by Herondina Gabriel
I lost count of the times I caught myself thinking or commenting, “Wednesday evening ESL class is one of the highlights of my week.” Volunteering as a beginners’ teacher at Parkway Forest Community Church gives me such joy and fulfillment. It is something I feel, and it seems unexplainable. I go there with the desire to bless, and in the end I feel that I am blessed.
Teaching ESL to beginners is special to me. I enjoy seeing the students’ smiles as they try to repeat sounds or phrases that they’ve just heard. I watch out for their puzzled faces when something doesn’t make sense. I love to see the sparkle in their eyes when they finally “get” something new. Seeing the students’ eagerness to thrive, laughing with them, sympathizing with their struggles and celebrating their victories are blessings to me.
During or after class, I have many opportunities to get to know the students as “people” and not just as mere students. They are people who suffer, who struggle, who dream, who succeed; grown up men and women who so desperately want to learn English, communicate, work, socialize and fit into an English-speaking community.
I think of the elderly Chinese husband and wife: their loving way of helping each other, their desire to communicate, their struggles with pronunciation – a constant challenge that keeps them more isolated than they wish to be.
I think of the Spanish couple who labour seven days a week, and still attend beginners’ classes on Wednesday nights, always wishing for more frequent classes. They are people who work extremely hard and are sometimes taken advantage of because they can’t speak English.
I think of my Iranian student, who can’t read or write in English, who has an excellent memory and learns mostly through memorization and repetition. She is a smart and dedicated lady.
I think of my elderly Sri Lankan student. She shows up in the summer and in the spring, but hides at home during the winter. I see the various struggles she faces.
I think of the several Indian and Nepalese students, who all of sudden, showed up in class one day: a big surprise for me. They were visitors to Canada, looking for opportunities to socialize and to be accepted.
My students matter to me. But most of all, I know that they matter to God.
We have such a variety of students and nationalities. They only represent so many others around the country. Each of them is a person that matters.
I feel pleasure in investing in the lives of those students that God brings my way. I pray for them and wish that they may know God. I might not ever have the opportunity to openly share God’s beautiful message of salvation with them in words. However, in every class I have the opportunity to embody this message, to show love, compassion and understanding, to smile or even sometimes reciprocate a hug.
Yes, volunteering at Parkway Forest is a blessing to me as I get to do what I like. I get to teach ESL and I get to know a wonderful group of people. I get to show in action that they matter to me, prayerfully desiring that one day, they will understand they matter to God.