ESL Ministry

A few years ago, when I was in another country, I had the opportunity to teach English as a Second Language (ESL) to primary school teachers for a week or so.  I had never done anything like it before, but really enjoyed the interaction with the students and especially the opportunity to share the gospel.  There was much fruit from teaching ESL and in fact one of the students, who was not a believer at the time, now feels called to pastor!  ESL is a great way for an English speaker, who doesn't know other languages, to meet and communicate with people from other countries and languages. 

This summer, Josh has preached on being a missionary in our community.  He wanted to provide our church with opportunities to do missions where we live.  I immediately thought of ESL and Josh and the mission team agreed it would be a good time to try it.  I wasn't quite sure what I was getting myself into, but I'm learning as a I go! 

Thankfully, The North American Mission Board has a book on how to start an ESL program in your church and it has been so helpful! The book has everything in it for student registration and placement testing. It suggested we do a short devotion at the beginning of the class and one of the members of the Hispanic ministry, who speaks decent English, is sharing the devotion in Spanish. I have no idea what he is saying, but I pray for those who do.

We meet on Thursday nights at 6:30pm and have met for three weeks.  The first week we had six students (5 men and 1 woman), the next week we had 10 students (6 men and 4 women), and last night we had 19 students (I've lost count of men/women)!  All of our students are Hispanic (there is a significant Hispanic population in our community) and they are from Guatemala, Mexico, Honduras, etc.  Some of them know enough English to hold down a job, and a couple of the new ladies last night knew almost nothing.  Thus far we have had everyone together with me as the only teacher, but that is changing after this week.  With so many students at different levels, it is impossible to know if everyone is getting it or if I'm belaboring some of the curriculum for the more advanced students.  

We are using the curriculum Word By Word Picture Dictionary and I really like it.  The teacher's guide spells out what to do and that is very helpful.  I am also supplementing with curriculum that a friend from seminary created.  Right now we are just doing the basics: alphabet, personal information, numbers, time, money, etc. 

If you think of it, please just pray for the Lord to use this ministry for the advancement of the gospel.  Last week, our family went out to eat and we ran into (almost literally!) a student from the class, her child, and her boyfriend/husband (no one is married but they use marital words).  We were able to talk to the couple for a while and the student, Senia, even asked if I would invite her to church sometime!  I invited her right then, but she was unable to come on Sunday because of sickness.  Please also pray for me and the other teachers to have much clarity and encouragement as we teach.  I'll try to provide an update once a month on the ministry.  Thanks for your prayers!

Radical

I recently read David Platt's book Radical: Taking Back Your Faith From The American Dream and I would highly recommend it.  Through reading this book, my eyes have been opened as to how I love this world more than Christ.  This book is very challenging and while it is a short book, it isn't something you can read in one sitting because it is so convicting!  As a Christian, I am called to take up my cross and follow after Christ.  David Platt fleshes out in real, hard hitting ways what that means and how it is contrary to the American dream. 

If you are looking for a great review of this book, visit the Search & See blog.  Pastor Wil Owens is much smarter than me and does a much better review than I could ever do!  After you read his review, go to Lifeway or Amazon and purchase Radical! 

Reunion!

A couple of weeks ago, our church had the pleasure of having a wonderful couple who are workers in East Asia visit us!  John & Rachel (you can see her blog linked on my blog list) are also wonderful friends as well, and we were so privileged the Lord gave them an opportunity to visit us.  They are home for a very short time, and it was only at the beginning of the month they emailed and said some dates had become available for them to visit us.  Even though it was a busy time for us (it was the same week Josh went to Together for The Gospel), we absolutely could not pass up a visit with them. 

On Thursday evening, the team (and their families) who went to visit them last summer had dinner with John and Rachel and their girls at a local restaurant.  It was a great time of catching up with them and also receiving more details about people they had shared with last summer.  All of the kids had a wonderful time playing together after dinner too (I think their were nine children, 5 and below, between us). 

We had John and Rachel and their girls over for lunch on Friday and it was a sweet time of fellowship.  I was struck with how we don't know each other all that well (other than through visiting them in East Asia and once before in the states); we really are united through the gospel.  We are on the same page theologically and it that really does unite your hearts together. 

Friday night there was a potluck dinner at the church and then John and Rachel shared with us about their work in EA.  I am so glad that some of our church family was able to meet them and hear about how to pray for them as they labor for the sake of the kingdom. 

It was a short visit, but we are so glad they were able to come!  Below are some pictures of their time here. 

Giving So Others May Know

Lottie Moon's Mirror at our church Christmas 2008.

Lottie Moon is a familiar name for anyone who has ever attended a Southern Baptist Church. When I was little, I thought she was a lady the church gave money to because she was poor! Have you ever seen Lottie's picture? She looks like she could use a little more to eat - at least to a 6-year-old! For all my readers who are non-Southern Baptists, Lottie Moon is our annual offering for international missions. It is always at Christmas, which brings me to the point of this post.

Many church members would probably say that we should have the Lottie Moon offering at some other time, because Christmas is such a busy and expensive time of the year. While both of those things are true, I believe that Christmas is the best time to collect an offering for our international missionaries. As Josh explained Sunday morning before our Lottie Moon offering, "At Christmas we celebrate Christ taking on flesh and dwelling among us. Our international missionaries do the same thing as they take on the culture, language, and country of the people they are dwelling among. They illustrate with their lives how Christ came and took on our culture and language and left the glory of heaven to save us from our sin." Praise God for the over 5,000 SBC missionaries who are dwelling among a foreign people, often in dangerous circumstances, so that all people may hear the good news!

A common excuse for not giving to Lottie Moon is, "I don't have the money right now. I have to buy gifts for my family." Josh and I both know the temptation to not give (or not to give sacrificially) because you want to have enough money to give to your family or do something else, and so we decided to plan to give to Lottie Moon. At the beginning of the year, we talk about what amount of money we want to give to Lottie Moon in December, and then we budget for it every month. We have a savings account and part of what we put into savings every month is a portion of what we will give to Lottie Moon in December.

If you are Southern Baptist and don't give to Lottie Moon, I encourage you to give so that the gospel can go forth to those who have never heard. There are so many people in the world who have never heard the name of Jesus. They don't know what Christmas is or if they do, they don't know why we celebrate this holiday.

If you are Southern Baptist and do give to Lottie, but would like to give more, I encourage you to set a goal for what you would like to give next December and save for it all year. It isn't hard to give more, when you have saved all year.

Lastly, if you aren't Southern Baptist, I encourage you to find out how you can support missionaries your church or denomination sends out.

For those missionaries who read my blog, I want you to know how much I appreciate you and thank the Lord for you. While we may sacrifice a little to give to support you, you and your families sacrifice everything to go and share the gospel with those who have never heard. May the Lord bless you greatly as you continue to serve Him and share with all nations!

Daddy's Home!

Josh arrived home safe and sound on Sunday evening. I decided to surprise him by meeting him at the airport in Charlotte while Josh's parents kept the boys for me. He was surprised and happy to see me and on the bus ride home, I was able to hear many funny stories from the entire team. The team shared with at least 75 to 100 people and three people are now believers! Praise The Lord for answering their prayer from Psalm 67!

One unique story that Josh shared was meeting two of the guys that I shared with four years ago. Both of those guys are now believers and went out with Josh's team everyday. One of the guys, Jeremy, brought pictures of me and another girl (Anna) when we were there. He also brought the bible I gave him four years ago before he was a believer. It is very worn now and Josh said he was so proud to show it off. The other guy, Jason, is considering a call to full-time ministry - God is so good!

Thomas was very happy to see his daddy. I wasn't sure how he would respond, but his face lit up and he said, "Daddy! Daddy!" Yes, I think that made Josh's month! It was way past Thomas' bed time, but he stayed up for a little while to talk to Josh and then Josh tucked him into bed.

Here is a picture of Thomas with the gift Josh gave him. Doesn't he look so cute?!

This is the picture of what I wrote in Jeremy's bible four years ago (the date is 7/28/05).

God answered that prayer and now Jeremy is a believer and sharing the good news with others! Praise God!

For The Gospel

Yesterday morning, my husband left to go around the world to share the gospel with people who have never heard. Josh, along with six other people from our church, will be gone for two weeks. They are going to the same place and working with the same missionaries that I had the privilege of working with 4 years ago. Everyone was very excited and nervous yesterday morning. They have spent months preparing spiritually and financially for the trip. On Sunday night, we had a commissioning service for them and Josh preached a short sermon on Psalm 67. That Psalm is their "theme" as they go - Let the peoples praise you!

I'll admit that it was not easy watching him leave yesterday morning. I think it is going to be a long 2 weeks for me, especially caring for a toddler and a newborn. Yes, I do have help (we are at my parents for a week), but it isn't my husband. The longest Josh and I have been apart since we were married is 5 days and he was only 8 hrs away.

As I was writing this blog, Josh called! He is there and had no problems traveling. He is very tired and hoping to get some rest. If you think about them, please pray for health & safety and most of all for many people to hear the good news of Jesus Christ!

*For security reasons, I'm not naming the country where he is.*