Sarah Gallagher, with a guest post about the ESL Outreach starting up soon:
We announced on Monday that our church has a new ESL ministry, so I thought I would write on here to give you some more information and explain our heart behind it.
About a year ago a few of us started to feel a burden from the Lord to reach out to the community around us. In coming back from serving in England for a season, I had really developed a heart to reach out to immigrants, specifically people groups who come from countries closed off to the gospel. Through working in the Coffee Shop in York, England, I was able to disciple a girl who was heading back to North Korea. It was an amazing opportunity, and it really opened my eyes to see how God can use our lives in ways we never imagined when we ask Him to use us. So when I heard that some of the other people in our church were looking to do a ministry like ESL, you can imagine my excitement. How amazing is it that God is bringing that Nations to our doorstep?!
The verses that really impacted me in seeing God’s heart for this was in 1 Kings when Solomon prays to the Lord among the people of Israel after the Temple is built:
“Likewise, when a foreigner, who is not of your people Israel, comes from a far country for your name’s sake (for they shall hear of your great name and your mighty hand, and of your outstretched arm), when he comes and prays toward this house, hear in heaven your dwelling place and do according to all for which the foreigner calls to you, in order that all the peoples of the earth may know your name and fear you, as do your people Israel, and that they may know that this house that I have built is called by your name.” (1 Kings 8:41-43)
If you never have before, I encourage you to do a study through the Bible on how God made provisions for strangers, and used foreigners for His glory. So with that said, if you would like to be involved with this ministry, we are looking for people to be involved.
We are looking for people to:
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Help find and prepare visual aids in advance, to be ready the day of the class (pictures to represent the vocabulary for each lesson, video clips that correspond to the dialog or lesson)
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Help to choose/lead songs or group activities to open or close the class (either related to the lesson; or a song with simple English that is fun/easy to learn and will represent our faith)
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Be ‘Acting’ volunteers to act out skits & demonstrate relevant conversations/situations (either during the lesson time or group activity)
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Serve as In-class “tutors”: work with pairs or small groups of students throughout the main lesson, helping them complete in-class exercises and practice the dialog
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Lead teaching: Plan and lead a one-hour lesson (drills, practice activities/exercises, etc.). Indicate how many classes you would like to volunteer to lead during the course, so we can see how many are interested and create a teaching schedule).
We are excited about this “semester,” as recently a lot of doors have opened up to many different people. Specifically, the Philadelphia Libraries have shut down their ESL program, and offered to direct people to us. So we have no idea, but are excited to see, what the Lord will do in the next few months!
Classes will start on Wednesday, January 25th, and will run for 16 weeks.
We meet for prayer at 5:45, and the class runs from 6:00 until 7:30 right before Church starts. We do it this way so that we can invite the classes to come to church.
If you would like more information about the curriculum we are using, or if you have any other questions, or if you would like to be involved, feel free to talk to me or email me at SGallagher@ccphilly.org. Tiffany Doran and Carlos Kalczuk would me more that happy to answer any questions you have as well.