Diaconate Meeting

Today after service, I made a presentation to the Central Baptist Church Diaconate. I asked for their support in the continuation of the Karen ESOL Project. This is the draft of the letter I will send to the congregation.

‘Pray, Play, Hello USA!’

‘Play, Pray, Hello USA!’ is in the planning stages to be an integrated ESOL program of English conversation for the Karen Community of Central Baptist Church. This would be a weekly one-hour content-based course offered in Pastor Gie Dor’s apartment on Alden Street.

The setup of the course would consist of two-week modules: Week One concentrating on form and function and Week Two on a specific language topic. The continuity of the program will be held with Thomas Foran’s teaching the first week of each module. Different guest presenters would offer a new topic each second week.

Involvement in the ‘Pray, Play, Hello USA!’ program for individual guest presenters would consist of a one-time two hour commitment during the Fall/Winter session. You could even pair up with a friend. The first hour would be in developing the topic with the help of Mr. Foran and the second hour would be the presentation at the class site. Think about your gifts and turn them into talents. A talent is nothing but a shared gift! We all have gifts from God: fixing something broken, reading a story, writing a poem, teaching a hymn, baking some cookies, drawing pictures, etc., etc. All of these activities can be used to teach English. Together we will figure out the vocabulary needed and the verb forms to use for you to present it the first week. Then the second week, Thomas will review it and get the class ready for the next presenters.

This program could start in the Fall of this year; the first session running from September to December. If this program is successful, a second session could be planned starting in January as a Winter/Spring course.

Please let me know if you might be interested in using one of your many gifts as a talent. Your involvement in this program: ‘Play, Pray, Hello USA!’ will make a world of difference to the Karen community. An orientation session will be held in mid-August after service.


John 5:30 “I can do nothing on my own”.

ingenuity...butterfly houses

Humanitarian design organization TYIN Tegnestue from the Norwegian University of Science and Technology conceived the project in response to a need for more dormitories for Karen refugee children in the village of Noh Bo on the Thai-Burmese border. The six woven bamboo huts, dubbed Soe Ker Tie, or The Butterfly Huts because of their “winged” appearance were designed with the children’s happiness and health in mind. As simple as these new dorms may seem, they provide something wonderful for a growing child - a space to call their own to learn, sleep and play in. This small luxury is one that so many of us take for granted but makes a huge difference in the development and happiness of these youngsters.

bloginfo: read the entire article here

Good News from Japan!

Just heard that my good friends, the Kudos, are doing better in Japan. They are serving as missionaries there. Humberto and Josie were two of my students at JAMI in 2007, the first year I served there. Their children, Gabriel and Raphael in the picture, called me Vovô, grandfather. I do miss them and hope to visit them next year. You can see the story here in the 'Answer to Prayer' section of the article.

We have started to email again. I just received some pictures from them so updated this entry. They have invited me to visit them in Japan next year, 2010. What a joy that will be!

News Release #4

The ESOL classes for the Karen community are finished for the summer. July 15th was the last class in this conversational English course held at Pastor Gie Dor’s home in Hartford

Our guest presenters for the summer session were: Bruce and Joan Davidson, Amy and Jeremiah Endler. Ask them about the experience; they all had a great time!
The four-week session that was scheduled to begin on August 5th has been cancelled. We are using that time to refocus and restructure the course for September with the guidance of Pastor Ich, Pastor Gie Dor and members of the Karen community. An Information Session will be scheduled for Sunday, August 16th in the Church Library. At that time, Thomas J. Foran will give details on this new program where you can become involved in a class.

You can read entries about all the eight classes already held with the Karen community at Thomas’ website: www.mispos.blogspot.com

Hello USA! Class #8

The Lord surely works in mysterious ways!

Today's lesson was to be the eighth and final lesson of the introductory series. But attendance today was very poor. However, Pastor Ich was there to visit and a member of the Karen community who speaks excellent English was there also. Pastor Gie Dor came in a bit later after his driving lesson.

So we had a great planning session. Pastor Ich and Pastor Gie Dor will meet on Saturday to help refocus the program. A new day and/or time may come out of the meeting. I stressed that the community's needs were the most important and a program could be made to fit any situation. We will go on 'summer vacation' while this planning is being done. The middle week of September will be our target date to start a bigger and better program.

I will meet with the Board of Deacons on July 26th to explain the 'guest speaker' function of a coming program and ask for their blessing. This is stewardship in it's true meaning. Then I will meet with interested members of the CBC congregation on August 16th to outline the program and ask for volunteer 'guest presenters.' Everything is falling into place. Praise the Lord!

blognote: Pastor Gie Dor's youngest son, Blu Mission Ku Taw, got up from his nap and sat on my lap [again]. What a thrill to have a nearly two year old from another culture show so much trust. God is good!

News Release #3

THOMAS J. FORAN continues to work with ABCCONN in teaching ESOL classes for the Karen community. The classes are held at Pastor Gi Dor’s home in Hartford.

AMY and JEREMIAH ENDLER visited and helped out with their Family Tree and JOAN DAVIDSON assisted in a lesson about Food, Cooking and Shopping. Ask them; they both had a great time!

July 15th will be the last class in this series. A new four-week session will begin on August 5th and continue each Wednesday until August 26th. Come and visit us at 1:00 any Wednesday afternoon.

Watch for exciting news about the Fall/Winter session where you can become involved in a class. You can keep up with THOMAS at his website www.mispos.blogspot.com

Hello USA! Class #7

At the beginning of class there were only two women in attendance. This was good in one way as the class was all about food, cooking and shopping. Several of the young girls sat in and helped out a lot. Pastor Gie Dor came in later after his driving lesson.

Joan Davidson was our guest teacher today. She had brought so many items from her kitchen. First we started out setting the table and learned the names of all the dishes and the cutlery. After that we 'cooked' a few things with the use of different types of cooking vessels. Then we talked about shopping and decided the mystery vegetable in the refrigerator was lemongrass. Everyone had a fun time.

Next class will review the entire session of seven classes. We will take a two week break and then begin a four week session. These new lessons will concentrate on Transportation and Housing and incorporate some writing.

blognote: The class was interested in fitting us all into a family tree when they found out that Joan is my sister-in-law.

CUBA!

I am going to Cuba in September!!!
Details to follow.... and I will celebrate my birthday in Havana!

Hello USA! Class #6

Today's class was great! There were five adults and half a dozen children.

We spent a bit of time on the pronouns: I, he and she. This went along with the verbs to be and to have; the change from 1st and 3rd person singular was our goal. We practiced body parts and going to the Emergency Room and describing our problem to the nurse/doctor.

The topic for the day was Clothing. We learned a lot of new vocabulary and ended up telling what each person was wearing. Then we discussed what one would wear to a specific place or activity. 'I am going to church. I have on a white shirt, etc.' This necessitated a review of colors which most everyone had under control.

The Bible passage for the day was John 9:25 - "...I was blind, now I see." During the Lord's Prayer at the end of class, the 'baby' [2 in August] came and sat in my lap until I was time for me to leave.

blognote: At some time after our last class of this session [in two weeks], we will meet and sort out the best way to continue classes in the Fall. It is my hope that some members of CBC will get involved.