Mississippi Girls Jumpstart
ESL Ministry
By Nick
Smirniotopoulos
Media Missionary in Oaxaca, Mexico
Mississippi
and Mexico may not have much in common, but three girls sought to bridge the
culture gap with their native language.
The
girls, under the leadership of IMB Missionaries Jeff and Liesa Holeman and John and Jenny McLamb ,
taught English classes to local seminary students, church members and children
from a nearby village for six weeks.
Teaching
English provided opportunities for those like Kaylee Morgan , a junior at Ole Miss, who don't have foreign language
proficiency to minister effectively abroad.
"I'm
not a good Spanish speaker in the slightest," Morgan said honestly.
"Teaching English gave me an opportunity to connect with students and
build relationships in my heart language."
"It
was a really good experience for me," Barthel said. "I learned that
teaching English is a really good way to build relationships with people and
meet some of their needs tangibly."
In
addition to teaching formal English classes, the girls participated in
"intercambios" -- cross-cultural conversation partners learning a
second language -- with natives, presenting an opportunity to share the hope of
Jesus with those who may not normally hear about it.
"It
takes a long time to build relationships with students, but at the same time
you can do a lot in a short amount of time," Barthel said.
The girls
developed a special relationship with one of their intercambio partners. On
most Monday evenings, they would find themselves at her house, sitting in rope
chairs and eating "arroz con leche" (rice with milk).
The girls
got to share the story of Zacchaeus, among others, with her to show that Jesus
has the ability to transform hearts.
"Yes,
I see that (Zacchaeus) put his confidence in Jesus Christ," she said. For Ashley Crane , a recent graduate of Mississippi
College, the experience helped her realize that you can effectively minister
cross-culturally without language proficiency.
"As
long as you're trying to share his word, he's going to open the door for
you," she said. "Even though there's the language barrier, God still
moves."
Morgan
shared doubts of her effectiveness prior to coming, but her experience in
Mexico led her to a similar conclusion to Crane.
"I've
learned that God really is the promise maker and the promise keeper," she
said confidently. "He's going to put people in our paths that we can
communicate with. He was faithful to put people in my life that I got to have
some very real conversations with."
For much
of their work, however, the girls merely planted the seed. For many people
they've formed relationships with, they had to say goodbye when it seemed like
they had just begun.
They left
only a week after one of their friends started reading the Bible. They may not
get to see him grow in his understanding, but they have confidence in God's
ability to work in others after them. In fact, there is already a team in place
to take over where they left off.
"Even
though we may not get to see the fruit of our work before we leave, we may be
that number seven in a line of 15 before that person comes to Christ,"
Crane said. "Are we willing to be that number, no matter what number it
is?"
