Missions Mobilization
ESL Ministry
We exist to cast vision, equip, and coach churches in launching effective ESL Ministries to reach the nations in the U.S. and around the world for Jesus Christ.
Evangelistically Focused
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Academically Sound
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Cost-Effective
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Self-Sustainable
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Evangelistically Focused | Academically Sound | Cost-Effective | Self-Sustainable |
Alliance NW has teamed up with Alliance ESL in an effort to support our ANW churches to reach their communities in a tangible way for Jesus! We would love to see a network of churches work together to provide ESL in their neighborhoods and support one another as you journey in this type of ministry throughout the northwest.
What Is ESL?
English as a Second Language (ESL)
1 in 7 people living in America today were not born here. The top two needs of every newcomer is this: Learning English and making American friends. This is an enormous opportunity for churches to meet the needs of the nations and God has sent them right to our doorstep!
Internationals in your community, whether they are immigrants, refugees, or college students, all have a need to improve their English. By offering free English classes for adults that use a secular life skill curriculum, you can meet these needs and build relationships. And once you have built relationships, you can begin to offer more Biblical-centered activities (Home Bible Studies, International Sunday School Classes, etc.).
“He told them, ‘The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.’”
What We Do
Coaching and Workshops
We are a ministry that launched out of Crosspoint Alliance Church in Akron, OH. We primarily teach local churches, without any previous experience, how to teach English as a way to reach immigrants and refugees with the Good News of Jesus. We also travel to churches all across the U.S.
Churches will receive coaching to help church leadership catch the vision, set up their ministry, recruit volunteers, and find students. We host an 11-hour Teacher Training Workshop and will keep in touch after the workshop to help troubleshoot and provide ideas on how and when to add other activities to your ESL ministry to deepen those relationships.
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It takes seeing the need! Do you see a need for ESL in your community? Do you sense your church being led to fill this need? Are you looking for a door into a community you currently have little to no access to? ESL may be your next step!
You need the blessing and encouragement from your Lead Pastor and church leadership team. You also need your whole church to be praying for open doors and hearts as you step into a new ministry!
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You need a minimum of 7 people. One person to be the ESL Director and 6 teachers. With 6 teachers you are able to have 3 classes - Pre-Literate (no alphabet), Beginner and Intermediate. Each class will have 2 teachers. As your ministry grows, you can recruit more teachers so that you can provide more classes.
Your teachers do not need to be professionals or speak another language. They need to love Jesus, love people, and speak English! Your volunteers need to be excited to invest in students, have the availability to attend a workshop for training and show up for class.
The additional recruitment of volunteers can go to childcare - if your church provides childcare, you will have far more people available to attend!
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Your 7 volunteers are required to attend a training workshop where we will give them the tools they need - Alliance NW will host this workshop. Alliance ESL will also do ongoing coaching and guidance to continue to support you as you start and sustain this community outreach ministry!
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Running an ESL ministry depends on your church but answering these questions will help provide the framework for your ministry:
Where will the classes be held?
When will the classes meet and how often? (This will be based off your volunteer availability)
How many classes will we offer? (This is based off of the need and number of volunteers)
Will we provide childcare?
Can we provide other activities? (skills classes, coffee/conversations, sports, picnics, citizenship classes, ESL Bible classes...these kinds of activities outside of class is where relationships are developed and Jesus is further seen!)
To run the ESL ministry, you will need to recruit students. Create a post card in simple English and put them in places where students will find them (hotels, preschools, markets, ethnic restaurants, libraries, nail salons, etc.).
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The cost for the workshop and coaching is $200 for the director and $150 per teacher (you have to have a minimum of 6 teachers). We suggest each church covering the full cost for the director which will include ongoing coaching and support. We also suggest each church consider covering 1/2 the cost for the teachers. It has proven helpful to have some financial investment from the teachers you recruit - but you can always cover their full cost.
*In order for Alliance NW to host the workshop we have to have a minimum of 5 churches committed to attend the workshop.
Additional ministry costs to consider - student fees, volunteer honorariums, snacks, etc - but these are optional and minimal for the ESL ministry to thrive!
Frequently Asked Questions
If you are interested in launching an ESL Ministry at your church, fill out the form below.