international students, support them as they grow in their faith, and help them discover what it means to follow Jesus in Germany.
Because we believe that God has brought people from all over the world to Germany — and we want to be part of welcoming them, loving them, and sharing the good news of Jesus with them.
David is the team leader of our International Ministry. Together with his wife Susana, he originally comes from South Korea and spent 15 years working among students in Turkey. Since 2025, they have been based in Berlin, where they are building our international student ministry from the ground up. Over the past year, a big part of their time has been dedicated to learning German.
Fun fact: After 15 years in Turkey, David and Susana actually speak Turkish better than German or English – so you might occasionally hear them having conversations in Turkish around the office! And on top of that, they also speak Korean. Truly a linguistic wonder team!
Susana is David’s wife and has been on the journey with him for the past 15 years in Turkey, working among students and investing in people. Since moving to Berlin in 2025, she has been part of building up our International Ministry and creating a place where international students can find community, friendship and a spiritual home in Germany. She is passionate about investing in the next generation and loves to create an atmosphere where people from all over the world feel welcome.
And just like David, she has spent the past year tackling the German language – while still being able to switch effortlessly to Turkish or Korean whenever needed!
Finn was a student himself at Connect and has always had a huge love for everything international. During his studies, he travelled to the US several times and even spent a whole year working with our team in the States after we sent him to Kentucky.
To say that Finn is a USA lover would honestly be an understatement. 🇺🇸 But beyond his love for America, Finn especially loves connecting deeply with people. He originally studied to become a teacher, but today he brings that passion for people into his work with Connect. As part of our team on a part-time basis, he especially loves meeting up with international students, getting to know their stories and simply doing life together.
Helena is an expert when it comes to intercultural relationships. As a German-American married to a Brazilian, she doesn’t just talk about interculturality – she lives it every day. As a mom of two, she loves connecting with people and creating spaces where different cultures can meet and learn from each other.
Helena has been part of the Campus Connect since 2017. Having experienced Connect both as a student and now as a staff member, she brings years of experience and a deep understanding of the movement into our International Team. She will be leading our Language Club and helping international students connect, grow, and feel at home.
Heidi is the newest member of our team, having moved from the US to Germany in August to invest in international student ministry. She grew up in a small town in the US and, after finishing her studies, spent many years working in Texas, where she served in international student ministry with another organization.
With almost a decade of experience in this field, Heidi brings a wealth of knowledge, passion, and experience to our team. Now, she is taking that experience to a new context in Germany, helping us establish international student ministry in Gießen and investing in international students there.
And last but not least, meet our STINters! STINT stands for “Short Term International,” and our STINters will be joining us for a one-year internship in Germany. They are all from South Korea and have decided to pause their studies for a year to invest in international students alongside us here in Germany.
From left to right in the picture, you can see Jiwon, Yujin, and Joohyun. They only arrived in Germany on September 1st, so this is all very new for them! We are incredibly excited to have them here and can’t wait to see what this year will hold for them — and, of course, to work and do ministry alongside them over the next year.