We believe the simple act of welcoming students into our homes is a powerful way to allow God’s love to flow through our lives. You can show this life changing hospitality by inviting a Basque student to be part of your family for the month of July. Our program started with a family who went out of their way to share their lives and love with a Basque teen. You can do the same!
To be honest, that depends a lot on each family and on your personality. Hosting a student certainly isn’t easy, but it also is much more doable than you think. And you may discover that there are some hidden benefits you never imagined like living in community with other families from your church, of experiencing another culture, and feeling as if your student has always been a part of your family. Families who are busy, families with children, families who are going on vacation, and even families who think they’re boring have had great experiences hosting a student for a month.
Hosting a student is an amazing experience. But the typical family usually has a lot of questions before they say “yes” to hosting. That’s totally normal. Here’s some of the most common questions we receive. If you don’t see an answer to a question, please don’t hesitate to contact us.
The students coming this summer will be between 14 – 18 years old (with the exception of the University Program).
They will arrive more or less between June 25-30 and will depart between July 25-30 from an airport near you. Their stay is usually almost exactly a month, but the travel dates can change. Please check with your area coordinator for dates and airport details. Families need to plan to be at the airport for arrival and departure; however, if it is impossible we can arrange transportation to your house. Your presence at the airport sends the message that they are family!
Yes. While this is not mandatory, we encourage students to bring around $300 to the USA for any tourism or shopping they choose to do.
While their level of English varies, all come with at least a functional level of English.
Nope! Absolutely not! Each life stage has its own unique advantages when it comes to hosting. Some of our best host families have been empty nesters or young couples who do not yet have children.
Not necessarily. It’s nice if they can have their own bedroom but many students can share a bedroom with same gender siblings. All we ask is that they have a space to call their own (like a bed and a dresser plus a chair or desk).
Yes. They will come with travel health insurance in case there is any problem while they are in the USA. You should never have to put down your contact information or insurance information at a hospital if there is a problem.
This doesn’t make it impossible to host because sometimes there is a family who would like to be involved in the life of a student, but they don’t have space for them to sleep. Or maybe you are in a small group at your church that would like to help out. Or sometimes, families have taken their student to another family’s house who is also hosting a student. Other times, one parent has taken vacation one week, another parent another week, and then they find other families to help out the other two weeks. It certainly requires some planning and coordination, but if you feel God tugging on your heart…don’t let your work schedule keep you from listening. We can help you evaluate your situation and how you can make it work.
Sometimes there are families that can host a student, but they’re at work all day (see the question above). If this is you, contact us and we can connect you with a family near you who is in this situation and you can partner together with them.
Great! If you are willing, take the student with you! This is a great memory maker and might even be more bonding for your family as you will find that your student brings you all together. This is also an amazing way to send a message to your student that they have become part of your family. Of course, not every family is willing to do this, but if you are able we highly encourage you to keep your normal summer trips and family vacations.
There is no financial commitment other than treating the student like a part of your family. As a result, there is an increased cost (we estimate somewhere between $150-300 depending on the lifestyle of your family). This is a result of added food and utilities, an extra person with you when you eat out at restaurants, and if you choose to do extra activities throughout the month. When the student chooses to go shopping or other optional activities, you do not need to pay for them (they will bring around $300 to pay for extra things like this), but when they are with you and doing activities with your family, we ask that you treat them like one of your children.
There will be several activities organized throughout the month for you and your student (see question about activities below). While none of these are mandatory for host families (except the welcome BBQ and goodbye dinner) they are all highly recommended as this gives you the opportunity to build a deeper relationship with your student and the other students as well. The intentional time and activities you spend with your student and your family take time as well as most people want to be good hosts who show their student the best of your area of the USA. However, many students are just excited to see how normal Americans live their normal lives. So don’t be afraid to keep your normal friend plans, family trips, weekly obligations, sports practices and games, and take your student along with you to those things.
They will if you don’t do anything with them all month! But if you are intentional about spending time with them, including them in your normal activities, and living missionally as a family they will have a great time! We provide families with a list of activities that are low or no cost that they can do with their student throughout the month. We also encourage families to build good habits into their family (such as limiting times on technology, eating meals together, watching TV together instead of separately, playing games together, going for a walk after dinner, etc) that can be great for your family in the future. If you do these simple things, your student won’t be bored and will have an amazing time with you.
Normally we organize a calendar of group activities throughout the month, however due to ongoing COVID concerns we are planning a more family centered program this year. The Basque students are thrilled to be able to come to the USA, and know that their experience will be to live with an American family and join in their daily routines. Depending on each group, there may be a few group activities planned, such as a Welcome BBQ or a water day. We recommend each family use the hosting opportunity to explore their local area with their student, going on picnics, hikes, biking, shopping, concerts in the park, or even a camping trip. You will love the extra family time and your student will love seeing where you live!
Yes, but they need to fill out a permission form ahead of time from their parents. Contact your coordinator to get this document.
Hosting is easy: fill out the online application, and participate in 1 or 2 training sessions before the students arrive where we will give you helpful information and details from your area leader. Here you will learn about picking your student up from the airport, and what activities may be planned for your host family group. Having a student will be just like having a son/daughter for the month, so give them lots of love, food, sleep, grace and fun! Should your student need to go to the doctor, your area leader will coach you through that process and help you use the student’s travel insurance so that you are not responsible for any bills.
We ask that there's a space for the student to call their own (a bed, desk or chair, and dresser for example), but it’s common for students to share a room with American siblings. Hosting a student also adds some extra expense for things like food, utilities and activities you may choose to do as a family. We ask that you treat the student like one of your own children throughout the month, but students will bring their own personal spending money and will have travel/medical insurance for the time they are with you.
A parent or responsible teen must be with Basque student at all times. This often means that there is a stay-at-home parent but it can also work great to “team” with another family or single who your student can be with during the day if both parents work. Just because you're super busy doesn't mean you can't host. Sometimes, with a little bit of creative thinking, busy schedules can become the best experiences for the students.
This is the best part of the month...spending time with your student. This helps your student practice English and helps you build a deep relationship. While there is no requirement of activities you must do with your student, the families that have had the best experience tend to be intentional about spending quality time together. So unleash your inner teenager and go to walk through the mall, go for a hike, go bowling, play board games, cook dinner together, have a barbecue and play cornhole, or even go to garage sales! Basically...live your normal life, but ensure the student has a good time and a variety of experiences in the USA.
Depending on each group, there will be several activities throughout the month that will be organized by your area leader. There may be other activities that get planned impromptu throughout the month as well. The group activities are a great way to get to know other families in your area and helps break the ice with your student. Most of the time, though, you will most likely be doing activities you plan with your family and community, and can include fun summer outings, camping, hiking, family reunions, youth group and church activities.
Host families desire to share love with others, have the ability to graciously listen to different opinions and lovingly accept a broad range of people, take an extra effort to invite others in and make them feel welcome through conversation and togetherness and desire to sacrifice their time and skills for the sake of other people. Our prayer is that this experience isn’t a one-time cross-cultural experience but what hopefully will become a long-term relationship with a Basque student and his/her extended family. With that in mind, host families need to have:
A <strong>bed</strong> and <strong>small space</strong> in your home for the student (like a dresser and chair or desk for instance)
A <strong>love</strong> for others, a <strong>hospitable heart</strong> and a willingness to relationally invest in your student throughout the month!
A gracious attitude and a global mindset that accepts cultural differences
An appropriate life stage: Actually...<strong>there is no ideal life stage</strong>; newly married, empty-nesters, or anywhere in between! Anyone, in any life stage, can apply to host.
<b>Training</b>: Participate in monthly meetings with other host families in your church. (April – June; there are two, 2-hour meetings)
<strong>An Application</strong>: Well...what are you waiting for? Get started filling out the <a href="https://www.summerintheusa.com/en/host-family-application/">application to host</a> now!
Looking for more detailed information? Try our host family FAQ’s.
Please get in touch with us for more detailed information on our host family qualifications, and application process so that you or your church can host Basque students.
"It really helped us to see our life through the eyes of someone from another culture both physically and spiritually. It caused me to be more aware of the things we do, why we do them and prompted some good conversations."
"It forced us to be together and try new things more than maybe we would have otherwise in the summer. I think it helped us with building relationships and surprised us with how intimate a relationship we could have with someone in just three weeks."
"We just love our student so much and we only had him with us for a month! Our son especially connected deeply with him and wanted him to be his brother. It was an amazing summer."
"As third year hosts, this has been an incredible journey for us as a family. We gained a 5th child and have really become like family with his family. The ability to share God's hope with the Basque students has impacted us in innumerable ways!"
"It was humbling to open our home and show her God’s love through our everyday lives. We were thankful she fit right in and was so appreciative of everything we did! She was a blessing and we can't believe the impact she had on our lives and we had on hers. Our tearful goodbyes were so hard."
"As always hosting a student makes us so grateful to God for this unique opportunity to make a difference, not only with the student but also with their family!"
"We loved our Basque daughter so much after only 1 month! After she left we went back to our home and it felt so empty. We miss her!"
"We fell in love with our Basque daughters each year, and gained an entire family in Basque Country! Our family has grown and now reaches across the world"
Lisa Busha, host mom
"We were surprised at how quickly we connected with our Basque daughter. We felt like she was a part of our family right away"
Amy Fletcher, host mom