How ESL Opens Doors for the Gospel
Amanda Nunez met a Syrian family who had fled their war-torn home and found asylum in the United States. She didn’t realize that meeting would change so much about her life. Her new friends barely spoke English, struggled to find employment, and needed friendship. The fruit of that meeting would impact her, her church, and her friends—including me.
A self-proclaimed introvert of introverts, Amanda is petite and delightfully soft-spoken. But the Holy Spirit used her new friendship and her own personal warmth to launch a new and needed outreach in her church.
Each week The Belonging welcomes new neighbors from across the globe. They come from war-torn countries like Ukraine, Syria, Haiti, and Venezuela, joining the crowd of colorful pins marked on the group map. They come to learn English while their kids get playtime, snacks, and help with homework.
And they come loved by the God who created them in his image.
SHARING BURDENS AND GRASPING THE GOSPEL
Once a week, classrooms like mine fill with eager English learners. My youngest student is 16-years-old. The oldest is in her 60s and excels in her studies. They come with hugs and air kisses and exclamations in their heart languages that fill the halls. Stand in that hall and pinch your eyes tight and it’s a glimpse of a heavenly sound, where every tribe and tongue and nation will stand before the throne.
Sometimes they come with heavy hearts, with the indescribable exhaustion of navigating the complexities of life in a language they do not speak, far from the support of loved ones left behind.
They tell of Zoom calls with a grandchild they’ve never held, of the grief of leaving everything behind to flee war, of trying to find therapies for a child on the spectrum, of their village being bombed this week, and of dealing with a customer’s obscenities or frustrations with their English. Though they’re often learning their third or fourth language, they’re still often viewed as ignorant or lesser.
When our weekly lesson covered navigating doctor’s appointments and the human body, I noticed two of my students’ eyes light up. One was a trained nurse, and the other had been a physical therapist. Now they’re grieving their former occupations and diligently working whatever jobs they can find.
We begin each ESL lesson with a Scripture aimed at helping them understand the gospel. Word by word, Scripture is first broken down into English: language translation, and then theological translation.
Recently, I asked my students to translate our weekly Scripture into their own languages. I planned on using a translation app to gauge their comprehension. Instead, every single one of them did the incredible work of paraphrasing the Scripture in English: “I can talk to God about anything.” “God is always with me.” “When life is hard, look to God.”
I was stunned. From whiteboard to whiteboard, they beautifully articulated what we had discussed.
We model talking to God as a normal and necessary part of life. “I believe God loves each of us,” I tell them. “His heart is for all people, from all nations. What can I pray for you for?” And we lift up the child with special needs and health requests while we ask God to build our friendships and guide us in English class.
Across the hall, in level-one, we often hear cheers and applause, as the very basics are learned. When we break for snacks and coffee, a few of the level-one ladies I once taught find me. They practice their new phrases, eyes glowing with the excitement of communication. One mama tells of going to church now, another of joining the Bible study the church began in her heart language.
A student who is a baker brings the most delicious treats to share during this break time. When Amanda thanked him for his generosity his eyes filled: “You don’t understand, I can never thank you for The Belonging enough. My kids love to come each week. They finally have friends!” This gift of friendship is what binds our hearts together as humans, opening doors for gospel conversations.
HEARTS WIDE OPEN
“This is what we say in English, tell me how you would say it in your own language.”
Across the room they exchange and compare words in their heart languages, laugh at English idioms (those strange phrases we say that make no sense) and share their own. Little by little, they talk about their culture and experiences.
We grieve together as a student tells of the hostility he faces every time he visits his property bordering a white farmer. We collectively cheer at a student finding a new client. We groan at the aging that birthdays bring. We agree that life is a gift, and laugh over shared love stories, before diving into the week’s homework.
My world expanded to Haiti, the Dominican Republic, Venezuela, Syria, Mexico, Cuba, Panama, Russia, & Ukraine when I became an ESL teacher. My eyes were opened to stories I never could have comprehended. My spirit has received the joy of sharing the love of Christ with people whose stories are precious in his sight.
Last week we finished reading our devotional and deciphering the vocab in the Scripture. At my “Amen” after praying, a few echoing amens followed. From the back, a new student asked a heartfelt question: “We get English and Jesus?”
Indeed, my friends.
English is for some, but the gospel is for everyone.
