I’m writing this from Houston, Texas, and we are still getting rain and wind from Hurricane Harvey!  This past spring my husband, Ron, and I moved to Humble, Texas, a northeast suburb of Houston to be near our grandchildren.    The on-going destruction here is hard to look at on the television, especially knowing that most of it is just a few miles from my new home.    My neighborhood is safe though flooding in some places.  We are sheltering in place as the authorities have asked us to do.  We are some of the fortunate  ones – no flooding on our road (yet) and still have power and telephone service. 

     This is a horrible situation for so many in my new city.  I’m just beginning to learn so much about Houston.   It is the most ethnically diverse city in the country.  It has the largest number of refugees in the country living within its boundaries.   When I’m training I always give examples about how the lack of English can be life threatening.  Can you imagine being in the midst of Hurricane Harvey and all the flooding and not knowing how to get help or how to even communicate that you need help.

     Please pray for Houston.  And please equip all of your students so that when a crisis strikes their life they know what to do.  And may God use you to be a safety net for all of them.

Blessings,

                          Nancy

   
     Naperville PCA in Naperville, IL, recently started an ESL Ministry.  On registration night they had almost 60 people sign up for classes.  The countries of origin were fairly broad, but China, Mexico, and India were best represented.  Pastor Davy Chu led the effort to get the ESL Ministry started.  When asked why he wanted to start an ESL Ministry, I enjoyed his response so much that I asked him if I could share it with you:

       “As a former missions practitioner who has spent over a decade overseas, while not minimizing the enduring need for a traditional approach to missions, I feel that many churches have maintained an outdated approach toward and concept of missions.  I think there’s a need for an approach that accounts for globalization and works to integrate the local with the global.  Missiologists have pointed out that the US has the third most unreached people groups in the US.  Of course many of those groups are small in number, but even in their native countries, that’s also sometimes the case.  We have opportunities now to be able to minister in word and deed to people from every corner of the globe, in many cases, without leaving the bounds of our own neighborhood, much less our country.  We sometimes think that short-term missions trips are the best way to give people a vision and a taste for missions.  But in a very real sense, the nations have come here; we can help our congregation develop a heart for the nations by beginning to engage them here.  ESL is a ready-made way to do that.  What if then, based on the predominant ethnic group(s) involved in ESL, your church structured at least some of your missions partnerships around those particular areas of the world?  It seems to me that then local and global ministry are working together in a way that reinforce one another, rather than forming disparate strands of a ministry tapestry.” 

You can hear the impact this ESL Ministry is having in this church and community in this video: First Step:  Welcoming Those Around Us.

• Marriottsville, MD - September 8 & 9 (West Baltimore area)
  • contact Barb Cober at barbaracober33@gmail.com
• Akron, OH - September 8 & 9
  • contact Bruce Lyman at 5stonesministry@gmail.com
• Lancaster, PA - September 8 & 9
  • contact Andrea Bailey at esl@wheatlandpca.org
• Clarksburg, MD - September 22 & 23
  • contact Millie Walters at mallard36a@gmail.com
• Longmont, CO - September 29 & 30
  • contact Pablo Ruiz at pablokatie@gmail.com

Mission to North America
PO Box 890233
Charlotte NC 28289-0233
Designate: MNA English As A Second Language (ESL)