Living Out the Gospel in International Connection Childcare
It is always a challenge to bridge the gap in International Connection, the English as a second language program at RBC. There can be language gaps, cultural gaps, faith gaps, or even gaps between kids and their childcare workers. We cannot presume that our folks have 100 percent understanding at any one time. It’s one of the frustrating/challenging/enriching aspects of ministry in the ESL world.
This past year, I had the pleasure of watching the Gospel being lived out between a kind-hearted childcare worker, L., and a 3-year-old Iranian boy, P., and his mother, M. They were new to the country and M. had signed up for English classes at the church last fall. P. did not speak a word of English, but he obediently stayed in the nursery while his mom was in classes Tuesday nights and Wednesday mornings. His mom, meanwhile, loved the community she felt in the classroom and sensed that she was gaining strength in her language acquisition.
In Jan., when M. and P. returned for the spring semester of classes, P. suddenly had a change of heart. He began to have panic attacks every time his mom left him in the charge of the childcare workers. These attacks were not just mild, they entailed kicking and screaming! This was a shock to the childcare workers who had seen a quiet and happy child in the fall transition to a very upset little boy in the new year. His mother was equally shocked to see this new behavior! She was unable to leave P. in the nursery without quite a bit of drama. Though it is against program policy to allow a child to stay in the classroom, it was allowed for a short time just to give him a chance to see that she was alive and well, not far away. But this was not a long-term solution. M. stopped coming to classes out of frustration.
One childcare worker, L., decided that she was going to find a way to bridge this new gap in the relationship. She decided to visit the Iranian mother and her son in their home, along with her own little daughter, in order to show them that she was a friend and not someone to be feared. They started to have little coffee times and lunches together to foster friendship and to also get to know one another’s culture. The Iranian mother confessed that she knew she was going to have to put her son into a preschool sooner or later and had no idea how to go about selecting one in the area. She was stymied with many other aspects of living in this country, so L. decided to be as helpful as possible in bridging the many gaps in M.’s understanding. This led to more and more conversations on various topics. Inevitably, M. wanted to know more about this church and about L.’s faith. What an amazing road to deep conversation that started from a seemingly insurmountable problem in the nursery!
L. is praying about how and when to give her whole testimony to M. With the help of some outside resources she trusts that the language and faith barriers will be bridged because now they have a foundation of trust and friendship to build on. Isn’t it amazing that God has used this former difficulty for His good and His purposes?
Good Samaritan Advocates Legal Clinic Update
This past Saturday, June 15, RBC hosted the kick-off for the Good Samaritan Advocates legal clinic.
Twenty-five RBC’ers attended the orientation and training to volunteer as pro bono attorneys, paralegals, administrative support and in hospitality. The clinic assisted four clients in need of legal counsel. If you would like to learn more about the Good Samaritan Advocates legal clinic or how you can volunteer, go to restonbible.org/legalclinic.
Our next clinic will be on July 20.
Guilford Elementary Summer Volunteers
Guilford Elementary is in need of volunteers during their July summer school lunch program. Duties include, serving lunch, directing children and families to their lunch tables, help dismissing students after lunch and taking students to alternate activities after they have finished eating.
The dates are July 1 through July 26 (19 days total). Hours are from 11:30am-1:30pm. Ages 16 and older can volunteer, and younger children serving with a parent are welcome to help out as well. We are looking for 10-15 volunteers to serve each day, so if you can volunteer for any of the days, your help would be greatly appreciated. For more information, please e-mail Betsy Madden.
You can click here to sign up to volunteer.
Click here to learn more about our partnership with Guilford Elementary School.
Good Samaritan Advocates Legal Clinic
Reston Bible Church is partnering with Good Samaritan Advocates to serve our low income neighbors who face legal problems and economic straits by providing free legal and practical guidance in a Christ-centered atmosphere. Legal clinics will be held at RBC every third Saturday of each month. An open house/orientation for the Legal Clinic will be held at RBC on Saturday, June 15th at 9:00am
There are volunteer opportunities in many areas including hospitality, administrative, translators, paralegal and attorneys! If you might be interested in volunteering at one of our monthly legal clinics, please come to our orientation on Saturday 6/15 where the attorneys can explain the details of the clinic and answer any of your questions. E-mail Betsy Madden or visit https://www.restonbible.org/legalclinic for more information.
ESL Summer Conversation Partners
I am inspired by the many mission opportunities that RBC makes available to those who are willing to go abroad with the gospel. But for those of us who are not able to participate in an overseas mission trip, may I suggest to you that there is an alternative right here at home?
As most of you know, we have the world at our doorstep through the English as a Second Language program, International Connection. But since I like to give all of my teachers the summer off, we do not hold classes from mid-May to September. That is a long time for our students to be drifting without regular English interaction. It may be hard to imagine, but for some of our students, their time in class here is the only time that they speak English consistently throughout their week. It is more comfortable for them to speak in their first languages at home, in their neighborhoods, and even in their workplaces.
That’s where our Conversation Partners program fills in the gap. If you can manage to hold a conversation in English for an hour once a week for six weeks or more, I ask that you pay attention! I have a list of more than a dozen women (only women this time) in our program who would love to meet you. No lesson plans are required, just a willingness to meet with your international person once a week or every other week to speak English. The emphasis is on building a relationship, not teaching grammar! I suggest a public place such as Starbucks, the library or a park where you can carry on a conversation. This will be the seventh year that we have implemented this program and some of my students have made long-term friends with RBC attendees through this simple method. If you have the desire for cross-cultural ministry, this could be the opportunity for you without the jet-lag.
I’ll be holding an Orientation session on Tuesday evening, May 21, and on May 28 you will be paired with your new international friend!
Please contact me, Susan Morinaga (susanmorinaga@restonbible.org), if you have any questions or would like to volunteer for this unique opportunity.
Update: I.C. Health Fair
The body of Christ came together in a beautiful way this week in International Connection, the English as a Second Language (ESL) program at RBC. In order to make a Health Fair work, I was in need of healthcare instructors to deliver short talks on general good health habits to our internationals, and I also needed translators to assist in the lower level classes. With the precision of a physically fit body, and by God’s grace, it all came together! Students were divided into 3 groups, depending on their level of English. Everyone rotated through 3 different seminars on health on Tuesday night and Wednesday morning, instead of their regular English classes.
In the two days of health seminars, we featured a registered dietician, nurses, a dental hygienist and a representative from Medicare/Medicaid. Students had their blood pressure taken, learned what those numbers mean and how to improve them. They were also given vaccination schedules for their families and talks on general preventive medicine. The dietician gave talks on eating appropriately from the five food groups and dedicated all of Wednesday’s seminars to diabetes education. The dental hygienist used student volunteers to act as “teeth” as she used a giant brush to demonstrate proper brushing habits and a jump rope for flossing! With our ESL students, the more demonstrations and visuals one has, the better! The rep from Medicare/Medicaid spent time emphasizing how to live an active and fit life.
In addition, we had RBC attendees come alongside our presenters to translate into Spanish (our largest language group) all of the details of this important information. They also spent time one-on-one with some of the students who had very specific questions for our health care professionals. It was a beautiful thing!
I was blessed to have a very robust turnout for this unique event which leads me to think that it might be wise to have this on an annual basis. I will be looking for more ways to serve our international community in the future and welcome any ideas that the church gives me in this regard.
Susan Morinaga
Director, International Connection
Click here to learn more about International Connection and our ESL program at Reston Bible Church.
Guilford Updates: Bingo Night & Book Fair
BINGO NIGHT: RBC helped sponsor a Bingo Night at Guilford Elementary last Friday evening. The event is one of the school’s biggest community events with 300-400 families attending. The Guilford staff and PTA were so thankful for the RBC volunteers and the financial support we were blessed to be able to provide.
Here’s an excerpt from a note we received from Alex Collier of the Guilford PTA:
“The volunteers really made the evening run smoothly. They were up for helping with anything we needed, and added a definite air of excitement to the night! Katie VanDorsten and her son were the best 50/50 raffle hawkers we’ve ever had! Together they raised almost $100! Julie and Micah Loesch worked the popcorn and cookie concessions like pros, and Tyler Preast and his friends did a spectacular job manning the bingo sales table, selling cards and daubers with confidence and pizazz!”
BOOK DRIVE: We are thankful to God for all who donated books and time for yesterday’s Guilford Elementary Book Fair. We were able to give out over 1500 books! Each child was able to take home 3 books of their own, and the librarians and resource teachers were able to restock their dwindling supply of books and resource items. The principal and entire faculty were so thankful to RBC. Many of these children have never owned a book and were joyfully overwhelmed to be able to take three books home. RBC is sharing the love of Christ to children in need in our community, and we are grateful for the many who invested your time (and books!) in serving them.
Call for Volunteers: Conversations
Conversations is an evening of music, humor, drama, and moving real-life stories. This year, nightly shows will begin the week of March 25-29. If you’re unfamiliar with Conversations, you can get more info here.
Our first performance is less than two weeks away, and we are in critical need of at least 60 more bakers and at least 40 more Children’s Ministry workers. There is also a less-critical need for ushers, parking attendants, prayer warriors, and make up artists. To volunteer for any of these positions, please click here.
We also need volunteers to provide food for the cast and crew prior to each performance (March 25-29). Each night during our Conversations outreach we will be feeding more than 100 people involved with the production. Please consider signing up to provide one or more items of food. To help with these meals, please click here.
For more information on any of these needs, please contact Barb Ruffner or sign-up online. And don’t forget to pick up invitation cards from the Welcome Desk and other tables throughout the RBC lobby the next time you’re here! We hope you’ll prayerfully invite many friends, coworkers and neighbors to this great event.Thanks.
Dale Peak
Administrator
Support Hurricane Sandy Relief Efforts
Interested in joining a team to help Hurricane Sandy victims in New York/New Jersey?
Click here and sign up to learn more.
If you’d like to support relief efforts financially, you can give online (be sure to designate “Hurricane Sandy Relief” in the box at the top.) Click here to give online.
(If you prefer to give by check, please put “Hurricane Sandy Relief” in the memo line and drop it in an offering box. Offering boxes are located in the lobby and in the back of the sanctuary.)
A Quick First Fruits Update
The Youth Ministry would like to extend a huge thank you to the body for its prayers and support in all aspects of First Fruits. God answered your prayers in many different ways last Saturday. There were more than 600 workers, spread over 30 teams that did close to 150 jobs, and raised almost $40,000 to immediately impact more than 70 families in the local community with groceries and gift cards. It was a long, but good day, one in which God provided near perfect weather. It was also a blessing to have Park View High School stepping out with volunteers (students and staff) and providing a place for us to meet for our morning and evening programs.
Check back in the near future for pictures from that wonderful day. For this and countless other reasons, we are truly grateful to God for richly blessing our body. Have a very special Thanksgiving.