Christmas International House - CIH

04/07/2026

AMIS Atlanta executive director Camille Kesler celebrated Easter with international students, friends & family with a service project before dinner. Together they prepared nearly 300 sandwiches for food-insecure Atlantans. What a wonderful way to celebrate Easter; by helping others! If ever you are in Atlanta and are interested in participating in AMIS events, check us out at amisatlanta.org/events. 

03/02/2026

If you have plans to be in Atlanta on April 25 or want to support us from afar, we hope you will consider our Afternoon of International Tea fundraiser benefiting the Atlanta Ministry with International Students (AMIS)! Mix and mingle with international students and guests, and sample beverages and bites from all over the world while supporting our mission of friendship and hospitality with Atlanta’s International Student and scholar community. All are welcome! And even if you are unable to attend in person, we welcome your support! We offer traditional sponsorships, as well as an option to sponsor tickets for international students to be able to attend. Information is available at amisatlanta.org/events. 🫖

01/09/2026

Christmas International House has been around since 1965! And for more than 20 of those years, AMIS has coordinated with Memorial Presbyterian Church in St. Augustine, FL to provide hospitality for international college students from around the world during Christmas break.

We want to take a moment to thank Nancy Hutton, this year‘s local CIH chair, and long-time CIH volunteers and ardent champions of this special program Bob and Jane Fulton for all of their efforts in organizing fun activities for the students to explore St. Augustine's history, landscape and culture. In addition to Nancy, Bob and Jane, we want to thank all of the volunteers who hosted the students in their homes. Their efforts to provide such a warm welcome and provide a home away from home during the holidays will forever be such a special memory for  these students.

We are sharing a few pictures from the 2025–2026 Christmas International House. What fun! 

12/11/2025

The following blog post featured on our website was written by a current AMIS student from Taiwan named PJ Chen. His words provide a powerful testament to the importance of friendships and creating a sense of belonging for Atlanta's international students. PJ's experience mirrors that of many international students looking for community in the United States. And, AMIS Atlanta is grateful to play a role in helping them have a positive experience in Atlanta!

Finding Full Color in Atlanta: My PhD Journey with AMIS
By Pin-Jun Chen

Let’s start with a confession: Do you ever feel like your life is running in black and white? Like you're stuck in a blurry 1980s VHS tape when everyone else is living in 2020s Full Color, 4K UHD QLED? That's exactly how I felt when I first landed in Atlanta - until I found AMIS. My name is Pin-Jun Chen, and I’m a second-year Yellow Jacket pursuing my PhD in Electrical and Computer Engineering at Georgia Tech. I arrived in Atlanta in August 2024. This wasn’t just the start...

Read the rest of this blog at https://www.amisatlanta.org/post/finding-full-color-in-atlanta-my-phd-journey-with-amis

11/26/2025

We are so very thankful for you and the entire AMIS community this Thanksgiving. We have finished matching international students with our gracious Thanksgiving Day hosts and are excited to hear the stories from these special interactions. Most of these students will be celebrating their very first Thanksgiving this week! and we look forward to hearing about the Christmas International House experiences for international students this holiday season as well! 

As our wonderful volunteer hosts and all of you begin making plans to celebrate your own Thanksgiving and holiday meals, we are reaching out to ask for your financial assistance so that we can continue our efforts to Connect through Conversation.

For more than 47 years, we have welcomed international students from all over the world and offered them hospitality and kindness with the help of an amazing group of volunteers. We could not do this without them! But, we also cannot operate without staff, and it takes donations to pay our staff salaries and other operating costs. That is why we are so grateful to everyone that donates to AMIS to support our work! Your tax-deductible donations enable AMIS to continue our powerful but quiet diplomacy and peace-building work.

Please consider a gift to to support our work in promoting relationships across differences, and connect us to one another. And, while Giving Tuesday is next week on Tuesday, December 2, all donations from now thru the end of the year count towards our Year-End Giving Campaign. We know there are many worthwhile nonprofits to choose from, but during this time of global conflict and uncertainty for international students, AMIS Atlanta’s work is more important and needed now more than ever.

Please donate today using the link in our bio! Or at www.amisatlanta.org. Thank you!!! And Happy Thanksgiving!

11/08/2025

Hi friends! If you are in Atlanta next weekend, we’d love to have you join us for Friendsgiving: a catered traditional Thanksgiving meal with international students and local Atlantans. Register today  at amisatlanta.org/events.

10/27/2025

We have space for one more female student to join the 2025 CIH! The application deadline is quickly approaching so apply today at https://www.amisatlanta.org/cihstudent!

10/22/2025

Christmas International House, a holiday home stay program specifically for international students studying at any US college or university, is an amazing opportunity for students to experience the holidays of Christmas and New Year in a local US home with a family. International students who participate in the program will enjoy daily programming (except for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, spent with the home stay family) with other student participants. Activities may include sailing, visiting the fort and the beach, shopping, exploring the alligator farm, etc.

This year, Christmas International House will be offered in St. Augustine, Florida from December 19, 2025 to January 2nd, 2026. The cost for this trip is the registration fee of $199 and students are responsible for providing their own transportation to and from St. Augustine. The host church is Memorial Presbyterian Church.

This is a perfect opportunity for international students without winter break plans to experience a different perspective of American culture and geography outside of their college/university town or city. St. Augustine is America’s oldest city, riddled with historic markers, preserved forts, and beautiful beaches! Whether celebrating Christmas is a normal part of your cultural practices or is a tradition completely foreign to you, this opportunity is open to all international students looking to more deeply experience American traditions and customs.

Since 2002, Memorial Presbyterian Church families have opened their homes and their hearts to more than eighty CIH students from twenty-one countries. The ensuing rewards to visiting CIH students and to their many host families have been remarkable.

You can find more information and program details on AMIS Atlanta's website. Please pass on this opportunity to all international students and scholars studying at any US college or university. Register today at https://www.tfaforms.com/5196876

10/10/2025

Would you like to experience holidays in a US home? Apply today to join this year's Christmas International House program, a holiday home stay program open to ALL international students studying at any US college or university! From December 19, 2025- January 2nd, 2026, you'll have the opportunity to stay in a US home in St. Augustine, FL for Christmas and New Year's, with daily programming with other international students participating in the program.

How can you learn more and apply? Click this link: https://www.amisatlanta.org/cihstudent

10/06/2025

Photos from the 2024 Christmas International House program in beautiful St. Augustine, Florida!

11/01/2024

We are accepting applications for this year's program in St. Augustine, Florida. Apply today!

Are you still without plans for winter break? Consider applying for Christmas House International, a home stay program that runs from Dec. 19th-Jan. 2nd in St. Augustine, Florida. International students studying in the US are encouraged to apply, and a few spots are still open! Get more information here: https://www.amisatlanta.org/cihstudent

01/19/2024

The St. Augustine Memorial Presbyterian Church Christmas International House (CIH) is alive and well again. Covid interrupted the program for three years b...