© English Corner – reproducible i TEACHNG ENGLISH THROUGH PARABLES AND DISCUSSION Teacher’s Guide Fifth edition English Corner 2005, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011 Please feel free to photocopy and change/adapt the material to suit your teaching context. All scripture quotations in this publication are from the Contemporary English Version Copyright © 1991, 1992, 1995 by American Bible Society. To contact English Corner: PO Box 184 Red Hill, QLD, AUSTRALIA, 4059 Phone (61) 7 – 3844 9916 or (61) 0421 681 801 e-mail: ozenglishcorner@gmail.com Web page: www.net By the English Corner Teaching Team: Charles and Glenys Byrne Kim and Ashley Hood Ann Bishop Richard Buchanan Able Wong Marg Borneman Andrew Reid George and Dorothy Mathieson Jenny Spranklin Beth Millis Michael and Chasely Paech David and Sharon Campbell Mark Cavanagh Catherine Stoll Beth Russell Di and Ed Backhouse Esther Harding Sue McGuire Margaret Pollock Yumi Takaoka Masami Okubo Rachael Ford Mo Yang Caren and Brad And many others…. © English Corner – reproducible ii Table of Contents Dreams 2 (Is.
65:17-25) 35 CHAPTER 1 Faith (Heb. 11:1) 36 Introduction 1 Peace (Mt. 5:3-5) 38 CHAPTER 2 Self-Control and Addiction (Prov. 25:28) 39 The Principles Behind English Corner 3 Thanksgiving (1Thes.
5: 16-17) 40 God is Drawing People to Himself 3 Determination (Heb. 12:1-3) 41 Authentic Christianity 4 Language Learning (Col. 3:23) 42 - 44 Relational 4 Who Is God? (Acts. 17:24-28) 45 Church 5 Community (Lk.
40:27-31) 47 CHAPTER 3 Work (Col. 3:23) 48 How to Use English Corner Material 6 Multiculturalism (Gal. 65:17-25) 50 CHAPTER 4 Happiness (Mat. 5:3-9) 51 The Lessons 8 Mother’s Day (Ps.
139:13-16) 52 Parables 8 Father’s Day (Romans 8:15) 53 The Parable Lesson Format 11 Fear – sickness (Ps. 34:4-5) 54 The Many Meaning Of Lessons 12 Fear – Halloween (Ps. 34:4-5) 55 Lesson series on Jesus 17 Leadership (Lk 22:24-27) 56 Christmas series 18 Global Warming (Romans 3:23) 57 Ester Series 19 Queen’s Birthday – Gifts (John 3:16) 58 Grace 59 CHAPTER 5 Water (John 5:1-8) 60 Parable Lessons 20 The Storms of Life (Mt. 7:21-29) 21 CHAPTER 7 Your Heart (Mt.
13:1-9,18-23) 22 The Jesus Series 61 The Camel and the Rich Man Jesus Heals (Lk. 19:16-30) 23 Jesus Teaches (Mk. 1:35-38) 63 Hospitality and Forgiveness Jesus Forgives (Jn. 7:36-50) 24 Jesus is God (Lk.
5:1-11) 65 The Tax Collector (Mk. 2:13-17) 25 The Good Samaritan (Lk. 10:30-37) 26 The Lost Son (Lk. 15:11-31) 27 CHAPTER 6 The Many Meanings Of Lessons 28 Love (1 Cor.
13:4-8) 29 Alone or Lonely? (Ps. 139:13-14) 32 Festivals – Moon (Jn. 4:4-7) 34 © English Corner – reproducible iii Table of Contents continued… CHAPTER 8 The Christmas Series 66 The Announcement (Lk. 1:18-25) 67-68 The Birth of Jesus (Lk.
2:1-20) 69 The Wise Men (Mat.2: 1-11) 70 The Christmas Story Review 71-75 The Christmas Play 76-81 CHAPTER 9 The Easter Series 82 Why did People Want to Kill Jesus (Mk. 11:15-18) 83 The Passion of Christ (Mk. 15:16-39) 84 Jesus is Alive (Mk. 85 RESOURCES AND TRAINING Resources 86 - 87 Training for Teaching English As Ministry 88 © English Corner – reproducible iv 1 Chapter Introduction How we began I t was Easter of 1999 and my husband and I were studying at the Queensland Baptist College.
As part of our cross-cultural studies we were encouraged to think about developing a cross-cultural ministry. We had a good friend Hong Mo from Korea who was working part-time as a chaplain to a language school in Australia. He lamented that many students came to Australia expecting to meet Australians and learn more about Australian culture and English. The reality is that they often only meet other international students and find it very difficult to make contact with Australians.
Around that same time I met an international student waiting outside the City Library. I started a conversation with her. After a while, I asked her if she had met many Australians. She looked at me with tears in her eyes and said: “I have been here for two years studying at university and you are the first Australian to begin a conversation with me.” At that moment the verse came to mind: “I am a stranger will you welcome me?” We decided to invite Hong Mo‟s Korean friends together with our friends from Bible College and hold an Easter BBQ.
Many students turned up. We organised other activities to introduce Australian culture. Students enjoyed mixing and meeting other Australians. Knowing we studied at Bible College, some students approached us to teach them English through the Bible.
They had seen the way we lived our Christian lives and wanted to know more. A couple preparing to be missionaries overseas joined us and we started doing English Bible studies. This proved to be quite a challenge as we realised the Bible stories contained new vocabulary, Jewish and Greek culture and a Christian/Jewish worldview. So we started choosing parables and looked at the main idea from each parable.
We then provided an interactive warm-up before the lesson to introduce the main idea and began with Hot Topics to connect the parable to the students‟ own culture. Students then read/acted out the parable, checked for new vocabulary, cultural information and then answered discussion questions. Over the past 10 years we have met hundreds of international students. Many of them keep in contact and have become close friends.
We have held English Corner © English Corner – reproducible 1 reunions in Taiwan, Japan, Hong Kong, Korea and China. Students have returned to their countries and have begun their own English Corner groups. Through listening to their stories, their reasons for learning English, their hunger to know more about the meaning of life and how they became Christians, God has taught us many things. We would like to share these with you.
Many people have helped us along the way and we thank them for their wisdom, love and support. We welcome you to use the material, change and adapt it to suit your ministry situation. May God bless you in your work with international students. It is a wonderful rich life not only meeting people from other cultures but also getting to know them deeply.
Kim and Ashley Hood February 2011 Update We recently celebrated the English Corner 10 year anniversary. We give thanks to God for all that He has taught us through the fabulous adventures we have had with folk from around the world, teaching English as ministry. © English Corner – reproducible 2 2 Chapter The Principles Behind English Corner 1. God is Drawing People to Himself W Hen we pray for English Corner, we ask God to bring us the teachers and students He wants.
An important principle by which we operate is that God is in control. He is the one drawing students towards him and bringing open students to English Corner. We are continually amazed at how both teachers and students come to English Corner. When we have 100 students turn up – we have just the right amount of teachers.
When there are 40, again we have a good ratio of students to teachers. We never push students and hope to be open and respectful to students from other religions. We understand that God is the one who makes the seed of the gospel grow. We need to provide the right setting, be imitators of Christ and then let God‟s Spirit do the rest.
We work as a team, not only in English Corner but also with churches and other English ministries. When we have a baptism or a good-bye party we always see the other „workers‟ in the field who have watered and tended the seed in that student‟s life. What, after all, is Apollos? And what is Paul? Only servants, through whom you came to believe – as the Lord has assigned to each his task. I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God made it grow.
1 Corinthians 3:5-9 (CEV) © English Corner – reproducible 3 2. Authentic Christianity W E endeavour to reflect an authentic Christianity to the students. This means being open about our Christian lives. When we are asked we are ready to “give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have.
But do this with gentleness and respect, keeping a clear conscience…” 1Peter 3:15. We find that students are always watching. They watch how you treat your family, your friends, and people from other cultures, the poor, the waitress, the bus driver. They are seeing if your life is different.
When they see Christ‟s light in you they want to know more. We have rarely sat down and shared directly with a student but some students have come up to us and said they want to know more about Jesus or that they have begun to pray or want to go to church. God is working in their lives without our even knowing it. Oh the mystery and wonder of God in people‟s lives! This takes the pressure off us both.
We can sit down together as fellow sojourners, wanting to explore this mysterious life and its meaning. We are honest with our questions and our struggles. We have nothing to hide. Relational T He main reason students continue to come to English Corner and keep in contact after they return home is the relationships they have built with each other and the teachers.
We create a family atmosphere where students are welcomed regardless of age, background or education. That goes for our teachers as well. We are a mixed bunch of people. We endeavour to have students to our places for dinner and some of us also live with students.
A number of us have made conscious decisions to rent houses with enough rooms to have a share house situation. In these houses community is created through house meetings, social outings, involvement in our church and daily lives. Events like Easter films and Christmas parties are held at our homes, as many students may never visit an Australian home. Do not forget to entertain strangers, for by so doing some people have entertained angels without knowing it.
Hebrews 13:2 (CEV) © English Corner – reproducible 4 4. Church I ntroducing students to an „international friendly‟ church is an important part of an English Corner ministry. It is at church they meet other Christians. They will need to be „walked through‟ the various rituals and language of church.
You may even want to sit next to them and draw stick figures to help explain the sermon. If you know the sermon topic or reading beforehand you can give out a translation of the passage in his or her own language. Church can be a very inclusive and welcoming place or an alienating and confusing experience for the new church attendee. Inviting students to your church needs prayer and preparation.
Helping the people in the congregation mix with the students and to build relationships is a very important witness to the international student. Students who have had a positive experience of church are more likely to search out a church when they return home. This is a very important part of their continuing spiritual development and growth. © English Corner – reproducible 5 3 Chapter How to Use English Corner Material English Corner material has been developed with the following considerations in mind: 1.
That the majority of students attending English Corner do not come from a Christian background and have very little background information on the Bible. Implication: Assume nothing! Students even ask what is Jesus not who is Jesus. Any Bible story is steeped in cultural knowledge, a Jewish worldview and history. The cultural context of the story needs to be explored and compared to the student‟s own culture as well as Australian culture.
Any biblical terms like: sin, prophecy, Pharisee, Sadducees, disciple, repentance, for example, need to be explained.