Program gives opportunities to share the love of Christ while making lifetime friends

By Rylee Freeman

Welcoming an exchange student into the family can create lifelong relationships while introducing new cultures to both the student and the host family.

            Foreign Links Around the Globe (FLAG) was founded by former Brazilian exchange student Mazi Cunha and his American host mother.

            Local coordinator Laura Shaw recruits host families willing to welcome an exchange student during the school year and treat them as part of the family. Shaw manages both families and students through monthly reports and check-ins during the school year.

Shaw brings 10 years of experience in exchange student management and has hosted 11 students of her own, all of whom still return to visit.

FLAG's mission is to give exchange students and host families the opportunity to experience each other's cultures.

            Shaw described a great host family as “somebody that loves kids, that is willing to take one and just treat them like their own.”

            Whether a family's ideal evening is watching movies and eating pizza or traveling together, Shaw said anyone with a servant's heart and a love for young people can become a host family.

            Families interested in hosting begin by completing an application and passing a background check. The organization then conducts a home visit and takes photographs before the student's school approves the placement.

            Shaw said host families receive training, orientation and ongoing support throughout the process.

            Hosts are responsible for three meals a day, while students arrive with spending money and their own health insurance.

            Shaw said hosting an exchange student often feels like gaining another child.  “They become family, and then you have a lifetime friend,” Shaw said.

            Beyond cultural exchange, Shaw said that the program is a Christian ministry. “You get to show these kids the love of Christ,” Shaw said.  

            For more information about hosting, contact Laura Shaw at (903) 701-5320 or lshaw@flag-intl.org.