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More Volunteers Needed to Teach English, Computers
CHICAGO, IL (June 9, 2005) - Several dozen individuals will spend a month
teaching English in Taiwan as part of an expanding partnership between
the Taiwan Covenant Church and the Evangelical Covenant Church(ECC) in
North America.
The 43 volunteers will teach in 16 Chinese Covenant churches in Taipei
and other communities in Taiwan, according to Dave Dolan, who with his
wife, Judy, coordinate Chinese ministries for the ECC. The volunteers
come from Minnesota, Michigan, Iowa, Wisconsin, Nebraska, Alaska and
Kansas. Although this year's group represents continued growth in
numbers, still more volunteers are being sought to spend a year teaching
English to Chinese students.
The Taiwanese government previously mandated that students learn English
starting in high school, Dolan says. Now students as early as third
grade will be required to begin learning English. "The schools teach
reading and writing, but they don't teach conversational English," Dolan
says. With the Covenant program, the students will engage in a lot of
English conversation in the summer classes.
The program began last year at the request of Covenant churches in
Taiwan, Dolan says. The program runs from July 7 to August 7 this year,
and has more than doubled since 2004. "Last year we had 17 teachers, and
this year we have 43," Dolan says.
"The classes are quite popular," Dolan says, adding, "it's a great way
for the churches to build bridges into the community. It's bridge
building, and it's seed-planting."
Linda Merriam, a former teacher who attends Bethel Covenant Church in
Cloquet, Minnesota, is returning for her second year. "It was hard work,
but a great experience," she says. "We had air conditioned classrooms,
good supplies, English-speaking helpers and adorable students, many of
whom were not church members."
The experience was valuable not only for Merriam, but for her students
as well. "We made lasting friendships, learned about Taiwan and its
wonderful people, ate fabulous and sometimes new food, learned to use
chopsticks, got excited when our few Chinese words and phrases were
understood, and found that Taiwanese students are not all that different
from the students in the U.S.
"Most of all, we felt we were doing God's will and helping the Taiwanese
churches reach out to their communities," she adds. "The Taiwanese
Covenant churches are churches that serve God and their communities in
so many ways, not just English teaching. We can all learn a lot from
them and their example."
Dolan says the Bible is rarely mentioned in class, and "I tell the
teachers they should not expect to lead anyone to Christ." He explains
that most of the students come from non-Christian homes, and the church
doesn't want to scare parents away from sending their children to the
classes. When classes are finished, the church invites the students and
their families to events during which the gospel is shared, Dolan says.
"We leave the follow-up to the churches."
Short-term missionaries still are needed to spend at least a year
teaching English and computer applications in a northwest section of
mainland China, Dolan says. "It an economically depressed area - most
people don't go past middle school." Missionaries teach the computer
applications at a vocational school to improve job prospects for
participants, Dolan says. The hope is that many of the young people will
stay in the area and help develop the local economy.
Individuals interested in serving in Taiwan or mainland China should
contact the Department of World Mission at 773-784-3000.
Copyright © 2008 The Evangelical Covenant Church. |
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