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Church helps immigrants learn English, get ahead


Bobbie Schniebs, an English as a Second Language instructor, looks over an assignment with student Rosario Perez at First United Methodist Church
in Pasadena, Texas. UMNS photos by John Gordon.

By John Gordon*
March 4, 2009 | PASADENA, Texas (UMNS)

Before he learned to speak English, Peruvian immigrant Franklin Castillo was stuck in jobs that paid around $6 an hour.


Franklin Castillo credits learning English with helping him advance from a $6-an-hour job to owning his own cleaning company.
     

He saw his job opportunities improve after taking English as a Second Language courses supported by United Methodist churches in Pasadena, Texas, near Houston.

Castillo now owns a janitorial company with four employees.

“It’s (the) American dream,” Castillo says. “If you don’t learn English, you cannot communicate with the people around the job.”

One of the company’s contracts is with Pasadena’s First United Methodist Church, which hosts ESL classes for Hispanic immigrants.

“We pay him in excess of $100,000 a year,” says the Rev. Steve Woody, the church’s senior pastor. “He does fantastic work, he’s extremely loyal, he’s a success story of how ESL has helped to positively change a life.”

His opportunities in Peru, Castillo says, would have been much more limited.

“It’s difficult for you to get a job. There are a lot of problems with government,” he says.

Opening doors to ministry

The adult ESL program began in 1996 at Pasadena Boulevard United Methodist. When that church’s property was taken by the local school district, the congregation disbanded. First United Methodist, with 2,300 members, took over the ESL program two years ago.


Victor Poisot from Mexico is studying
 ESL through a partnership of the
church and the Harris County
Department of Education.
  

“I think if we look around our community, we see how the community’s changing and we recognize that this is one area that we’re not ministering to,” Woody says.

“I’m hoping that we can develop some trust, that they begin to believe that we do, indeed, care about them and that somewhere down the road it will open a door for us to be able to actually create some Hispanic ministry here.”

The ESL program is a partnership between the church and the Harris County Department of Education. The school system provides the teachers. The church furnishes building space and volunteers, who make refreshments and care for the children of the ESL students during classes.

“The church provides some of the support services that the adult education money does not cover,” says Janell Baker, director of the Harris County adult education program. “It’s an excellent partnership.”

Besides learning English, students can also prepare for GED tests.

Woody insists that the church provide its best accommodations for the classes and day-care program.

“We try to give our absolute best facility, so that they have a feeling that they’re not second-class citizens in our eyes,” he says.

Classes in high demand

The adults taking the courses are optimistic about the future — earning GEDs, advancing to college and landing better jobs.


Jim Lemmond teaches Hispanic immigrants English skills to improve their employment opportunities.
    

“It’s a big change, because of different cultures and different language,” says Victor Poisot, 45, who moved from Mexico to the U.S. five years ago. “All the people around me speak Spanish, so I have no chance to practice English.”

Another ESL student, Claudia Espinosa, 32, dreams of becoming a teacher, like her mother in Mexico.

“It’s more opportunities here in the United States,” she says. “It’s a great country because they help a lot of people.”

The ESL classes fill up quickly. The First United Methodist program can accommodate 200 students and there is usually a waiting list.

“It’s very successful, because one of the things that we look at is the amount of time and the attendance of the students that participate in the program,” says Baker, the school administrator who oversees the classes.

“We have one of the highest attendance (rates) here at this church.”

Woody says some church members were apprehensive at first about opening their doors for the ESL classes. However, those concerns were short-lived as they got to know the students.

“Mostly, it was from a security issue,” he says. “When they saw that those people were often young mothers who were not a criminal element but were just as sweet as sugar, it changed a lot. It’s putting a face on the people that has made such a difference.”

*Gordon is a freelance producer and writer based in Marshall, Texas.

News media contact: Fran Coode Walsh, Nashville, Tenn., (615) 742-5470 or newsdesk@umcom.org.

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