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”.