as well as many other kinds of ministries.
More than one in five (21.6%) USA residents, ages 5 and older, now speaks a foreign language at home!
The Census Bureau released 2016 data from the 2017 American Community Survey on languages spoken by USA residents five years old or older.
The data reveals that the number of people who speak a language other than English at home has reached an all-time high of 65.5 million, up 5.9 million since 2010.
Spanish, Chinese, and Arabic were three languages with the largest increases. Languages with more than a million speakers were: Spanish, Chinese, Tagalog, Vietnamese, French, Korean, and Arabic. Haitian was a new category that previously was broken into several types of French Creole.
Center for Immigration Studies.Of those who speak a foreign language at home, 40% reported that they speak English “less than very well.”
Teaching ESL – English as a Second Language – is a great ministry opportunity for you and your church!
Year | 1980 | 1990 | 2000 | 2010 | 2013 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Speaking a language other than English at home | 1980: 23,060,040 | 1990: 31,844,979 | 2000: 46,951,595 | 2010: 59,542,596 | 2013: 61,748,740 |
Speaks English less than “Very Well” | 1980: 10,181,036 | 1990: 13,982,502 | 2000: 21,320,407 | 2010: 25,223,045 | 2013: 25,125,132 |
Source: Data for 2000, 2010, and 2013 are from American FactFinder for the American Community Survey and the 2000 Census. Figures for 1990 are from 1990 Census tables. Figures for 1980 are from the 1980 Census. |
The first question many Christians ask, regarding a ministry of ESL, is “What ESL resources can I use that will explain the gospel clearly?”
The Story of Hope – Global English is an adaptation of The Story of Hope evangelistic Bible study workbook to a 4th - 5 th grade reading level by a professional Global English translator.
It presents the gospel in the way people of non-Christian worldview cultures need to be introduced to the Bible—begins in Genesis 1:1 and unfolds the Bible’s BIG redemptive story all the way through the Old and New Testaments. Thus, it provides the overall Biblical context that makes the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ clear and meaningful, even for people who know nothing about the true God, the Bible, and Jesus Christ.
For intermediate or advanced ESL students; not appropriate for beginning English learners.
A FREE download. Eighty-three professionally designed pages. Created by ESL instructors with years of ministry experience and educational preparation for teaching English as a second language. Includes Teacher’s Notes related to key vocabulary terms, Grammar Overview tips, as well as answers and explanations related to the Bible-related questions in the study.
Download it and see for yourself. It’s FREE.
Download FreeAlso, there are many translated editions of The Story of Hope. If an edition is available in the language your ESL student speaks, we recommend that you also provide him/her with a copy of that edition.
TranslationsThe Bible's BIG Story Teaching Visuals - Set of 105
Set of 105 laminated, double-sided teaching visuals for teaching the Bible's redemptive story, from Genesis through Revelation.
13.5” x 10.75” laminated printed teaching visuals. Key Bible event content on the back, event image on the front. 100+ teaching visuals, 50 Old Testament and 50 New Testament, plus five others that are of special interest with Muslims. Great for teaching the BIG Story of the Bible, that begins in Genesis and culminates in Revelation, with people who do not speak English or do not speak English well.
ChronoBible Cards: Genesis-Revelation
A complete set of 135 pocket-size cards (4.5" x 3.375") for learning and reviewing the content and chronology of the Bible's Big Story.
Pocket-size cards for learning and reviewing 100 key Bible events as they appear chronologically from Genesis through Revelation. Each Bible event card contains an image from the Good Soil Redemptive Story art collection on the front and key content information on the back. 25 major Bible era cards and 10 Chronological Bridge to Life cards included.
The Bible's BIG Story PowerPoint CD contains three PowerPoint presentations of the Bible's story of redemption, from Genesis through Revelation:
20 Events - to use with short presentations and The Story of Hope Condensed.
40 Events - to use with medium-length presentations and The Story of Hope.
100 Events - to use with more extended presentations of the Bible's BIG Story.
Each Bible event is beautifully illustrated with an image from the Good Soil Redemptive Art Series. Also, included in each presentation are slides of Bible maps and the Chronological Bridge to Life. Great way to present the Bible’s story of creation, fall, salvation, and total restoration to ESL students. Highly recommended for ESL ministries.
Eve and serpent in Eden
Abraham & Isaac
Sacrifice of lamb at altar in front of tabernacle
John the Baptist
Resurrection of Jesus
Believers in heaven - around Jesus - the rapture scene
Although not specifically for ESL ministry, The Message of Hope is a workbook specifically developed to introduce Muslims to the Bible’s redemptive story, culminating with Jesus Christ, God’s Son and our Savior. Begins in Genesis 1:1 and moves chronologically through the Bible.
The Leader’s Guide for The Message of Hope includes nearly 200 pages and was written by people who have lived for many years in Islamic cultures.
The top ten takeaways from Good Soil Evangelism and Discipleship training:
Gaining Ground with Good Soil is an evangelism and discipleship training narrative—a scaled-down version of the Good Soil Evangelism and Discipleship seminar in a narrative format. The principles gained from this book are applicable for anyone wishing to serve God through Biblical evangelism and discipleship, but is especially instructive and helpful for ministry leaders, such as leaders of ESL ministries.
The realistic, but fictional narrative, around which the book is developed, tells the story of a couple of missionaries who were frustrated and discouraged—to the point of almost giving up—because of their lack of success in evangelism and discipleship on their field. But, the “Good Soil” principles they learned from Bible study revolutionized their ministries. It will help you think through a theology of evangelism and discipleship and help you to present the gospel so that men and women will clearly understand it, sincerely embrace it, and firmly hold on to it.
Free instructional resources for individual and group study are also available for download. www.GoodSoil.com/FREE
If you are a leader of an ESL ministry, with a USA shipping address, and will commit to reading this book, we will send you a FREE (and postage-free) copy of Gaining Ground with Good Soil.
Stories
Chris and Rose Duryee are ABWE missionaries in Spain. While on pre-field in the Pacific Northwest, they sought out a church life group to be involved with to expand their contacts and partnership opportunities. They joined one that met together for fellowship and Bible study three Tuesdays each month and on the fourth Tuesday helped serve meals at the local community center. Shortly after joining, the group began to pray and search for a way to serve in their community that would better fit their growing families. One of the wives mentioned that she had met several Chinese moms at a park near her home, and another said she had a Chinese neighbor who was expecting her first baby.
Read moreTeaching and Training
This article is intended for two groups of ESL facilitators/teachers. Group one is composed of the teachers of ESL who would like to use various features of The Story of Hope – Global English (TSOH-GE) in their ESL instruction. The second group is composed of the facilitators/teachers who plan to also use the “Teacher’s Guide for Use in Intermediate to Advanced ESL Classes for The Story of Hope Bible Study (TGUESL).” This ESL Teacher’s Guide is available as a FREE download.
Read moreSet your country and language
We will add support for new countries and languages in the future.