“We want you to play English games with the children and show them that English can be fun; no grammar, only games.”  A mid-thirties Japanese mother sat on the couch explaining what her expectations were for the English class we would be teaching. We were surprised by this idea. Why would she want to put money into classes where elementary students would learn vocabulary at best? We agreed to teach the class, but mostly because it would help the church and give chances to share the Bible.

English learning begins in middle school for Japanese students, if not earlier.  Unfortunately, it is often taught through grammar books, resulting in poor conversation skills and a lack of enjoyment. Since English is considered useful for finding good jobs and traveling, it creates an opportunity for missionaries to use English conversation as a wonderful tool for connecting with individuals and sharing about God and His works.

As we have talked with other missionaries and learned from our own experiences, we have come to the conclusion that Christian stories, specifically ones that teach a moral or principle, are most effective for impacting students.  While students might reject a direct propositional statement (“God is the One in control of your life”), their heart may be opened by hearing stories that teach the proposition (Joseph, Nebuchadnezzar, Jim and Elizabeth Elliot, etc). As they begin to learn more about who God is and what He does, the story of the Gospel becomes more than a simple American religion.

In the end, our children’s classes turned into a lot of games, ending with a story time, while our adult classes worked on using grammar in conversations and paused for a “break” to hear new and exciting stories. Don’t worry, the adults also played games from time to time, though the stories frequently held more of their attention.

Our friend, Pastor Randy Gilmore, has helped us think through teaching English to other cultures. Feel free to check out his blog and sign up for his newsletter about using ESL for evangelism.

We recently began a trip to visit some churches in the Southeast.  During the first major traveling session, we noticed that the brakes were not behaving well. It was nothing major, but we were heading towards the mountains of West Virginia, so we thought it best to have them inspected. After dropping the car off at a local branch of a known brand name, we spent time with some friends. 

A little while later, the phone rang and it was the mechanic.  The brakes required a bit of work, but nothing unexpected.  The mechanic proceeded to explain about a major issue he had found.  He discovered that out of four major bushings supporting the front half of the car, three were gone. To explain it simply: if that last bushing had broken, we very easily could have left our engine lying in the middle of the road. Skepticism may have been the initial reaction, but as he explained potential symptoms (some oddities in turning, some clanking sounds, etc), it became obvious that it was an actual issue with our car.  He was able to fix it and the car is driving noticeably better.

We praise God that He used something like checking our brakes to help prevent a major catastrophe that could have taken place while driving 70 mph in the mountains.  We could live in fear of potential unfavorable events, or we can trust in the sovereignty of God in each situation.