Show Notes:

Could you share with us a little bit about who you are and how you became passionate about New Canadians?

• Rick and Patti served overseas for 11 years.  While in the Philippines, God was already laying on their hearts this idea of using ESL to minister to New Canadians in Canada.  When they returned to Canada, they were surprised to find that the pastor at their church had had the same idea.
• They spent 3 months doing demographic research in the neighbourhoods around their church
• They now have between 200-300 people attending their settlement programming at Foothills Alliance church in Calgary.
• Other churches started coming and observing their programs to learn from them and discover how they can start similar ministries in their churches.

What does a welcoming Canadian church look like to New Canadians?

• A church with a Biblical foundation on welcoming foreigners
• A church that supports ministries for New Canadians in prayer
• A church that allocates resources (facility, funds and personnel) towards New Canadian ministries
• A church that is free of racism; members expand their comfort zones to interact with people from other countries
• A church that places a high priority on offering practical settlement help to New Canadians
• A church that respects immigrants as adult learners
• A church that doesn’t pressure immigrants to engage spiritually.
• A church that welcomes New Canadians as volunteers in our church ministries – to make friends and gain Canadian volunteer experience
• We want to see New Canadians represented in our church leadership as well

Do you find that many Canadians are ready to expand their comfort zones and reach out to New Canadians?

• Yes.  Canadians want to be friendly to everybody.
• We continually work on helping our church family expand their comfort zones.  We offer cultural awareness seminars from time to time to help our church understand different values and cultures.
• A potential volunteer can feel more secure if there is a structured place to volunteer and interact with New Canadians. They soon find that they love connecting with New Canadians.

What are the services that you offer for New Canadians?

• English as a Second Language (ESL) Classes
  • Women’s ESL Classes
  • Beginner ESL Classes
  • Conversation Classes in a small group format
• Employment class (6 weeks long)
• Citizenship Test Preparation Classes
• Parties, camping, bowling, etc.
• Sports nights for families

What needs to be true in a church in order to step into a research phase?

• Being aware of the demographics found in their neighbourhood – this information can be found online on government websites. 38% of the residents in the neighbourhood of Foothills Alliance were not born in Canada
• A lot of churches think that they don’t have very many New Canadians in their neighbourhood but when they do some research they find out that even 20-30% of the people living around their churches were not born in Canada.  It’s eye opening.

Could you describe the Bridges program that you offer?

• It can be difficult for a newcomer to make the transition from an ESL or employment class to a Bible class
• In the Bridges class, students learn about the life of Jesus in a non-offensive way while practicing English and learning new vocabulary.
• It starts with a Canadian cultural lesson, and then they read a portion of Scripture from the Gospels.  In small groups, they learn and practice new vocabulary. We then go through questions that discuss how what they have learned about Jesus, applies to them.
• It is a legitimate English class.
• The goal is to use the Bible to ask questions to better understand the newcomers.
• ESL Bible study and ESL Alpha are also offered for those who are more spiritually interested.
• Settlement programming leads to Bridges and Bridges leads to Alpha.

How do you present the spiritual side of Bridges to your students?

• “Bridges” is a class with friendly people from around the world studying English language, Canadian culture, and Christian faith
• People from all backgrounds come to Bridges faithfully month after month.

How do you advertise your ESL programs?

• Word of mouth is huge – we have brochures for students to give out to their neighbours and friends.
• We use a boulevard sign as well – every time we use a sign, we have 10 or 15 come into our church building to ask questions.  Many of these people have never stepped foot in a church before.
• We don’t pressure people – if we advertise an employment class that is what they get.  We don’t try to sneak a Bible study in there, but we do invite them to join our Bridges class.

What are some first steps for churches that would like to run a similar program?

• Contact us – rick@lovenewcanadians.ca
• Visit our website – www.lovenewcanadians.ca
• If you’re close to Calgary, they invite you to come to an observation weekend to see their programs in action.
• LoveNewCanadians offers curriculum for ESL classes and for Bridges