We spoke with Claude Juha, the head of the Community Training Department at BethBC. She says their language courses have a two-fold purpose. Community members can gain marketable skills, and it is a great way to invite non-Christians to their campus.

“It’s kind of an outreach program where we target the local community here in Bethlehem. They come and see our work at the college and see our mission. This is helping them to know more about Christ.”

(Photo courtesy of Bethlehem Bible College)

Interestingly, around 90 percent of the language program’s students from the community are Muslim. For example, the nearby city of Hebron is totally Islamic, and they currently have 10 students enrolled from Hebron.

It is a rare opportunity for Christian language teachers to live out the Gospel.

Each language course packs 40 hours of class time into two and a half months. BethBC offers between 10 to 15 courses per year, depending on teacher availability.

Juha says, “We are looking more to expand our department to have more languages…here in Bethlehem for other individuals who are looking forward to having a foreign language like German or Italian.”

The language course teachers are ESL certified volunteers from the United States. Juha says the few months they have with their volunteer teachers is a beautiful time.

(Photo courtesy of Bethlehem Bible College)

“I was noticing from this summer [that] most of the teachers who come here, they were so engaged with the students who took the English courses. They felt that they wanted to stay more with the students. They had a good relationship with them. They felt very hospitable; especially our Palestinian students are very hospitable and…very welcoming. The teachers felt at home.”

This past summer, BethBC had eight volunteer language course teachers from the US. But Juha says they always need more.

“Since most of the teachers are willing to come during summer, the rest of the months of the year we are out of teachers.”

If you are interested in serving as a language course teacher with BethBC in Palestine, click here to learn more!

There are also several other opportunities to volunteer with BethBC. Find the full list of volunteer roles here!

“I’m hoping to reach a very experienced teacher through you who have it on their hearts to come and interact with the local community and to give them some experience teaching,” Juha says. “Most of the people here are looking to expand or to have a new experience from internationals. So I think the college is a good place to come and serve.”

(Photo courtesy of Bethlehem Bible College)

Juha says they also need believers who will commit to praying for their ministry in Palestine. BethBC is strategically placed to be a light for Christ and language education is opening doors for the Gospel. They are even celebrating the recent accreditation of their Hebrew Language Diploma program that will officially start this month.

“Pray for us to expand and to find new teachers that have great experience [and] that are willing to come here and benefit the local community,” Juha asks.

“We need also their prayers to help us expand in the English language to make it not only short courses during the year. We are looking forward to searching for a certain English program that is accredited or is internationally well-known that can be held in the college here in Bethlehem.”

You can read testimonials from BethBC’s volunteer ESL teachers here!

Header photo courtesy of Bethlehem Bible College.

Because of this, ministries like TeachBeyond can offer education while telling people about Jesus. Educational ministry has blessed countless people in a variety of countries and situations.

Helen Vaughan, Director of School Services at TeachBeyond brings us some exciting news from Colombia.

She recently visited a college in Bogota where TeachBeyond has teachers. One of those teachers had spoken to a pastor on a nearby island about his plans to bring new opportunities to the community there.

“As she talked with this pastor she learned of their desire to start a Christian school on the island and to have English as a significant part of the educational program,” Vaughan says.

This Colombian pastor was sent out by his home church on the mainland to be a missionary to this island which lies just off the city of Cartagena.

Just off the coast of this flourishing tourist city lies the impoverished island. (Photo by Joe Ross via Flickr: https://flic.kr/p/D3EsVW)

Vaughan says that Cartagena is a tourist area. But the nearby island is poor and the people living there have a lot of needs.

She explains, “The island also has people that seem open to the Gospel but have not been presented with the Gospel. So combining the school with the church, there’s an opportunity to not only impact the island with an improved standard of living but also to more importantly share Christ with the people that are there.”

One of the economic impacts of starting a school which teaches English is that it would open a whole new arena of job opportunities in the tourist city of Cartagena.

TeachBeyond is partnering with the school, which aims to start this coming January. For now, the board of directors plans to rent a building. They want to start constructing a school and are working to raise money for that.

A unique job description

And with only a few months to go, TeachBeyond is still looking for someone to teach English. English is the foreign language at this school, and TeachBeyond has agreed to provide the staff for that.

Vaughan says they are actually looking for a couple.

This couple would need one person to be fluent in Spanish. They would need to be adventurous, too, Vaughan says. Life on the island isn’t quite what most people are used to, and the teachers would need to learn a new way of daily living. While the island is a safe place, it is isolated which is why they think a couple would be best.

Starting out, the English class would be for young children. TeachBeyond can equip the teacher with English as a Second Language teaching skills.

Because this area has such a low cost of living, there’s not a large number of support to raise.

But most of all what the missionary couple will need is a heart for the people they’re interacting with.

Vaughan says, “The children were delightful, they’re friendly, they’re so enthused about the school.”

They are also open to the idea of going to church. Missionaries with TeachBeyond have the unique opportunity not only to talk about Jesus while giving daily lessons, but they are able to exemplify Christ to their communities in their daily living.

“When we talk about transformational education,” Vaughan says, “it is the whole picture. It’s all of life and there is freedom to speak openly about the Gospel with these young children. And there certainly are a lot of resources in how to teach English using Bible stories.”

They are able to highlight Gospel teaching in the way they interact, how they teach, and how they care for other people.

TeachBeyond has a variety of serving opportunities around the world. (Photo courtesy of TeachBeyond via Facebook).

“It’s the full range of living all of life under the Lordship of Christ. We believe that the spoken word is very important, but the relationships and what the children see in the life is just as significant.”

People interested in this teaching opportunity can find more information by contacting TeachBeyond here. There are also many other opportunities available here.

Even if teaching on an island is not your calling, you could partner with TeachBeyond prayerfully or financially.

Homepage photo by Alex via Flickr: https://flic.kr/p/aiHRAP

(Photo courtesy Cornerstone University)

Three years ago, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, one out of every five U.S. residents did not speak English in their home. Since 2013, numerous crises have hit the global stage, ranging from the refugee crisis caused by the Syrian civil war and the advent of ISIS, to the ethnic cleansing in parts of SE Asia to the drug wars driving people out of Latin and South America. The result, a global humanitarian crisis: 60 million displaced, according to the United Nations. Those who finally succeed in seeking asylum in the U.S. arrive, relieved and ready to start a new “normal.”

As they find a place to call home, the reality sets in. Professor of Linguistics and director of the TESOL (Teaching English as a Second Language) program at Cornerstone University Dr. Michael Pasquale explains, “Beyond food and shelter, the need to communicate is very important.”

Learning a whole new language is a daunting task, and one that brings risk to an already traumatized family. Who can you trust? “This is a great opportunity for churches to connect with all these new people in their communities,” says Pasquale. “We think about this in terms of relationship-building. It’s a way to kind of front line ‘what are their most crucial needs?’”

(Photo courtesy ABWE/CUNESL)

For those who have resettled, the longer it takes to set down roots, the harder it is to connect. In order to thrive, it’s important for them to feel like they’re a part of the community. “They need to be able to read signs, talk to people, function in stores, with the doctor, with the schools. This is just, to me, a very basic way to help meet a very basic human need.”

People who want to help need the tools to know how to do it well. Enter: 15^th Annual Cornerstone University ESL Conference. Attendees ranged from students and professors, to pastors, adoption agencies, and refugee organizations learning how to improve their ability to minister and teach ESL. “Specifically, we’re looking at those that are at local churches,” says Pasquale. “[They] may not be professional teachers but are interested in using their desire to reach people, to build bridges, to say ‘I want to know how to do this.’ This is equipping churches, equipping people.

So far, over 100 churches have launched their own programs. “Through building these relationships (we talk about ‘building bridges’), it’s not just to help them into the community, but it’s a way to build the relationships so that the Gospel can be shared. That’s what I see churches are doing (with the material).”

Pasquale adds, “Most of the sessions are ‘you are teaching English; how do you do it?’ …different ideas, teaching vocabulary, using stories, those types of things. Others will be ‘how do you start this?’ or ‘how do you connect with local Refugee Resettlement Programs (in order to be able to connect with what’s going on in your community)?’”

(Photo courtesy Cornerstone University)

The keynote speaker is Dr. Michael Lessard-Clouston, Professor of Applied Linguistics and TESOL at Biola University in La Mirada, California. Lessard-Clouston is the co-editor of the International Journal of Christianity and English Language Teaching. The conference will also feature vendors offering specific materials and resources to help get an ESL program off the ground.

If this whole idea of Teaching English as a Second Language has you in cold sweats because of grammar-induced anxiety, Pasquale says, “The basic English that people need is conversational. They need to be able to introduce themselves and talk. All of us can do that. We want to equip you or show you the different kinds of materials to be able to do that.”

Registration is open now. Early registration is $50 on or before March 15, 2016. $60 after March 15. Early student rate is $30 on or before March 15; $35 afterward. (Registration includes light breakfast, lunch and materials packet. Click here to get started.)

(Photo courtesy Beautiful Feet International, Costa Rica team)

Costa Rica (MNN) — When you hear the words “Beautiful Feet,” there are a lot of different connections that come to mind.

For a lot of Christians, it’s Romans 10:15, which reads: “And how can anyone preach unless they are sent? As it is written: ‘How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!'”

For others, there’s an assumed grace that comes from the fight against poverty. Nearly always, religious communities connect the phrase with hope.

That’s why Beautiful Feet International chose its namesake. President Melissa Heiland adds that it also serves dual purpose. “Believers would recognize it as something from the Bible, but those opposed to the Gospel would not necessarily be alerted to that.”

It’s the Gospel first, she explains, in the business of getting things done where they’re invited. ”We do mission trips around the world–all kinds of mission trips: medical mission trips, children’s programs, English as a Second Language, sports camps, and eye clinics.”

However, one of the most effective ways to reach a community for Christ is through pregnancy center ministries. “Our international pregnancy centers educate women, help them to choose life, help them to take care of themselves and their babies, and primarily to give them the Gospel and disciple them, help them to become disciples of Christ.”

Heiland adds that although women in the areas where Beautiful Feet International is working may not have had any interest in spiritual things prior to pregnancy, they are often open to the Gospel at this most vulnerable time in their lives. Women who find themselves in unplanned pregnancies are often afraid and confused. They come to pregnancy centers seeking answers.

(Photo courtesy Beautiful Feet International, Costa Rica)

With specific aptitudes like empathy and vulnerability, God has created women with beautiful feet to the answers found in the hope of Christ.   That’s partly why Heiland was in Costa Rica earlier this month. “I did a pregnancy center training, and we trained 32 women from various regions throughout Costa Rica in the pregnancy center ministry.” She says that pregnancy centers are not “clinics” in the medical sense. They are primarily informational centers. “We do pregnancy tests in some of our centers; we have ultrasound machines so that they can understand the value of life and see that this really is a life.”

Because the women of Beautiful Feet International walk with a woman through her pregnancy and in the early days of motherhood, “Almost all of our clients do end up trusting Christ. What happens is that during an unplanned pregnancy, we find that women are much more open to hearing the Gospel. As our volunteers come alongside them, we’re really able to show them the love of the Lord.”

Costa Rican mom and kids (Photo courtesy Beautiful Feet Int’l)

This approach has been extremely effective, adds Heiland. “We have been asked to come there by a national who has said, ‘We need this ministry here.’ We work closely with the churches, and in each case, we have a location that has been donated to us.” In the last few years, growth has blessed Beautiful Feet with 7 pregnancy centers: 4 in Costa Rica, 2 in Mexico, one in Togo, West Africa, and it looks like they’re going to open as many as three more in 2016. Beautiful Feet also offers free ultrasounds in select centers.

Teams are forming now for the 2016 trips. If you’re interested in exploring what’s available, click here.

(Photo courtesy Cornerstone University)

USA (MNN) — Today in the United States there are millions of people who speak English, but it’s not their first language. They’re college students, immigrants, refugees and business people. The common desire?  Each of them want to learn or improve their English.

Teaching English is quickly becoming an amazing way to sharing Jesus with those who otherwise wouldn’t want to listen. What even more amazing is that this can become an incredible intercultural outreach experience for individuals and the local church.

Cornerstone University understands that and has not only established a program at the University level to teach this, but the university is also providing a conference to help average Christians start a ministry and help it thrive.

On Saturday, April 11, 2015, Cornerstone University in Grand Rapids, Michgian is hosting their 14^th annual English as a second language ministry conference.

Cornerstone University’s Department chair of the humanities division, Michael Pasquale, “We really have a burden reach out to churches to be able to reach those neighbors who come from a variety of languages and cultures to be able to equip a church to say, ‘I want to reach them. How do I do that?’ That’s really the focus of this conference.”

But if every continent already uses English, is there really a need for this conference? The fact is, even in small towns in the Midwest, there are extremely diverse populations with people from various languages and cultures. Knowing how to teach and share English is a way to seem inviting, and it is one way to show hospitality.

According to Pasquale the conference will cover things like, “How to teach, and how to train your volunteer teachers.”

The main speaker is Dr. Joe Knight, who is the President of 4Ethne, “He’s had experience at the local church level of turning his suburban church to an open church to reflect scores of languages and cultures. He’s going speak from his experience and his desire to see the church reflect the diversity of Christ.”

4Ethne is a non-profit that equips Christians and churches to share the hope they have in Jesus Christ with some of the least-reached people groups living among us from our multi-religious world.

In a nutshell, this conference is for people or churches wanting to reach their international neighbors with the Gospel.

The conference is in West Michigan, but people from all over the Midwest are expected to attend this one-day conference. Many do every year. Early registration deadline is March 31, 2015. To find out more information you can visit https://www.cornerstone.edu/esl-conference.

Pasquale says the greatest gift you can give is the story of Christ and what better way to share that story than through the door of education and language. ESL programs are another avenue to sharing the Gospel with people who have never heard the story of Jesus Christ.

(Photo courtesy of SEND International)

Bulgaria (MNN) — How many times have you been faithfully pursuing a calling from God when all of a sudden, there’s a road block?

Gisli and Nora Jonsson of SEND International can both certainly understand your frustration. Their efforts for the last five years in Sofia, Bulgaria, have not been in vain, but they had little support.

Gisli is a Christian counselor to anyone who needs help, whether Christian or not. He wakes up early each day to spend time with God, and then begins his work at nine, meeting with up to six clients a day, five days a week. Many of these clients are victims of sex-trafficking. Others are having difficulty in marriage, some are struggling with the pain of sexual abuse or rape, and others are children with behavioral issues. They are helping people going through all sorts of trials. In the short time in Bulgaria, Gisli says they’ve met with people from 15-18 different nationalities.

Nora is a teacher currently going through two courses for trafficking victims. They are courses about anger and self-image. She also teaches English as a second language and meets with four clients a week, focusing on women and children.

Between the two of them, they’re ministering to nearly 30 people a week.

Not only are they helping people tackle deep questions, but they’re finding a way to share the Gospel too.

Nora says, “For me, [the Gospel is] kind of the basis of it, without it being overt, because we actually deal with Christians and non-Christians. And some Christians are having issues in their relationship with God. It’s kind of important not to make it a barrier before they come in.”

She continues saying, “Gisli [and I] are actually both very aware that God is…behind all that we do. So we feed on Him in the morning, and then we ask the Holy Spirit to lead the counseling sessions.”

Many of the people Nora meets with are unmarried and bitter with God because of it. In this case, Nora is more open about the role God should be taking in these women’s lives.

“Really, counseling is all about trying to enable the other person to sort out where they are in whatever relationship,” she says.

Gisli says, “Possibly about 60% of my clients are Christians, so it’s easy to share the Gospel and bring the Biblical truths into their lives. However, when any non-Christian comes to counseling, I try more to live the Gospel out myself.”

Either way, their ministry is effective. After meeting with some trafficking victims for two years, Gisli says nearly all of them are attending church.

“Bit-by-bit, we can kind of feed them gently with God’s presence, God’s love, God’s forgiveness, and God’s patience with their lives. Often, these people are extremely broken. It isn’t just the trafficking: it’s also their past because they’re also coming from very broken backgrounds.”

Many of them are touched by the help they receive from the Jonssons, even while they find it difficult to understand why anyone is helping them without asking anything in return.

Bulgaria has extreme alcoholism and abuse problems. Nora explains that while this is true of many other countries as well, Bulgaria does not have much help for those issues.

One challenge the couple faces is within the culture itself. However, this is why they believe their ministry is necessary in Bulgaria.

In the communist way of thinking, there is no reason to be different, to be progressive, or to have initiative. There is also an expectation that they should be told what to do, that they even need an authority figure telling them how to think.

“The Bulgarians are great people, but their individuality or their ingenuity has been stamped out. It’s a very fearful nation. They’re all afraid of betrayal–suspicious,” Nora explains.

Because of that way of thinking, the church in Bulgaria does not encourage followers to ask deep questions. Many feel the need to hide their struggles because they are under the impression that either their relationship with God is perfect, or they’re not a Christian at all.

Nora and Gisli are teaching them that they can discuss deep questions and that it’s okay to think through things for themselves.

Nora says, “We’ve just allowed people: ‘Come with your deep questions, your deep fears, your deep insecurity with God.’

“I believe the whole culture so definitely and desperately needs this kind of ministry.”

While at first many pastors were resistant to the Jonsson’s ministry, thinking it competition for the church, Gisli now receives regular visits from 5 pastors.

While the news is spreading and the Jonssons are seeing very positive results, they haven’t had much support from the outside. While they’ve pushed this far, they are forced to take a 9-12 month break.

“We’re so excited about what we do here,” Nora says. “And there was so much disappointment when people heard we were going back. We said, ‘Look, we have to. We can’t keep going with less oil in the car. We need some more oil. We need support; we need help. We can’t be doing this on our own.'”

During this break from Bulgaria, the couple is trusting God to help them raise the spiritual and financial support they need to continue and grow their ministry.

Nora says, “Sometimes it’s actually very heavy and dark, the stuff we deal with.”

She asks that you lift them up to God. They depend on “people continuing to remember us in prayer, that we would be so attuned with what the Holy Spirit is doing.”

Along with that, the Jonssons desperately need financial help to keep their ministry going. Their goal is to grow the ministry by training nationals how to counsel.

Click here to give to their work.

Once more Gisli reminds us, “We definitely need more prayer because the spiritual battle is huge, and it’s sometimes very difficult to actually deal with these issues.”

Cornerstone University’s Dr. Michael Pasquale is organizing the April 5 event in Grand Rapids, Michigan. What is ESL training? “Very simply, it’s teaching English to those that don’t have English as their first language.”

Join Cornerstone University’s ESL training conference April 5.

This conference, however, is not only for college students or professors. The ESL conference is for everyday people who use ESL as a ministry. “We have a passion at Cornerstone of training teachers to be effective. Whether they’re in a school setting or an informal setting like a church or community center, we want to see effective teaching. These kinds of workshops are geared toward preparing effective teachers,” says Pasquale.

This year’s conference is focused on one topic: fun and interactive pronunciation. ESL attendees have been asking for this, says Pasquale. “It’s something that their students crave. But it’s also one area most intimidating to teachers, especially if they’re not professional teachers.”

The guest speaker, Dr. Bill Acton, is known for teaching pronunciation techniques. Pasquale says, “The way to reach students who can remember [pronunciations] is through engaging their whole being, and that’s kind of the focus of this. How do you get students to have long-term retention and to be more communicative?”

By the time you’re done with the conference, Acton will cover how you can teach pronunciation in any setting.

Many churches and ministries are using ESL as a way to share Christ with internationals in the United States. Pasquale says Cornerstone’s ESL training will give you additional tools to do it better. “It’s more than just a training for me. I see it as a fellowship time–connecting and networking, especially those involved in some small programs. So, to be able to network and connect: I think that’s a great benefit.”

Pasquale says people from all over the Midwest we be attending. If you’d like to be a part of this one-day ESL training conference, click here. Early-bird registration is available through March 14. Then regular rates apply.

Photo courtesy of John Barker/Flickr.

Rwanda (MNN) — A missionary couple in Rwanda have been forced to put ministry on hold.

Government authorities recently found a problem with the visas of Africa Inland Mission’s (AIM) Chris and Fiona Tyrrell.

Before they encountered visa issues, Chris and Fiona were reaching out to a marginalized people group in Rwanda with the Gospel. They had started chronological Bible storytelling, teaching ESL, and setting up a demonstration garden.

Until the visa requirements are met, Chris and Fiona are restricted from doing any ‘work’ in Rwanda.

It’s no secret that Rwanda has a history saturated with the blood of ethnic conflict. The Rwandan genocide in 1994 saw the death of 800,000 people over 100 days. Most of them were Tutsis.

Today, the Hutus and Tutsis are marginalized in various ways by each other depending on who’s in the minority.

Ministry to marginalized people in Rwanda is critical for true healing to come in Christ. But that won’t happen for Chris and Fiona’s ministry until the government approves their visa issues.

Pray for the Chris and Fiona’s visa trouble to resolve quickly and for evangelism to continue with marginalized people in Rwanda. Pray for many in Rwanda to come to Christ for peace.

AIM exists to bring the Good News of Jesus Christ to the 900 people groups in Africa who have never heard His name. Their ministries include medical outreach, church planting, evangelism, education, and logistical work.

If you’d like to support a special project with AIM, click here.

Churches have been using ESL programs to reach out to more people in their communities. Very often, however, church-based ESL programs don't have professional teachers, says Pasquale. "So what we are trying to do for this year is to equip lay teachers to teach structures of English."

That's why Cornerstone University is bringing in Dr. Nancy Ackles, who has taught intensive language programs for over 25 years. Attendees will get the chance to learn under Ackles, who is President of the Christian English Language Educators Association and author of "The Grammar Guide" from University of Michigan Press.

The theme for the ESL conference is "Getting a Grip on Grammar" and will focus on new ways of teaching English grammar to students. The conference will take place April 6 from 9am-3pm at Cornerstone University in Grand Rapids, MI. "We'll be together a couple times in the morning and afternoon with Dr. Ackles as we hear about strategies to teach English, but then we have some smaller breakout sessions," Pasquale explains.

Some of the sessions include: How to start an ESL ministry at your church, different games in classrooms, as well as local refugee agencies talking about some services they offer to churches that run ESL programs.

"This is helping equip churches not only to start it [ESL program]," Pasqual says, "but to continue on and to develop it with excellence over the years."

Pray that the conference will help ESL programs go from GOOD to GREAT. Ask God to use ESL programs to reach people for Christ.

You can register to be a part of this conference by clicking here. Early registration is $50 if you sign up before March 22. Are you a student? Then you can enjoy the conference for only $30.00.

CU Humanities Division Chair Michael Pasquale says he'll be there "to connect with missionaries and English teachers serving not only in the Czech Republic, but also the central European region."

Pasquale says it will be like a teacher training conference. They'll talk about "new ideas of teaching, network together, talk about what may be working for people in one area. Teaching is something for which you never know too many tricks or tools, so these types of interactions are very helpful for teachers."

Why is it a doorway for sharing Christ? Pasquale says it opens doors "by providing excellent English classes, excellent English outreach that provides a wonderful way to build relationship to ultimately lead people to Christ. It's a ministry used all around the world because people are interested in learning English."

Providing this kind of training is just the beginning of what Pasquale would like to do in Prague. He'd like to provide "an on-campus component of our graduate program in Europe, which right now we only offer in Michigan. Tailoring it to their needs [is important]. What would an English teacher in Prague need to make their teaching more effective?"

Students would come to Prague for a week of intense instruction, "but then the rest of their course work would be online," says Pasquale. "So it would be ideal for missionaries to continue working, not having to come off the field, being able to stay in their current ministry environment."

This is going to be a program that helps ministry leaders in the region. Pasquale explains, "We don't want to just come and say, 'Hey, this is what we got.' We want to listen and say, 'What would be beneficial to you?' And then over the next year we'll network, and then, Lord willing, we'd start next summer."

In the meantime, pray for Pasquale. Pray for safety as he travels, that he'd meet the people he needs to meet, and that he'd be responsive to their needs.

If you'd like additional information about Cornerstone University's TESOL program, click here.