New ESL Ministry Launches in Partnership with Four Alliance Churches
A new ESL ministry launched this month in the Lewistown region, with four Alliance churches partnering together to serve their community.
The story begins last May, when Milt Herrold, pastor at Big Valley Alliance Church, sat in a breakout session at his first Alliance Council in Columbus, Ohio. The room was full of church planters, and Milt felt out of place. "Lord, why am I here? What's your plan for me?" he prayed quietly. He wasn't expecting an answer right away—but one came. Pennsylvania cross-cultural planter. The words settled over him.
After his church's VBS in June, Milt approached his VBS teacher, Melissa, with a question: What if we took VBS outside our church doors and into the surrounding and growing Spanish-speaking community? Milt knew Melissa had been on short-term missions trips to Latin America, but he didn't know the extent of her language ability. When he asked, her answer surprised him.
"I'm fluent in Spanish," she said.
The two began brainstorming a Spanish outreach for children, and the more they talked, the more the conversation turned to parents. That's when the idea of an ESL program began to take shape.
One Conversation After Another
A few days later, during his regular prayer call with two regional Alliance pastors, Milt shared the ESL and VBS idea and asked for prayer. One of the pastors stopped him. "Milt, do you know that Aden Wertz helps lead an ESL class at State College Alliance Church?" After a quick email to Aden, Milt and his wife Kim were sitting in on State College Alliance Church's ESL teacher refresher training the very next evening.
The conversations kept coming. In a meeting with Bill Miller, pastor at Lewistown Alliance Church, Milt mentioned the ESL idea. "That's interesting," Bill said. "My wife Courtney mentioned just the other evening that she'd love to use her ESL training again."
It kept happening, again and again.
"What astonished me was the fact that every time I shared about ESL with someone, they would have something to add to it," Milt said. "The momentum just kept building. I've never experienced anything like this in my life. God was leading."
Gauging The Need
As the team grew, they focused in on where the ministry should launch. They were already aware of a significant Spanish-speaking population in a small borough in Juniata County, about 25 miles from Big Valley Alliance Church. So, in September, Melissa visited a Spanish-speaking congregation in the area to gauge the need.
When she walked through the doors, the congregation assumed she was looking for the English service, and they caringly pointed her next door. She smiled and responded in Spanish that she was right where she wanted to be, and that she was exploring the possibility of starting an ESL program.
The pastor and his wife were thrilled. They mentioned a local ESL program had existed before the pandemic but hadn’t been able to start up again. During the service, the pastor told his congregation why Melissa had come, and afterward, several people asked when the ESL program would start. That was all the confirmation the team needed.
Training and Launching
At the start of the year, Milt asked Alliance ESL to come and train 19 volunteers from four regional Alliance churches and two other congregations. The Alliance ESL team worked with Milt to promote the training, order materials, and provide ongoing coaching for Melissa—the clear choice to serve as ESL director.
"We were reminded that we have an opportunity to offer non-English speakers two things they really desire: the opportunity to learn English and the opportunity to have an English-speaking friend—and one thing they really need: Jesus," Milt said, paraphrasing a key insight from the training.
On February 5, they held their first ESL class! Sixteen volunteers showed up, representing four Alliance churches and two other local congregations. Classes will be held every Thursday evening throughout the school year at the junior high school, which is within walking distance for many in the community. Praise God that the school district has been very supportive.
What’s Next
Though the ministry only just started, the team is already looking to launch a second ESL group in Mifflin County. As they continue to look outside their church doors, they are feeling called to serve other groups of non-English speakers throughout their two-county area.
Will you pray for this ministry? Ask God to bless the volunteers, the regional church partnership, and the families walking through those school doors.
Interested in starting an ESL ministry? Here are Alliance resources designed for churches:
Watch a four-minute Alliance-produced video on our God who welcomes the stranger (excellent for showing during a worship service!).
Expand your outreach through Alliance ESL, a ministry of the C&MA reaching the nations in the U.S.
Explore Churches of Welcome as a resource to help churches serve those experiencing crisis and displacement.
Learn more about The Alliance’s Refugee and Immigrant Network (RAIN), which engages churches in sharing the gospel with refugees and immigrants.