Planting Seeds
English as a Second Language (ESL) kicked off this month. Sharon Downs reported, "We had wonderful volunteers to help with all the extras of the first night, like testing, registering, directing to class, etc. Hermitage Hills people are great when it comes to volunteering!"
ESL meets at 6:00pm on Wednesday nights as part of our Wednesday Night Groups. The students are taught the English language through reading scripture. This is also a great opportunity to share the love of Jesus Christ.
"We had about 4 Muslim ladies attend and one of them brought her daughter who is a Student of Religion at Lipscomb," said Sharon. When the young lady entered the room to register, she immediately asked if someone could help her understand her homework. Glynn Blasingim, an ESL volunteer, immediately offered to help. The professor had assigned John 1:1 and some of the "begots" from Matthew and the young lady had no idea what it all meant.
While the opportunity to explain the Bible so openly doesn't always happen in ESL, this particular time it did and Glynn was honored to step in and help. Each time he would explain something, she would say, "Oh now I understand." Glynn took the time to show her an app with an easy read Bible and encouraged her to check with the professor to see if she could use it in class. When they were finished she asked if he would be there next week and if he would be willing to help her again. If you know Glynn, you know the answer was YES!
"It's opportunities like this that make us want to reach out to more of our community," said Sharon. "We are trusting God with the seeds planted."
Click Here for more information on ESL.