Return to flip book view

ENGLISH CONVERSATION ANNUAL REPORT Lead Teacher: Pat Wilson Volunteers: Mornings: Erzsi Wagner Evenings: Kristi Moore WEDNESDAY EVENING CLASS The Wednesday night group began in September 2023 with 10-12 students, but by mid-October, attendance had diminished by half due to work and night school schedules. Not surprisingly, continuity necessary to make the class effective is hindered by sporadic class attendance. Homework is not turned in; students speak no English during the week. A Muslim family brought their 2 daughters to AWANA in the beginning, but now only the father attends, sporadically. A Christmas potluck dinner was well attended by a total of 12 students and a few spouses. Three students have also enrolled in the morning classes so that they can have more practice in English. MORNING ESL CLASS The morning English Conversation class, now in its 14th year, meets Tuesdays and Thursdays from 10-11:30 a.m., September through June. Around 50 individuals attended class in the 2022-2023 calendar year. New students learn about the class through word of mouth, the electronic sign outside the church, and, increasingly, from the sign-up info on the church website. There is a core of 10 students who come regularly and 6 of those have been in the class for at least 2 years. The rest come and go according to schedules and life events. Nearly all are women, and most of those are Muslim. Countries of origin include Japan, China, Morocco, Iraq, Kurdistan, Sudan, and Russia (our only male, age 80). Class focus is less about language and more about belonging, which helps to break down cultural perceptions of worthlessness. Hugging and laughter are trademark activities. Group activities promote camaraderie: Sunglasses Day, two Citizenship celebrations, Finally-Got-My-Drivers-License celebration. Students also experience American cultural traditions: pumpkin carving, Thanksgiving with turkey and all the trimmings, and putting up our own Christmas tree (complete with their respective flags). In December, 11 women, mostly Muslims, brought friends and several children to the Island Breeze concert. One woman returned for the Sunday service and asked Pastor Josh to pray for her thyroid cancer, which had returned. Three women attend Sunday service more or less regularly: a Japanese Buddhist, a Syrian Orthodox Christian, and an Iraqi Muslim. The entire class communicates on WhatsApp, but a key ministry goal for me is to stay personally connected to each woman, whether currently in class or not—a cross between “grandmothering” and mentoring. I text women who have been absent for several days. One former Russian student, whose teenage son suffers from a degenerative eye disease (what are the odds she’d find MY class!) has asked my help to enroll him for State support (SSI) and adaptive technology. On 2/9 we will confer with staff at OSSB regarding the process for achieving this goal. The Japanese student is now in Japan with her father who has stage 4 lung cancer. She has acquired some understanding of the gospel. I often reassure her about Jesus’s love and forgiveness for both her and her father, and His willingness to heal both soul and body. In December we began closing the class with the blessing from Numbers 6:24. Far from rejecting it, they close their eyes and receive it. May those seeds fall on fertile soil. Respectfully, Pat Wilson