Let God Move You!

God tugged at my heart this morning...and in spite of a lack of know-how, I'm going to follow His leading!

When we sent all our kids off to school this past fall, everyone kept asking me what I would do with all my 'free' time. I would choke down my laughter and then quietly answer that I'd just have to see how much 'free' time I would have and then follow God's leading as He directed me. I knew the last thing I wanted to do was fill my schedule with a bunch of 'stuff' and then not have any time left to go where He sent me.

It wasn't until January that I started teaching ESL for adults at the local primary school. That same month I started coming in every other week to listen to kids read in my son's Kindergarten classroom. Believe me, there are MANY opportunities to volunteer at the schools, but I kept it to a minimum.

Until this morning.

As I listened to one child attempt to read, I realized this little boy couldn't read at all. It broke my heart. So I spoke with the teacher. She knows he's struggling, but doesn't have the time to spend with him individually. If you feel you're lacking in compassion for teachers these days, spend a little time in the classroom, and your eyes will be opened! They have so many resources in the classroom, but the one resource the teachers are lacking is time!

I've never taken a Tutoring Children & Youth workshop, but I'm trusting that God will guide me as I work with this little boy. In the blink of an eye, I thought about Reggie McNeal's talk at Empower and the importance of adopting a school. He shared testimony of a church that had done that, and the difference it had made in the community. I thought about Bea Cagle's testimony and how she had gotten involved teaching adults to read even though she'd never received a high school diploma...because if YOU can read and write, you can teach someone else to read and write. It's not our equipping that's the problem. Sometimes it's a lack of letting God move us! He doesn't call the equipped, He equips the called!

Will I be able to share Christ in the public school classroom? Not likely. But as I sat talking with the teacher, we talked about faith and she asked for prayer for her kids. Even when working in a secular environment, there are serendipitous opportunities that will present themselves simply because we are there.

So my challenge today, let God move you wherever it is that He's calling you to go!

ESL Workshop - Portage, WI

Mark your calendars for the next English as a Second Language Workshop:

Saturdays, May 30th and June 6th
9am - 5pm
River of Life Church, Portage, WI
Cost is $25/person (includes all materials
and lunch on both Saturdays)
Registration deadline: May 15th

The workshop it titled "Teaching English Language Learners the Good News" and will equip you to teach English as a Second Language, start and run a successful ESL ministry, share your faith with your international students, and so much more! You must attend the full 16 hours of training to receive certification from the North American Mission Board.

God has brought an international mission field right to our doorstep! Let's get equipped!

Contact me to register or if you have any questions!

New Literacy Missions Website

At last, it's up and running...my new Literacy Missions site! I still have some tweaking to do, and over time as our network of missionaries grows, I hope to add some features that will allow us to share prayer requests, questions, words of encouragement, etc.

So check out the new site!