Teaching ESL

I will be teaching English as a second language starting mid January. This will be a beginners group,and since I never taught such a group from a mandated book, it will be interesting if we understand each other. I have experience teaching intermediate groups, but this one will be special. I do this on a volunteer basis at a local church. The students come from Mexico, South Korea, Iraq, Germany, and now primarily from Syria I believe. At first I tought it would be too soon, after Deborah's passing. However, I will try and see. At least it will get me out of the house once a week. I found this article about citizenship that I thought was intersting, and used by permission from Patricia Mclelland.

My Citizenship

Posted by: Reverend Mama  /  Category: 

July 31, 2014 is the official date on my new Irish passport. This makes me a citizen of a country I have never seen or visited. I am being accorded this privilege because my father was born in the Union Workhouse, Tipperary, Ireland. Since the 1990′s my son, Nate, and daughter, Niki, have been searching for his birth records and until recently they were unable to locate them. Recently the Workhouse put their records online and Nate searched plus or minus five years on the date of dad’s birth and struck gold. My children have invested time and money to gather all the necessary documents, and after the paperwork was done, I am the beneficiary of a new citizenship in the land of my father’s birth. I am receiving the gift of lawful belonging to a nation a continent and an ocean away from where I was born, raised and still living.
This was a journey we have taken together. Along the way we found facts that didn’t fit what I had been led to believe in the family stories. For instance, we were unsure if the birth record we found for dad would be accepted as his, because in Canada he had given his birth date as May 15, 1904, and the workhouse had recorded his birth as June 16, 1902. How could this be? And would the Irish government accept this as proof of his birth with this discrepancy?
Nate kept searching, even while we were moving ahead with the paperwork. He searched a document that Niki had found years earlier. It was dad’s immigration interview, when he landed in Halifax in 1930. In that document, under ‘date of birth’ there was a notation that said, “he thought he was born ‘about’ 1904.” A copy of this document was included in the package we submitted. This showed the Irish government that he was unsure of his own date of birth. Thankfully, they accepted this evidence and in record time they posted the date my passport would be issued on their website.
Just as an aside, here is another gem we discovered. Dad had always told me that his mother’s name was Kathleen McNamara and his father’s name was John. And, his eldest brother was named John after their father. On dad’s birth record, his father’s name is listed as Thomas (although they called him John); and on his mother’s birth certificate her name is listed as Kate.
Record keeping over 100 years ago, was not as it is today. And even those involved did not always keep an accurate memory of dates. After seven boys, Kate was not clear on the month and day of each child’s birth. Dad’s facts were half truths, but contained enough information for us to actually sort out reality from suppositions. Enough to be useful, but I in no way think I have all the information. What we found was enough to satisfy the legal requirements of the government of Ireland, and it has declared me an “off shore born” citizen of that country, and my passport will be issued today (July 31st). As I meditated on the process, the information we found and the granting of my rights as a citizen of a country I have never seen, I couldn’t help but draw a parallel to my citizenship in the Kingdom of God, and about how many times the Church has made suppositions and half-truths that it thinks fit the Truths of Scripture, and how many of these conjectures create conflict within the Church and hold back others who would want a God who is defined as Unconditional Love and Full of Grace for sinners. A God who wants to grant all mankind citizenship in His Kingdom that they have never seen.
I am a citizen of the Kingdom of God and His Dear Son, Jesus. I have never visited or seen this Kingdom (in the natural sense). I know there is a Promised Land, but like Moses, I have only glimpsed it. He saw it in the distance from a mountain top in the natural, just before he died. I have only seen it through the descriptions of what I have in it now, and awaits me there, that I find in the Bible and I see that country by faith.
I am a citizen of the Kingdom of God because my Heavenly Father has declared me His Child by adoption. He provided the legal requirements in sending His Only Begotten Son, Jesus, to take my place and remove the roadblocks between me and my citizenship.
The Gospel written by John, chapter 1  (KJV) 1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 The same was in the beginning with God. 3 All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made. 4 In him was life; and the life was the light of men. 5 And the light shone in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not… 9 That was the true Light, which lights every man that comes into the world. 10 He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not. 11 He came unto his own, and his own received him not. 12 But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: 13 Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. 14 And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.
This scripture is telling us about Jesus. The written Word of God, the Holy Bible, in the New Testament, provides the answers to the legal requirements. Our sins are paid for by His (Jesus) Righteous sacrifice for all mankind’s sins by His death on the cross. Not just for me, but the sins of the whole world were on that cross with that sinless Lamb of God, who at the appointed time, was atoning for all sin. Verse 12 in the passage above this paragraph, “but to as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons (by adoption) of God, even to them that believe on his name.” That name is Jesus. If you have never received Him, the key is a simple, from-the-heart prayer of acceptance that will file your paperwork, and you become not only an off-shore birth (born-again) citizen of God’s Kingdom, but you become a son of God by adoption into His family. You become a son of the Most High God with all the rights and privileges that go with royalty. You are not just a sinner saved by His Grace, you become a King and a Priest of the Kingdom and the Creator of the Universe is now your Heavenly Dad who promised to love you unconditionally until you arrive at the home He has prepared just for you.
We all know that controversy has divided the church over two millennia. Different denominations dot the spiritual landscape and each has their particular slant on how the “facts” are presented. Some of these churches were born in the fire of revivals where certain Truths were being restored to the Body of Christ (another name for believers). These groups gathered around their new understanding and named the denominations after what was restored. Examples are the Presbyterian Church (restored understanding of the laying on of hands), the Baptist Church (which has numerous branches who are divided on their understanding of other basic doctrines but agree on baptism by emersion.), the Methodists (who learned that God requires us to live as purely as we are able) and the Pentecostals  (who received the restored understanding of the role of the Holy Spirit in a Christian’s personal life and in the Church). There are others, but you get the idea. Each time Holy Spirit restored a truth that was lost to the Church in the Dark Ages, the groups declared themselves a separate religion. This is very sad as God wants all of us, everywhere to gather around the fullness of the good news (gospel) and not argue over individual doctrines with human understanding. Each of these restored Truths were for all of the Church. They were to be added to the understanding of fullness in God, picked up and added, not a reason for separation.
Unfortunately, some denominations are very dogmatic about their version of the “facts.” We need to consider each other in love and recognize that we have differences of opinions. But the only opinion that counts is God’s. IF we seek Truth, we will find it. But if what Holy Spirit is speaking seems to conflict with what tradition has taught us, too often we hold fast to mere suppositions and not Truth. We are all on a spiritual journey together and the Body of Christ is not meant to be chopped up and divided. The Bible says that a house divided against itself will not stand. It appears the devil was listening and not the Church. Love covers a multitude of sins and loved ones should cover each other during the growing into one mind and spirit that we are called to, in Christ. This all comes back to half-truths and suppositions. If a Christian believes the Bible is the Word of God, reads it, acts the way we are instructed to in it, loves God and his fellow man, that person is walking towards home. A child learning to walk is not cast out or abandon by loving parents when they fail to walk perfectly the first time. Milestones are celebrated as victories! The missteps are strengthened by the outstretched hands of the adults. We are told to help the weak and to lift one another up in the Word of God.
So it is as God watches over us and the Holy Spirt abides with us to train us up as sons of God, and Jesus sits at the right hand of our Heavenly Father and intercedes for us constantly; NOTHING can separate us from our home and destiny in God’s Kingdom. IF we receive it all by a simple prayer of faith. File your papers, your passport will be issued even if you don’t know all the facts and only have some half-truths to start with and even if you have never glimpsed the homeland before. God is waiting for you to come home (not die, but to just become a citizen for now, the best and rest will come later). Holy Spirit will come to you and be your guide from the moment you ask Him to join you on your journey.
Ultimately, the only Truth we have is the Holy Bible. We have Jesus telling us in it, that He alone is the Way, the Truth and the Life, and no one comes to our Heavenly Father unless we come through Him (and believe that what He did on the cross was for us.). But He also promises that if we ask, Holy Spirit will teach us in all things.
Here is a sample prayer you can use, or just speak your words from your heart. He will hear and He will respond. Since the day you were born God has been waiting for you to call out to Him and be born-again into His Kingdom.
“Heavenly Father, I believe what I have just read about You and Your love for me. I want to come home to You and live in the Kingdom you have prepared for me. I ask you to forgive me my sins and I accept Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross to pay for them. Thank you, Jesus. Holy Spirit, please come into my life and teach me how to be a Kingdom citizen and help me to understand Truth in all its fulness. Amen”
How to get started? Glad you asked.
1. Get a Bible. (Not a Mormon or a Jehovah’s Witnesses Version.) There are many good ones. Biblegateway.com even has Bible Apps or online ones you can read to decide what version you would like to read. Start in the New Testament. That is the Churches instruction manual. Try John, or Mark to start with.
2. Tell someone that you have prayed this prayer.
3. If you don’t know any Christians, find a church where you feel comfortable and accepted. One where they preach the Bible. It is your job to check the facts they give you against what the Bible says. If they tell you stuff that is not in the Bible, or opposed to what the Bible says. Run for the door as fast as you can. There are many good churches and God will lead you to one, IF you ask.
4. Talk to God. Pray without ceasing is what the Bible says to do. That means keep the conversation going with God. And don’t do all the talking, give Him time to respond.
5. Expect God to intervene in your life. The Bible says we miss out on blessings because we forget to ask. When I was young, I expected my father to provide for me. If I wanted something I asked. My Heavenly Father never lets me down either, and He will do the same for you.

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