Hello and Happy Friday everyone! We are back today with another personal experience from an ESL volunteer and our fourth installment in our “What’s Your Story” series. I really feel like these personal stories might be the highlight of my week. It is always so heartwarming to see people make deep, meaningful connections through their love for ESL.
This week we will hear from Lindsay Ferguson as she describes how ESL, the Lord, and a new friend revealed a new mission for her in a tiny Texas town.
When we moved to the town of Hallettsville, TX, we soon got to know the family that shares a wall with us in our duplex. Peter, Sakara and their son Jackie are from Cambodia and run the donut shop in town.
One day Sakara asked me, “Do you know people to help me learn English?” It turns out that she needed help studying for her upcoming citizenship test and interview. Since I could not find any classes nearby, I offered to help her study. We began meeting once a week for several months and I not only learned a lot about the citizenship process but also about my new friend and her family. We laughed, took trips to WalMart together, shared about our beliefs, and worked on the sample questions for her big day. When she did not pass her interview on the first try, we began meeting five times a week for the next two months in order to help her work on complete sentence answers and conversation. I am proud to say that she is now a naturalized citizen of the United States of America.
Our friends are very loving and kind. They often bring us donuts and treats. We help with paperwork and other needs as they arise: Sakara still wants to improve her English and now that she is a citizen, she is sponsoring her husband’s teen children to come to America. And they will need help with their English. Sakara has shared what we learned together with other friends who are struggling in the citizenship process (including a video that my husband and I made giving examples of complete sentence answers to the interview questions).
Most importantly, when Sakara asked me why I would help her without wanting payment, I was eager to share that it is because of the love of Jesus. She has been open to my praying with her and she and her husband have accepted the Bible we gave them in their own language. She tells me that she reads it and finds comfort. I pray that she accepts the Saviour who is speaking to her heart and I’m so glad that God gave me a new friend in a foreign mission field hidden in this tiny Texas town.
Lindsay Norris Ferguson
To share your story with Literacy Connexus, please email info@literacyconnexus.org today! We would love to hear from you.