The Disney Pixar movie “Inside Out” offers viewers a feature-length glimpse inside the emotional life of an 11-year-old Midwestern girl named Riley. When her family moves from Minnesota to San Francisco, Riley’s world is turned upside-down (and inside out). Her first day in her new school was memorable (and one she would love to forget). …
When people find out that I teach ESL (English as a Second Language), they often ask me the same question: “How can you teach international students if you don’t know all those languages?” Actually, you don’t have to be able to speak the languages of your students to teach them English. They’re in the class …
What if you don’t speak the language? You possibly will have noticed that the three examples of how my wife and I bridged the gap between an ESL/TESOL activity and sharing the gospel were with people whose language my wife and I already spoke. But what can be done if no one in your program speaks …
“What’s with those girls?” Our student ministry building was just across the street from the Dental School of one of the largest universities in the world, and their volleyball team needed a place to practice. We had a basketball/volleyball court behind our building, so when the coach asked if they could practice on our court, my …
Celebrating Important Milestones by Dr. Lloyd and Wilma Mann I met my wife, Wilma, in Costa Rica as a young, single missionary. Her university training was in teaching elementary students, but she has prepared herself extensively in teaching English as a second language. She taught ESL at the local community college for some eight years, until the …
Friendship and an Invitation to Study the Bible When I met Alejandro[1], the first thing I did was get to know him on a purely social level, outside the religious context of the church. I could have chosen any number of activities from sports, cultural events, or inviting him to spend some time with my wife …
Has your church/ministry decided to start an ESL ministry with the hope of opening doors to share the gospel with non-English-speaking people in the community? If so, the million-dollar question is: how to move from just teaching English to using the ESL ministry to open doors for sharing the gospel? When a church or ministry moves …
How Culture Shapes our Presentation of the Gospel How does culture tend to shape our presentation of the gospel? I have already touched on this some: we are much more direct in our communication style than many other cultures in the world, and we tend to think that this is much better . . …
What Aspects of a Person’s “Being” Do We Need to Consider as We Share the Gospel? There are three aspects of every person’s being which need to be active in “believing” or “having faith” in Jesus, regardless of cultural background. One of those aspects is the intellect. The fact that I mention this first does not …
How is the Gospel Best Presented? If our Christ-given task is to make disciples, we also need to examine how we present the gospel. Do most of the long-lasting decisions that lead to people becoming committed followers of Jesus come from five-to-15-minute concept-centered presentations of the gospel, or do they come from some other longer, relationship-based sharing of …
