Frazer Church needs more volunteers to teach English as a Second Language (ESL). The church wants to add ESL classes to meet the growing demand for ESL instruction.
An informational meeting for volunteers is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. on Aug. 30 in room 8210 at the church. Frazer ESL leaders estimate that more than 1,000 people have been helped through the ESL classes, which began in 2003.
Elizabeth Drollette, Frazer’s minister of missions, and ESL lay leader Gary Cochran guide the growing ministry.
Volunteers include teachers, assistant teachers and those helping with registration and testing, Cochran said, adding that while helpful, experience is not required to be a volunteer.
“We place inexperienced people with experienced teachers, so training is ongoing throughout the year,” he said.
The ESL classes take place on Tuesday nights from 7 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. beginning on Sept. 6 and will run similar to a school year with breaks on holiday weeks, Drollette said.
While experience is not required to volunteer, teaching experience is very helpful, Cochran said. “You are also not required to know a foreign language. We only speak English on Tuesday nights,” he said.
He explained that there are five different classes; two pre-beginners, a beginner, an intermediate and an advanced. “There is a lead teacher in each class with two to four assistant teachers. Plans are to expand to three pre-beginner classes and two beginner classes this year,” he said.
He said that volunteers need to show enthusiasm, a willingness to serve, listening skills, understanding, and to embrace the ministry aspects of ESL. “And a very big smile. Smiling is the universal language,” he said.
He said that there continues to be a need for new volunteers. “We want the ministry to be sustainable. We always need new assistant teachers so they can learn from experienced teachers and are able to step in as a lead if the need arises,” he said.
The classes are very important in helping students learn a new language and assimilate into a new culture. “Our teachers develop relationships with their students over the course of a year and through these relationships the students have a much better understanding of their new country,” he said. “They are receptive. We provide free weekly instruction and a monthly dinner. They purchase their own books if they’d like to have one.”
Frazer views ESL as another ministry avenue to bring people to the church and to Christ.
“Over 50 percent of our students either don’t go to church or are non-Christian. For some of them this is the first time they have stepped into a church,” he said. “We make Christ known to our students through regular devotionals and through the relationships they have developed with their teachers.”
Drollette said Frazer conducts outreach to the community to make contact with anyone who may be looking to learn English. “We host these classes for free once a week and offer childcare at no cost as well. The need is for teachers as well as people to help with registration and testing of the students,” she said.
The volunteer training will be held in room 8120, which is upstairs in the John Ed Mathison Activity Center (JEMAC) on Frazer’s campus.
