In Portland, English Classes Build New Friendships and Hope
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Our English Language Learning Program in Portland currently offers two beginner level classes and one intermediate level class at The Root Cellar. Our volunteer-led intermediate level class on Tuesdays and Thursdays is smaller in size with a focus on conversation and reading.
When the Fall semester began we only had one beginner level class, but halfway through the semester we started a new class to accommodate the growing numbers.
Throughout the course of our Fall session, over 45 students have attended our beginner level classes.
As a whole, our students represent over fifteen languages and countries, including Iraq, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Angola, Somalia, Honduras, Congo, Ethiopia, Djibouti, Bangladesh, Sudan, Togo, Rwanda, Ukraine, and Burundi.
Facing Challenges
New Mainers experience many barriers in seeking work in Maine. Asylum-seekers must wait at least six months to apply for a work-permit. Non-English speakers also struggle with paperwork and navigating available services within their new home city.
Most asylum-seekers are eager to contribute to the community and seek out ways they can assist the people around them. Several students in our English classes make a point to come early to class to help teachers set up and clean the classroom.
Starting a new life in Maine can also be very lonely for our students since many people around them do not speak the same language and cannot relate to their experiences. Many students also had to leave friends and family behind when they fled to the US.
“When I look at my class, I’m reminded of how the Lord delights in His children being together and uses us to reflect Himself to one another. ”
Each day, God is at work in our classes
I have seen God beautifully connect people from countries on opposite sides of the world who would normally never have met, and yet in the classroom we are all on common ground.
My classroom philosophy is: If we can laugh together, we can learn together. We often laugh about how confusing English language rules can be and talk about what things are like in students’ home countries and how it compares to the US.
As students share, it is clear how intricately God has crafted each person and their story. We shared Thanksgiving meal together and we prayed in each student’s home language before eating. I was so moved by hearing my students thank God in their native languages.
God has created us each uniquely, fearfully and wonderfully, and yet all in His image.
When I look at my class, I’m reminded of how the Lord delights in His children being together and uses us to reflect Himself to one another. Our English Language Learner neighbors are eager to learn, serve, and connect. When New Mainers come to The Root Cellar’s English classes, we get to be a part of the beginning of their new lives here in Maine.
There is a part of our neighbors’ stories that feels discouraging with the amount of challenges they face and the isolation of being in a totally new place and culture where they do not speak the language. As believers, we know that God’s story doesn’t end there--God has plans to give them hope and a future (Jeremiah 29:11).
In Jesus’ tale of the sheep and the goats, the King condemns the goats and commends the sheep saying to them, “For I was hungry, and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me” (Matthew 25:35-36).
This is a time of great need for our New Mainer friends. May it be said of us that when they needed us most, we were there.
