Imagine going to sleep after arriving in America, knowing your children will be safe for the first time when they go to school tomorrow. You rest easy, realizing the likelihood of your home being burglarized while you’re at work is slim. You left everything you knew to offer your family a better life.
However, new challenges soon arise.
You don’t speak the language. Communicating with your employer and your child’s teacher is almost impossible. Grocery shopping is a challenge. Most everyone you encounter is unaware of your situation. They avoid you because they can’t communicate with you (which makes them uncomfortable), or they are rude because you don’t speak the language. You long for a friend, someone to help and love you so life isn’t so hard and lonely. You start to attend English classes to make the best of this new life.
This is the background of many of the students who attend English as a Second Language (ESL) at our church. They live hard lives with demanding jobs and are trying their best. They are hungry to learn and even hungrier for someone to love on them. The first few weeks of class are frightening for both students and teachers. You start building a bond one word or one phrase at a time. The students begin to feel more comfortable and ask more questions. We help our students succeed in living in America by helping with everything from job applications to school information packets. This is a tangible way of being the hands and feet of Jesus.
For instance, one unit taught the names of rooms, and students learned the words kitchen, bathroom, bedroom, and living room. Then, we came to rooms in the workplace. When I mentioned the word breakroom, I saw a puzzled look on one student’s face. She asked, “What room is this?”
I explained the breakroom is where employees eat lunch together. Tears filled her eyes, and through broken English, she explained she thought the breakroom was the bathroom. For months, she thought her employer was asking her to eat lunch in the bathroom. That evening, due to ESL classes, she left feeling more valued and appreciated than when she entered. Another student, with tears from laughter at my botched pronunciation of an Arabic word, said, “I need you in my life; you bring laughter!”
Most Wednesday evenings, The Grove Church is filled with diligent, laughing students. Of course, the laughter is mainly at me as I navigate learning Arabic and Spanish during our breaks. It is rewarding to watch students learn new skills that will help them at home, at work, or with their children. Our class runs from 7:00 to 9:00 p.m., with one break. We take 15 minutes to rest and then 15 minutes for Bible time. The Bible time is also in English, but we plant seeds as they practice English words. We recently finished the ABCs of God. How wonderful to hear students repeating phrases like, “God is all-knowing, beautiful, creative….” We meet physical needs.
Hopefully, we also meet spiritual needs.
ESL classes are easy to start. Our church had been praying about ways to reach our community. After participating in Know Your Community, a resource the Executive Office offers in partnership with Church Answers, the demographics around us revealed English classes were needed in our area.
Getting Started
Once you make the decision to start ESL classes, let your church know you need volunteers. Anyone can be a volunteer. Volunteers can teach, be assistant teachers, bring snacks,
befriend students during break time, and help them practice English. If you do not have enough volunteers from the church, open it up to the community. Post on community Facebook pages you are seeking ESL teachers.
Next, assess the space of your facility and how many students you can accept. Our church can host 20 students. Childcare is another consideration. Unfortunately, we cannot offer childcare, and we let our students know that upfront.
Assessing the Cost
The budget for ESL can be adjusted according to the financial ability of the church. The initial expenses come from purchasing curriculum and classroom materials. However, it is also important to charge the students for the class. It does not have to be much, but it needs to be something. The reason is twofold: first, it gives the students investment in the class, and second, it lets the students know the costs involved, and they want to avoid taking advantage of the host.
Finding the Time That Works for You
ESL classes should meet once a week at a minimum. Offering multiple classes each week is better but not always possible. Due to the other ministries at The Grove, we only offer classes on Wednesday evenings. Since we only offer classes weekly, we make the class time two hours.
ESL is such a rewarding ministry! It is exciting to watch a mother learn to communicate effectively with her child’s teacher or a new citizen learn how to be a more efficient employee. ESL involves far more than speaking and understanding English; it teaches American culture, proper etiquette, and…the gospel.
Matthew 28:19 commands Christians to go and make disciples of all nations. What a privilege to live in a place where the nations have been brought to us. Obey the command. Rise, go, and reach all nations. ESL is a great tool available to you.
About the Writer: Anna Fox works in the Executive Office where she maintains a database of all pastors and churches and serves as registration coordinator for the National Convention. Anna works alongside her husband Levi at The Grove Church in Smyrna, Tennessee. She is a mom to Hallie Jo and Baby Fox, who is in Heaven. In addition to ESL, Anna also directs the nursery and preschool ministry.
