Rosemary Anderson, ESL Coordinator for Northern Region, describes her dream to introduce more migrants to Jesus.
How many ESL classes have you helped start?
There are currently 17 parishes in the region conducting ESL classes. In the five years I have been in this position, I have been involved in the establishment of nine of those, and was the coordinator at Waitara for six years.
Can you tell me about the most recent one?
This is a very exciting development for me personally as we have established two classes – one daytime and another in the evening – in my own parish at Normanhurst. Last year we did the ‘Living in Harmony’ program and as a result felt that God was leading us into ESL work. At the end of the year I trained a group of about 20 people to become the ESL team. After extensive advertising, which included a letter box drop to every house in the parish, we have started the year with 20 students over the two classes. The majority came as a result of the letter box drop.
The teachers are excited and the students are enthusiastic. As well as practising English conversation, there is the opportunity to study the Bible – a section for which all the students choose to stay. As many have not heard of Jesus before, there are many interesting questions asked.
How do you start an ESL class?
Typically someone in a parish feels God is challenging them to do something for the many Non-English Speaking Background (NESB) people in their area. They speak to their minister, get his support and ring Anglicare for advice. This is where I come in, as ESL Coordinator.
What resources are used?
For a two-hour lesson we use materials commercially produced for this purpose. Anglicare is a great support here as they have a Resource Centre at Parramatta from which teachers can borrow. Several classes then finish their lessons with about half an hour of Bible teaching. The method used cannot be the usual Bible Study method, as this is really only useful for native speakers. There are only a few resources available for teachers in this area, so over the years Anglicare has financed the development of different resources.
How can ESL contribute to the goal of the mission?
At the moment 21 per cent of families in Sydney speak a language other than English at home. It is estimated that by the year 2025 over half the families in Sydney will be NESB. If we are to have ten per cent of Sydney’s population in Bible-based churches within ten years, it seems to me that we need to be emphasising the need for cross cultural ministry in our parishes. ESL classes are not the only way of doing this but they are playing a significant role at the moment. Many of our students have never heard of Jesus even though some have been living in our society for some time. They haven’t heard of him through our usual evangelistic endeavours.
It is the dream of those involved in ESL work that we will see the further development of other ministries to enable our students to have Christian teaching and fellowship as they come into God’s Kingdom.
What is the relationship of the class with the church in general?
The things that happen so that ESL students are included in the life of the parish are: International Nights where the students and parish members get together for socialising; International Bible Studies where students meet in a group of their own for discussion; ESL class involvement in the Christmas Carol service; students invited to attend other church activities, especially women’s groups and in some places an ‘Easy English’ service is held occasionally. I think it is true to say that all classes continue to work hard at including their students in other church activities other than just the ESL class.
For more information contact Rosemary on 9484 5234, or in other regions call Cathryn Thew at Anglicare on 9806 0966.
