read the following and  write a Class Comment (not a Private Comment) to share the two most interesting things you learned about LEI and ELM in simple down to earth language: 

Welcome to  the exciting  world  
of  
English  
Language Ministry! 
Section 1 
Welcome to the exciting world of language learning! Exciting, you say? YES. Teaching a person the basic skills of  English is an enjoyable, satisfying ministry, to which God has  called you as His child. 
The adventure of Christian living is serving God. Jesus said, “I  came so that everyone would have life, and have it in its full est” (John 10:10 Contemporary English Version). For Christians  seeking to serve our Lord, an English language ministry (ELM)  is a wonderful and rewarding outreach because it is a relational ministry—a people-to-people mission. You’re involved with a  missions ministry where English builds the needed bridge of  communication and culture. 
The Latin origin of the word “priest” in the New Testament,  means “bridge builder.” As Christians, Peter states “…you are  a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people be longing to God, that you may declare the praises of him who  called you…” (1 Peter 2:9 N.I.V.) As God’s priest, you are a  bridge-builder bringing people into the knowledge of God’s love  and grace through the medium of tutoring English. The most im portant gift you can give your student is His love and grace. 

As you begin tutoring your learner...
Remember—tutoring English is for students want to know how  
to use the basic conversational English skills needed in everyday  
life. It does not mean you have to have years of special linguis 
tics training.  
Remember—tutoring English as an evangelistic outreach is ac 
complished by providing a Christian environment during your  
tutoring sessions. It does not mean you have to possess the ‘gift  
of evangelism.’ You fulfi ll Paul’s admonition to Timothy to “do  
the work of an evangelist (2 Timothy 4:5).  
Remember—tutoring English allows you to see genuine, last 
ing progress with your student over a short period of time. 

2 / ELM Handbook 
Remember—tutoring English to grateful learners will expose  you to other customs and cultures which will broaden your Chris tian life and worldview. 
Since the late 1970’s, there has been a steady stream of refu gees, immigrants and migrants into the United States. The United  States census and some organizations have recorded that over 30  million people do not speak English in the home. Much of this  stream, often becoming a fl ood, is due to geopolitical events— economic deprivation, toppled governments, civil confl ict.  
God has always been present during human turmoil and travail  to communicate His unconditional love and constant faithfulness.  In our time, He is allowing us all to participate in world evange lism without having to travel to a foreign land or learn another  language. We, who have not been “called by God” to leave our  homeland and travel across vast oceans, can still participate in  global missions by developing friendships with these potential  national missionaries who now live side by side among us.  
Being in a new and strange culture, our learners are open to the  good news of God’s love in Christ Jesus and they may be freer to  investigate His claims than when they were in their own country.  They desire to learn some of the distinctive features of Christian 
ity and its relevance in our daily lives. 
Increasingly, churches are not only seeing the need to send mis sionaries overseas, but to train and equip volunteers in their con gregations as local missionaries. Those committed to the “fulfi ll ment of the Great Commission” in Cambodia, Honduras, Congo  
or India, are helping win these countries to Christ by doing evangelism with people from these countries who now live in  our neighborhoods. It is our prayer that believers who have sat  languid in pews week after week, will breathe deeply the fresh  wind of world evangelism, and capture a renewed vision of being  a part of God’s mighty program. 
The  
Big  
Picture
Literacy  versus  Literacy  Missions
 ELM Handbook / 3 
The term “literacy” relates to learning how to speak, read and  write the common language—English in this case. The term  “missions” in the Christian context relates to sharing and  leading a person to an acceptance of Jesus Christ as personal  Savior and Lord. There are many excellent English-as-a-sec ond language and basic English literacy programs in the North  America which internationals have access. However, it goes  without saying that there are additional differences between  social works and Christian service. Christians, compelled by  Christ’s command to minister and motivated by His love, have  something no one else can give our international friends. Note  these additional objectives: 
  

Literacy Objectives Literacy Missions Objectives 
1. teach learners to speak,  
 read and write English; ALL THIS 2. provide warm friendship 
 to internationals; 
3. teach local & national culture, and PLUS 4. assist learners to meet  
 everyday needs. 
 5. show the love of God for the total   person; 
 6. provide an environment for   sharing your faith;  7. teach the learner to read and   understand the Bible;  8. help learners discover and become   what God wants them to be;  9. help churches fulfi ll God’s   command to minister and witness. 
These differences could be used to compare Boy Scouts with  Awana; school youth functions with church youth functions;  parents without partners with church singles ministries, etc. All  are programs to meet specifi c needs. Just because there  

4 / ELM Handbook 
are community programs available doesn’t mean Christians  should neglect ministries to these people with special needs. 
After tutoring a brief two weeks, one lady drew me aside after  church services to exclaim what a marvelous experience she  was having with her learner. Between cups of lemonade on the  church’s patio, she rattled off several events that had literally  exhilarated her. She looked forward to each tutoring session.  After a short pause to catch her breath, she concluded with  these prophetic words, “Now I understand the purpose of the  church!” 
Tutoring English helped this lady, like so many other Chris tians, become uplifted in her own Christian life. Because of  tutoring one learner, she renewed some areas of her Christian  life to the living Christ. 
Signifi cant service. We all want to invest our Christian lives  in service that really lasts and has a defi nite impact upon the  eternal destiny of those we contact. Tutoring gives you the joy  of participating in signifi cant service. 
Prayer. Tutoring will revive your adventure in prayer—pray ing for specifi c and needy people. Prayer is not only an activity  during certain times, but our attitude of dependence upon God  to use us as His communicators of love and grace. 
Global perspective. Like this lady, you will grow in your  awareness of your world and the views you hold regarding it.  You will become a “global Christian” –one who is informed  and growing in understanding and acceptance of other peoples,  their customs and cultures. 
Tutoring also helps your church. The genius of a church based English language ministry is that it recruits many mem bers who are not involved in the church’s local mission minis try. How do you get comfortable saints out of the pews and  into ministry? By utilizing the common gift of our language  in service. A tutoring ministry will assist your church to expand  its mission horizons. 
ELM - 
It helps you,  your church  and ethnic  congregations

ELM Handbook / 5 
Tutoring helps ethnic congregations. An important contribu tion of English tutoring is the impact it has upon other ethnic  congregations. Our brothers and sisters often feel a sense of  isolation and abandonment by the English speaking congrega tions. We thoughtlessly refer to “their congregation” and “our  congregation.” However, by assisting them in a tutoring pro gram we educate ourselves and broaden the wider fellowship of  God’s family. Hopefully, this refl ects, with sharper clarity, His  glorious reign through the Church. 
Tutoring our brothers and sisters will also create new avenues  for them to do the work of evangelism. As a tutor, you and I  provide a Christian environment necessary for our Christian  learners to share their faith with those who are non-Christian  learners. If tutoring takes place at a non-English speaking  church facility, non-Christians will soon become comfortable  among Christian members and hopefully join in church activi ties. 
A wider contribution of tutoring non-English speaking Chris tians is that many return to their homeland to visit or to make  preparations to stay permanently. These are our future “mis sionaries.” Many have returned to their homeland have already  planted churches and begun Christian schools. Nationals make  better missionaries than North Americans do since they possess  language, culture, friends and contacts. 
Today is an unprecedented  opportunity for Christ’s  
Church
Today is an unprecedented opportunity for Christ’s Church here  in North America to move away from ethnocentric ministry  to global ministry facilitating the fulfi llment of Christ’s great  commission of Matthew 28: 18-20. 

6 / ELM Handbook 
This handbook is intended to be used as an ongoing reference  manual to help you as you tutor faithfully each week. Hug this  handbook! Make it part of your ministry of reconciliation. Be come a well-rounded, fl exible tutor using a variety of techniques  and methods in your lessons. Don’t become stuck at a table  with your students, doing the same lesson style time after time.  Refer to and use various techniques, ideas and concepts within  this handbook (and those in other English language materials) as  you prepare your lessons. Take the risk of trying different lesson  designs in your tutoring sessions. 
Tutoring is supposed to be a pleasure. Make it so, for the re wards of tutoring are legion due to the bonding that melds tutor  with learner. You will discover new customs which will enchant  you; allow God to introduce you to His world for which He died.  Be prepared to experience an invigorating and refreshing new  ministry—God will use you to bring eternal change into other  lives. 
How to  use this  training  handbook