The first week of April, I (Amy) went to Tulsa, Oklahoma to organize and teach a literacy tutor training workshop at the LEI headquarters. I worked with the Tulsa Literacy Center director, Barbara Merrill. The Tulsa Literacy Center is a part of LEI's local ministry in Tulsa that partners literacy tutors with those in Tulsa who can't read. It is a vital and growing ministry that reaches out to many different people and is run completely through the efforts of volunteers.
During the workshop, Barb and I taught four wonderful students during two sessions. The first session was three hours, and the second was five hours. All the students learned very quickly and will be excellent tutors for the Tulsa Literacy Center. Here are some photos from the workshop.
Barb Merrill modeling how to teach the Pre-Reader.
An apt student in her mid 80s. What an example!
Two students excited to become new reading tutors.
Amy teaching what an hour and a half lesson should contain.
Barb teaching our tutors how to witness to their students.
Me with our four wonderful new tutors at the end of the workshop.
While I was in Tulsa, I also got to enjoy some wonderful spring scenery with Barb and LEI's North America Director, Bob Biederman and his family.
The Biederman girls in their dresses. So Precious!
Well, we did it! We held an English as a Second Language Tutor Training Workshop. That's a mouthful, but it just means that we trained people who speak English to use our Bible-based materials for teaching others to speak English. So now they are all ready to start teaching English.
This was the first workshop that we coordinated and taught by ourselves, and we were so happy to be holding it right here in our home church. We really have a heart for our neighbors and friends in Russellville, Arkansas, and teaching English can open doors to minister in our area. There are many international students attending the local college as well as a significant Spanish-speaking population that are interested in learning English . We can minister to these and others by teaching them English and about Jesus Christ.
Brad had everyone interested in how to relate with other cultures.
Amy talked about learning by doing with Total Physical Response.
We enjoyed teaching together.
We had seven students graduate with their certificates. They all learned so quickly and asked great questions.
Lydia was a smart and sweet student.
The Scott family: Lydia, Lane, Marcia, and Abigail
Teresa was a great student.
Teresa and John
We gave everyone a chance to teach one of the eight steps. It was great practice for everyone to see how a lesson would look from beginning to end. They all did a wonderful job!
John entertained us teaching the "Vocabulary" section.
..."These are cats!"
Abigail tackled some complicated rhythms with "Clap the Stress."
Lane taught "Pronunciation."
Brad and Amy demonstrated how to teach a conversation.
Marcia taught "Activities."
Then we gave everyone a certificate and discussed where they can use the training. We are starting a new ESL class here at our home church, so many of our students plan to join us in that ministry as teachers.
Do you speak English? Can you spare an hour a week? Are you in the Russellville area? Well, you should consider being an English tutor. We're starting some ESL (English as a Second Language) ministry right here in the Russellville area!
We'll be doing a training with the ESL curriculum that we use at LEI next week, so this training should give you plenty of teaching tools to get started as a tutor. The schedule for the sessions is as follows:
Tuesday, October 26th, 6:30-9:30pm
Thursday, October 28th, 6:30-9:30pm
Saturday, October 30th, 8:30am-12:30pm
Location: First Freewill Baptist Church of Russellville 1103 East L Street
So call us or contact us at bmymeans@gmail.com if you're interested in coming. The cost is $35, to pay for the cost of the books and materials. As soon as the training is complete, we'll work on helping to pair you up with a student as soon as possible. Or if you already have someone in mind, that's great, too. You and your student can meet once a week for an hour, or whatever the two of you decide.
What's going on with us right now?
We've decided to focus on things closer to home. We've had a lot of people asking about ESL ministry because of the growing needs and opportunities right on our doorstep.
What's our current goal?
Our goal is to establish a flourishing ESL ministry in the Russellville area.
What's our plan?
Our plan is to train tutors, partner them up with a student, and support each of these partnerships to become a long term learning relationship and friendship.
We feel that our current vision follows the LEI motto:
"Each one teach one and win one to Christ"
I guarantee you that as a tutor, you'll get just as much out of it as your student will. I know all of you can speak English and can spare an hour a week, so you're all set to become a tutor. No, you don't need to have any foreign language to become a tutor. Please ask us any questions you have if you're sitting there pondering this opportunity. You can even leave a comment on this post, and we can do a follow-up post for frequently asked questions (choose 'Anonymous' and you won't need any account to comment).
That's what's going on right now-- so help us make this vision happen!
IF YOU CAN'T WATCH THE VIDEO:
For those of you who can't watch the video, this is us doing our best to do an honest presentation of ourselves as missionaries. We are hoping to pursue a career in helping people by taking short-term teams to work with Literacy and ESL ministries going on through LEI, beginning in Central America. But to do this work, we need ongoing financial support from people that believe in what God can do through us. We would be honored to have your support as we work for Christ in literacy ministry. No donation is too small, but a regular donation is better than a one-time gift. If you want to support us, a $10 donation every month for a year is better than a one-time gift of $120.
Beyond financial giving, we really need your prayers. Please pray for us as we are going and doing. There's nothing like the power of prayer to fuel our ministry.
If you have any questions or just want to sit and chat, we are happy to meet with you in person to talk with you and answer any questions you may have, even if you decide against supporting us in the end. We just love telling people about what God is doing in our lives. Sharing this vision and heart is a joy for us.
Whatever you decide, please contact us if you're interested in joining us in our ministry. Our email address is bmymeans@gmail.com.
OPTIONS FOR DONATING:
1. Send a check payable to 'Literacy & Evangelism International' to
Literacy & Evangelism International
1800 S. Jackson Ave.
Tulsa, OK 74107
and include a separate note that says "for Brad & Amy Means" to designate your donation for our account.
3. Most donors choose the option of having us electronically charge your account the amount you specify each month, quarter, or year. We can use an automated bank transfer to do so. You just have to fill out a form which we can mail to you or email to you for you to print, and then send it to LEI. Or we'd be happy to come to you in person and go over everything with you. These transfers can be stopped at any time.
CURRENTLY PLANNED MODEL FOR OUR FUTURE WORK:
I) Internationally
A) Short-term missions (beginning in Central America, with hopes for the
rest of the world some day)
1) Find an LEI literacy or ESL class in need
2) Find a short-term team interested in literacy or ESL ministry
3) Train the short-term team as literacy or ESL tutors via Tutor Training
Workshop (10 hours of class spread over 3 days)
4) Go ahead of the team to prepare the way (housing, transportation,
etc.) at the target location
5) Bring short-term team to the literacy classes and pair each team
member with students from the classes to tutor in 1 on 1 sessions
B) Planting literacy classes abroad with Teacher Training Workshops
1) Hold a Teacher Training Workshop in a target country to train native
literacy teachers
2) Help the new teachers get their own literacy class started
3) Come back with a short term team to help their class later on
II) In the United States
A) Promote literacy ministry & LEI among churches, conferences, and
events in U.S.
1) Present literacy as an urgent and overlooked need for Christians to
focus on
2) Plant seeds of the vision that may grow into:
a) A ready and willing short-term team
b) Church members that want to start their own ESL/Literacy ministry in
that church
c) People who want to support this ministry financially
B) ESL/literacy ministry in the United States
1) Help to train and pair up ESL/literacy tutors in our own home town
2) Help those interested in starting their own ESL/literacy ministries in
their own home towns
C) Help teach/host the annual ILTI (International Literacy Training Institute)
at LEI each summer in any capacity needed/requested
1) Serve as teachers and dorm managers
2) Build relationships with the students as potential future teachers of
classes that we will visit with a short-term team
Each summer, LEI hosts its International Literacy Training Institute (ILTI) in Tulsa, OK. Students come from all over the world and live in the LEI dorm for five weeks while they attend classes about everything LEI has to offer. Many different professors come to the ILTI to teach its courses: ESL (English as a Second Language), English Literacy, International Literacy (in the language of the student's choice), Literacy Primer Construction (learning how to design an LEI curriculum in a new language), Leadership, and more. We do our best to teach them everything we know, so that each student is fully equipped to build their very own literacy program in their home countries and beyond.
Students taking notes during class
Last year we had students from the United States, India, Kenya, the Sudan, Brazil, Korea, and Burma. This year, we had students come from the United States, Canada, Japan, Nigeria, Kenya, Tanzania, Rwanda, Ivory Coast, Ghana, and Guyana. At LEI, we want each country to have a growing and thriving literacy ministry, so that each and every person will be able to read-- not just well enough to write their name, but well enough to read their Bible. So, the ILTI is all about sending out people with the power and passion for literacy ministry to every group of people in the world.
These 11 students come from 8 different countries
Brad and I have both attended the ILTI training in the past, and this year we were invited back to be teachers and to help out at the dorm as "house parents." Amy taught English as a Second Language during the first week. Brad led the inductive bible study each morning and taught English Literacy during the second week. The teaching was so fun and gave us great experience for when we will be teaching these things overseas.
Amy teaching about how to teach a conversation for ESL
A group of students learning to teach English conversations
Brad teaching about supplementary materials for a literacy lesson
The students working together and learning from each other
When we weren't teaching, we were "parenting." Our duties as dorm parents included preparing supper, buying groceries, driving the "kids" where they needed to go (walmart, the doctor, the airport, etc.), celebrating birthdays, and making sure that all the household chores got done. We loved being parents! Granted, we had great kids who did everything we asked with a joyful attitude and as true Christ-like servants. It was hard work, but so rewarding. We built wonderful relationships with the students, teachers, and LEI staff.
They're glad to have finished the dishes...
It's not easy cleaning up after 25 people
We're ready to say our mealtime prayer
We loved the fellowship with the students
The beavers at the Tulsa aquarium were really fun
But Amy's favorite were the playful otters
Our time in Tulsa flew by, and before we knew it, graduation was over. We were so blessed by our summer at LEI and the people we met there. Please pray with us for our brothers and sisters who attended the training to be blessed as they begin their literacy and ESL ministries. Praise God for their calling to share His love with LEI!
The team spent their second night in hammocks at the church in Likia.
The villagers had a lot of fun showing us how to ride their horses...
... and we had fun learning from them.
We'll miss Velloso, our trusty, loving, and protective companion.
Scott was a great ESL student and even better friend.
Heidi was another dedicated ESL student and such a sweet friend.
Our goodbye dinner with the team's host families
Everyone shared their stories of living together
Relaxing and reflecting on the experience at debrief
Amy with Ana, one of the team members
Wherever we went, we tended to attract a crowd, so the teams were prepared for the kids with bubbles..
Saying goodbye to our youngest ESL class
There's often a shortage of pictures of all the hardest work, because there's a shortage of time to take them..
The second short-term mission team in Nicaragua went really well! We taught literacy, ESL (English as a Second Language), helped build a church, and taught community health with educational skits. The team also had a great mimed drama that the locals really connected with.
It was really amazing to see the team bond with their host families that they lived with for the duration of the trip. By halfway through their trip, they were a real family. They were calling each other "mama" and "hijo/hija" (son/daughter), and the siblings grew to be real brothers and sisters as well. The impact that the mission team had on the people of Rio Blanco, Nicaragua amazed us.
This trip has dissolved all the skepticism I had about short term missions. Prior to this trip, I (Brad) didn't have much international short-term missions experience, so I still didn't know what to think about them. Short-term missions can sometimes catch a lot of criticism for not being cost-effective. Some people say why pay to send your own people to help, when you could just send the money in the mail so that the people there could hire their own help and buy their own things. However, this trip has blown that viewpoint out of the water. This trip showed me first-hand the unseen personal impact of a short-term missions trip that is never to be underestimated.
Short-term missions fill work with love. With love, they are worth well beyond the good work they accomplish. God could have sent us a letter from heaven to say "I love you", but He knew how much more effective it would be to come here in person as Jesus. We would do well to follow that same example.
