Adult Reading and
Writing
·
Conversational
English
(ESL- English as a Second Language)
·
Tutoring Children
and Youth
This is an
overview of the basic tasks involved in organizing a literacy missions
ministry.
1.
Enlist Prayer Support.
Prayer is vital. Small groups of concerned individuals should
meet to pray for teachers and other leaders to work in the ministry, for
student, and for the total ministry.
2.
Determine which literacy
missions ministry you need.
There are three types of literacy
missions ministries.
·
Adult Reading and Writing (ARW) for English-speaking,
low-level readers or non-readers.
·
Conversational English (CE) providing
English-as-a-second-language (ESL) classes for non-English-speaking people.
·
Tutoring Children and Youth (TCY) helping school-age children
and youth with their school work.
See "Help, I'm Drowning in a Sea of Words!" for
further details.
3.
Obtain Church or
associational approval.
Meet with appropriate church or
associational staff. Determine which church
or associational organization the literacy ministry will relate
to (Missions Development Council, Woman's Missionary Union, Brotherhood,
education ministry, etc.) Get a vote of
approval from the church or association.
This helps the church or association view the ministry as part of its
work.
4.
Select a literacy
missions program director or literacy missions committee.
This person or committee organize
and direct the ministry and enlist teachers and students. Guidelines for organization are discussed in
basic training workshops. Selecting
leaders before the basic training workshop generally assures follow-through
after training.
5.
Secure funding.
Funding will be needed for:
·
Teacher training - A basic workshop to train new
teachers and a program of continuing education events are essential. These expenses would include such things as
travel, food, housing, and honorarium for workshop leaders, the initial cost of
materials for a basic workshop (volunteers usually purchase their own
materials, which have been preordered by the sponsoring
church or association), nursery workers, refreshments, etc.
·
Classroom materials - Students generally pay for their
own materials, which are preordered by the sponsoring church or
association. Teachers usually purchase
their own basic materials. However, a
library of supplementary materials and resources for the ministry should be
developed.
·
Advertising - Costs for promoting the ministry and
enlisting students could include flyers, posters, business cards, brochures,
and any other printing.
·
Bibles - Most ministries like to present a Bible or
Scripture portions to students.
·
Other - Other possible expenses may include the
following for students: pencils, paper, and other materials, refreshments, and
transportation.
6.
Training teachers.
A basic workshop to train teachers
is essential. There is a separate basic
workshop for each type of ministry - Adult Reading and Writing, Conversational
English, and Tutoring Children and Youth.
The ARW and CE basic workshops require 16 hours of classroom
instruction. The TCY basic workshop
requires 14 hours.
The basic literacy missions
workshop will equip you to:
·
Organize an ARW, CE, or TCY ministry in your church or
association
·
Locate and place students
·
Understand students' needs and perspectives
·
Use language teaching techniques
·
Use teaching materials and resources
·
Create witnessing opportunities
·
Witness to your students
·
Renew your commitment to God
For the names of NAMB trained and certified workshop leaders
contact your associational church and community ministries director or the
person responsible for church and community ministries in your state
convention. Obtain a copy of "How
to Prepare for a Literacy Missions Workshop." This provides detailed instructions on setting up the workshop.
For more information about Literacy Missions Ministry, call
(770) 410-6360 or visit us at our web site:
www.namb.net/ccm
