Summer in Texas is a 4 week exchange program in northwest Houston (Cypress / Tomball / Katy Area) sponsored local churches and Marrs Family Ministries, a 501(c)3 ministry focused on providing resources to local churches and running family and youth programs. Our summer exchange students are from the Basque Country region of Spain and are 14-18 years old. They are here for 4 weeks with a goal to exchange love, culture, and faith.
2024 Students arrive June 29th, and depart July 27th. Host families are selected from partner churches or christian relationships. Students are placed with families during the 4 weeks to become a family member and experience everyday American life with you as your son or daughter.
We help you choose the perfect student that matches your family. Students have travel insurance with full health coverage while they are here and all travel & group activity expenses are paid, so the cost to host a student is very low as you are only providing a bed and meals during the month along with covering their cost of family activities. We don’t want any great family to not host due to money, so financial assistance is available to families who want to host but need a little extra help covering food or activity expenses. Up to $400 (or more if needed) is available per host family.
Host families and siblings are invited to attend all our events for this summer, which include a group trip to NASA/Kemah, Schlitterbahn water park in Galveston, and an overnight trip to Dallas with fun activities & a day at Six Flags.
HOST FAMILY APPLICATION FORM AT THE BOTTOM OF THIS PAGE!
Click here to SEE AVAILABLE STUDENTS
Learn more and complete a host family application below!
FAQ:
Who will I be hosting and where do they come from? All of our students come from The Basque Country, a region in northern Spain. The Basque Country has its own culture and its own language (Euskera). Although not everyone speaks Euskera, most of our students’ mother tongue is Euskera. The Basque Country is known for its great cuisine, green landscape, beaches and modern architecture.
What does the student expect? The student expects to be welcomed into a warm and loving home. Flexibility, a sense of humor, and the ability to help a young person adapt to a new family and lifestyle are also important qualities that students hope their family will have.
What should we expect from the student during the month? For most of our students, this will be their first time in the USA. They are joining the program to get immersed in the American culture, improve their English language skills, and create bonds with their host families. The students also want to share their Basque culture with their host families during the month. They will be part of the family for a month, therefore, they will have to follow the family’s dynamic, rules, attend family gatherings, attend church, and respect every family member.
Do the students speak English? Yes they all speak English well and all interviews to be accepted for this program are conducted only in English. It is very common for Spanish students to attend English classes in an academy as an extracurricular activity, therefore, they should be perfectly able to communicate very well with their families. Basque students speak Spanish, Basque, English, and sometimes French or German is given as an option in schools.
What do host families provide for their students? You provide a loving christian home with a bed to sleep in (they can share a room with other siblings) and provide meals (family stipends are available to help with meal expenses). The students pay for all other expenses, have health and accident insurance, and all our activities are paid for (including host siblings).
How will our family benefit by hosting an international student? Hosting an exchange student is a rewarding experience for your whole family. You’ll learn about another culture and language without leaving home. You’ll start a life-long relationship with your new “son” or “daughter,” and when your student returns home you’ll have a friend in another country. If you have children, they will gain a broader perspective on the world, learning more about geography, communication, and international cultures. If your children are young, they’ll probably love having a big brother or sister from another country.
Do I take my student out for dinner, on excursions and on family trips? You should include your student in your family plans. Your student is there to experience what it’s like to live with an American family. The program includes some scheduled activities, but you are free to provide the student with as many activities as you want. Lifestyle in Spain is totally different than here in Texas, and even what you consider “mundane” like a trip to the grocery store is an amazing and exciting trip for an exchange student!
If we go on vacation, can we bring the student with us? Yes. In our program, we have scheduled activities and day trips for our students (host families or siblings may attend as well), but the family is free to take the student with them if they already had a vacation planned. They should treat the student as a family member. We even have stipends to help pay for a student’s expenses if you take them on vacation with you.
Can a student stay at home alone? It is okay for the students to stay at home alone some days, just try to avoid leaving the student alone consecutive days. Remember that the student is in your family to be a part of it, you can organize plans or drop the student at other families’ houses for them to have some companionship for those days.
Where can we take our students? Anywhere within the USA – if your family goes they can go with you as a member of your family!
Will the students have their own spending money? Yes they will. We tell our students to take both cash and a credit card with them for personal purchases. The families do not provide the students with spending money or pay for personal expenses.
How will our exchange student get around? Since exchange students are not allowed to drive, the host family is expected to provide transportation. The host family may also transport students to events, social activities, and cultural programs, just
as they would their own child. Other hosting families are always available to carpool on groups trips.
What is the history of this program? How did this start? In 2013 A student from Basque County, Spain was a regular high school foreign exchange student for the 10 month school year program. She lived with the Marrs family in Cypress and attended Cy-Fair High School and attended Community of Faith Church with her family. She loved the Texas culture and was fascinated by Christianity. She had never really thought of God before coming to the USA, and fell in love with everything she
experienced. At the end of her exchange year she returned to Spain, and with a friend co-founded this partnership to send high school students from her region of Spain, Basque Country, to the Cypress area to experience what she experienced during her school year exchange program.
What are the next steps? Feel free to look at our student profiles and see all the available students that are still waiting for a host family this summer. Complete the quick and easy host family application form below and we will be in contact with you to help you select the perfect student to complement your family for this summer.
Check out our available students, click HERE!
Host Family Signup Form:
If you are ready to sign up – Please complete the host family application here:
IMPORTANT: After you submit your registration form, please send a photo of your family, home, and 1-2 other photos of something fun or that you enjoy so we can include this on your family profile that goes to the student once they are selected & matched with you. Please put your family name in the subject and send the photos to troy@exchangeprogram.us