People sometimes wonder how teaching English as a Second Language can be missions. Isn’t missions shouting the Good News from urban street corners or eating grubs with natives in some South American rain forest? Where does teaching fit in?

Teaching English as a Second Language (ESL) meets a felt need. Christ ministered to the tangible as well as spiritual needs of those around him. A major need in many countries is for English teachers. English is quickly becoming a globally-spoken language and is often a requirement or at least a huge plus for getting a good job.

Teaching English opens doors of friendship. As you get to know your students in the non-threatening atmosphere of a classroom, trust and friendships are developed, which lead to more opportunities to share the gospel with them. People listen more closely when their friend or someone they trust is speaking than when a total stranger is talking to them.

Teaching ESL also puts you immediately in a position of knowing people you can talk to before you become fluent in a foreign language. When I first came to Ukraine I didn’t speak any Ukrainian or Russian, yet teaching English immediately gave me a circle of people I could communicate with. While it’s still important to try to learn the foreign language, teaching ESL lets you have friends and people to minister to in that learning period – you don’t have to wait two years in language school before you can start to minister effectively.

I came to Ukraine nearly 4 years ago as a first-time English teacher. I was 18, spoke absolutely no Ukrainian or Russian, and had no teaching experience. I hadn’t even wanted to try teaching when I had taken my short ESL training – it was just part of the required course work for the mission training school I was attending. Hardly amazing qualifications. Yet it’s where God was leading, and I’ve come to see what an incredible opportunity teaching ESL can be. I love teaching, and I love my students. Rest assured, teaching can be every bit as much missions as ministering to natives in South American tribes. (And though you might not recognize everything you eat, you wont’ have to eat grubs! At least not in Ukraine.)

If you’re considering missions but aren’t sure exactly where you fit in, don’t forget to consider teaching English as a Second Language.

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This entry was posted on Friday, November 2nd, 2007 at 2:50 pm by Beth and is filed under General. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.