Wow!

The China Sea Buffet in Arlington is the restaurant whose employees I have been trying to evangelize for the last few months by building relationships, distributing Chinese Chick tracts, giving Chinese/KJV Bibles, and sharing the gospel when possible.

The people are very very sweet and cordial, and they hunger for more information. I see the need to spend more time with them when they are not working. Well, that doesn't surprise the Lord so He's making that happen.
One of the workers asked me about a month ago if I knew where they could go to learn English, and it woke me up. I thought, "Hey! I know English. Why can't I teach them? But what is the best way?"
I looked online at the myriad of choices for courses on how to teach English to speakers of other languages and was perplexed, but God was not perplexed.
We had Mission Conference at church this week, and just as I was getting in the car to leave after service one evening, I inexplicably locked the car back up and went back inside. I had no idea why, but the Lord did. As I perused the exhibit table of Rich and Jan Godinez (missionaries to Paraguay), I noticed a colorful notebook with letters "TESL" on the front. You may be asking, What does that mean? That's right...Teaching English as a Second Language! Bam! Right between the eyes. Who wrote that book? None other than Jan Godinez, missionary to Paraguay. She wrote a Scripture-based teacher's book and student notebook with exercises and worksheets, etc. for teaching English to speakers of other languages. She sold both to me at a steep discount right then and there.
The plan of salvation is thoroughly studied throughout the course. Bam! Right between the eyes. Furthermore, she told me the best place to go online for a course to become certified as an ESL teacher. (Not that it is essential for my Chinese work, but it will certainly be a help to me to do the best job I can.)
Well, with Step One - Get the Necessary Equipment - taken care of, Step Two is to speak with Ronnie, the owner of the restaurant, to gauge the level of interest and opportunity to use the restaurant as a classroom. I dropped by the Buffet Saturday night after Mission Conference, and Ronnie made himself at home at my table. After about two hours hearing his life story and discussing Chinese history, he mentioned how he spent a year in New York (ten years ago) learning English. I said, "Funny you should mention that. I would like to teach English to Chinese people". His eyes lit up. Did I say lit up? I mean LIT UP! He said in China there is a saying, "Life is short, but education is forever". He said Chinese want to learn, and he has four people that he is fairly certain will be interested at the outset - and he will attend as well.

I have explained that it is Bible based and he understands that and the reasoning behind it. He is ecstatic and so am I. The tentative plan is for me to come in around closing time (10:00 PM) twice a week and hold class for half an hour. I will learn techniques as I teach this first group and I will be pursuing a TESL certificate as well. In addition, Jan Godinez is only a phone call away for advice, since they are currently on deputation.
(See the Godinez website: www.godinezinparaguay.com .)

Oddly enough, a different young Chinese lady at the restaurant had asked me about two weeks ago if I was a teacher. She said for some reason, she had it in her mind that I was a professional teacher. The way this has all fallen into place makes me highly suspicious that "God's up to something". :-) What a mighty God we serve! Wow!

On a personal note to Bro. Johnny Leslie in Croatia: All of the above proves Rule #3 which is, "You Never Know".