Connecting Cultures

I love Ottawa for lots of different reasons, but one of the reasons I love it is that it is full of people from all over the world. What an exciting place to live! We have the opportunity to rub shoulders with people from different countries and cultures and to be constantly learning new things about people and places around the world. I love that here in Ottawa, we are able to openly share the love and message of Christ with those coming from countries that have less access to the good news of Jesus! 

One way we are able to do that here at OIM is through our new ESL (English as a Second Language) program that started this spring. Every Tuesday from 12-2 pm, we welcome our eager students into our building. Most of our students are from Africa and China originally. Some of them have been in Canada for many years, and some for only a few months. Several of them already have a good handle on English, while others are at a beginner level. This can make teaching challenging for our teacher, Heather, but she is doing a great job making the class engaging and helpful for everyone!

I have personally been helping lead one of the table small groups. It’s been a blessing to connect one-on-one with a few of the students. A couple of the ladies who come are 80 years old. Wow! I admire them for their eagerness to grow in their English skills, even at their age. They always bring a smile to my face as they engage in the lesson and even cheer themselves on when they get something right!

I am thankful for this new ministry at OIM and the opportunities it presents to not only help the community we serve in a practical way, but to get to get to know each other on a more personal level as we laugh together, make mistakes together and celebrate the little victories.

Please join us in praying for this new ESL program.

~Phoebe, Resource Coordinator