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Mission Statement
We promote and support the teaching of English to adult immigrants of all nationalities in Northern Virginia and DC and welcome their active participation in our community.
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Welcome to our newest members: Ekklesia USA in Reston, Foundry United Methodist Church in DC, and Pleasant Valley United Methodist Church in Chantilly!
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Thank you...
...to our fall teacher training hosts: Terri Kennedy and Crossroads United Methodist, Dave Kirkland and Dulin United Methodist Church, and Cliff and Connie Mauck and Graham Road United Methodist Church
...to Jill Zabel and Bruen Chapel United Methodist Church for hosting our fall board of directors' meeting
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| Member Churches
Bruen Chapel United Methodist Church
Centreville United Methodist Church
Community of Christ
Crossroads United Methodist Church
Culmore United Methodist Church
Dulin United Methodist Church
Ekklesia USA
First Presbyterian Church of Arlington & Mount Olivet United Methodist Church (joint program)
Foundry United Methodist Church
Grace United Methodist Church
Graham Road United Methodist Church
Leesburg United Methodist Church
Lord of Life Lutheran Church
Pleasant Valley United Methodist Church
Prince of Peace Lutheran Church
Redeemer Church of Arlington
Saint Matthew's United Methodist Church
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Greetings from ESLIM
In Northern Virginia and the District of Columbia, we are blessed with a wonderfully diverse population. And with a shared language, it is possible to build bridges of cultural understanding, community, and friendship. Our desire is that students who come to study English will find in this ministry the hope, dignity, faith, and understanding they seek.
"The world is my parish," said John Wesley, founder of the Methodism movement. ESLIM's member programs might say, "The world is IN our parish." It is truly a privilege to join together in this important outreach ministry. Thank you for your interest in ESLIM's mission and your continued support!
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Prince of Peace Adds Christian Component to ESL Classes
Submitted by Lori Stillman, Community Outreach Coordinator at Prince of Peace Lutheran Church and ESLIM Board MemberPrince of Peace Lutheran Church in Springfield, VA has been offering English as a Second Language (ESL) classes to local community members for over 10 years. During this time, our students have recognized the classes are being conducted in a church and have frequently asked questions about our faith. Until now, we have simply answered their questions, without further information or actions.
Recently, after a period of self-evaluation of our ESL program, we determined that we could better serve our students by providing them with more information about our religion. Accordingly, we added a Christian educational component to our classes this year. Our rationale was based on the observation that many of our students are typically very spiritual and deeply interested in matters of faith. This interest tends to motivate their desire to learn English and American culture, and particularly how these are influenced by Christianity. Additionally, we want them to know why faith in Jesus inspires Christians to serve others, particularly immigrant neighbors and friends.
Each week on a rotating basis, one of four Prince of Peace staff members visits each ESL classroom and provides a short five to ten minute lesson on a Christian topic. To date, we have talked about the Trinity, what defines a Christian, the Christian view of Halloween and the meaning of All Saints' Day. Other lessons will focus on Christian holidays - why and how we celebrate them, prayer, salvation and the sacraments. Our ESL teachers have been very supportive and have worked with us to tailor our efforts to meet the needs of the students.
Our ESL enrollment includes over 125 students from 30 different countries representing many different cultures and religions. Out of respect for everyone's culture, and to help us better understand each other, we also ask our students to share information with us about their religion and the meaning and celebration of their religious holidays. We have enjoyed comparing and contrasting the similarities and differences of the influence of religion within the various cultures.
Prince of Peace is committed to a vision of reaching out to share God's love as we endeavor to help meet the needs of our neighbors in the local community. Teaching English is one way in which we are led by Christ's example to serve others. Our new religious education component is helping us build better relationships with our students, based on respect for what fuels their desire to listen and learn. This is a great blessing for all of us!
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Three Ways to Assist ESLIM
1. Did you know you can assist ESLIM just by shopping online? Amazon will donate 0.5% of eligible AmazonSmile purchases when you shop at smile.amazon.com. Simply search for "English as a Second Language and Immigrant Ministries" and select it as your charity.
2. Your donation to ESLIM helps us reach out to prospective students and train volunteer teachers. It also allows our member programs to spend more on essentials such as books and supplies. To donate via PayPal or find instructions for mailing a check, please visit our website.
3. ESLIM participates in the Combined Federal Campaign of the National Capital Area. Please designate #60490.
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Teaching Tips
The State Department's American English website contains numerous resources for teachers. Although intended for teachers and learners of English overseas, many of its materials are suitable for adult ESL classrooms in the U.S., too. Here are just a few examples from the English Teaching Forum:
Do you want to make your lessons more personal and help students learn about each other? Try the group grammar technique.
Get new ideas for classroom activities with the article entitled "Ten Great Low-Cost Teaching Tools."
If you're a fan of American football, share your enthusiasm for the sport with the "Athletes, Actions and Adjectives" lesson plan. It introduces students to the names of football teams in the U.S.
If you have a teaching tip, favorite website, or classroom activity to share, please submit your idea to office@eslim.org.
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Save the Date for Teacher Training
A training session for returning teachers is tentatively scheduled for Sunday,
January 24. The location, registration instructions, and other details will be posted on ESLIM's website at www.eslim.org.
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About ESLIM
ESLIM's member churches offer low-cost English classes for adult immigrants, taught by volunteers. Students who cannot pay receive scholarships.
To support the efforts of each of the program sites, ESLIM handles a variety of tasks in a centralized way. Its activities include the following:
- Advertising for volunteers
- Placing and training volunteer teachers
- Advertising the class schedule in foreign-language media
- Maintaining a voice-mail line in which calls can be returned in English and Spanish
- Producing the Speak Easy e-newsletter three times per year
- Maintaining a website that features the class schedule, a variety of resources for teachers, and information for faith communities considering an ESL ministry
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