Get Involved With ESL in UKRAINE
Our ESL Ministry:
IP teams offer English conversation classes in partnership with short-term groups from American churches. As a native, English speaker, you are being invited to serve with a church-planting ministry, which focuses on reaching leaders and influencers. Participants are mostly university-educated professionals who will attend in the evening after work.
Our Purpose:
Meet and connect with new people who want to improve their conversational English.
Our Target Audience:
20 to 50-year-old professionals who use English for work and travel. Now that Ukraine is open to the West, almost everyone wants to speak well enough to “get around!” Even University students sometimes join our groups to perfect their English. Whether student or business professional, neither of these groups is spiritually motivated and would rarely darken a church door. They consider Christianity irrelevant and would react were someone to push religion. Hence the importance of using English to build relationships . . .
ESL team size and qualifications:
The optimum size for an ESL team is 3 to 6 people. Participants will be tested and divided into three levels: Elementary, Intermediate, or Advanced. Each ESL team member will speak with one of these groups throughout the project.
Requirements for ESL team members:
1. Speak English fluently. You need not be a teacher per se, but you must be easily understood and confident in speaking. Your primary tasks are to build relationships and to help advance the conversational ability of Ukrainian professionals. Your regional accent is welcome as long as it can be understood.
2. Be at least 20 years old and have at least two years of higher education. Our participants are university educated and would feel disrespected by someone who does not speak and communicate well.
3. Be comfortable leading and facilitating a small group in which you are responsible for managing both content and effective communication.
4. Be willing to serve and go the “extra mile!”
5. Understand and agree with IP’s ministry strategy, namely, to work on building relationships rather than on preaching or directly evangelizing.
6. Be conversant with the Bible and confident that through it, God speaks.
Preparation to Come:
1. Email Natasha Bazilevich (nbazilevich@gmail.com) to select the city and dates for the ESL project. The optimum season is the fall. A new academic year is beginning, self-improvement is on many minds, the IP follow-up team has most of the academic year to continue the classes, and the weather is pleasant.
2. Recruit your team, select a leader, and assign various tasks: travel, materials, training, logistics, prayer, and videographer.
3. Raise funds for the trip and purchase air tickets.
4. Host an IP training representative to give background and instruction
5. Study orientation materials and prepare lesson plans for ESL.
6. Make sure that details are clear to everyone.
ESL team Schedule:
1. Day 1 – Fly into Kyiv, spend the night, or proceed directly to your city.
2. Day 2 – Rest some, get to know the IP team, and prepare.
3. Days 3 – 7 – Begin on Monday and run through Friday.
4. Day 8 – Debrief with IP Team, visit the church, hangout with ESL participants
5. Day 9 – Explore sites in Kyiv
6. Day 10 – Depart for the States
Days 3 – 7 may look like this:
1. Morning – Meet with the IP Team, pray for the participants by name, and discuss how to be most effective
2. Afternoon – Prepare for classes, meet socially with the IP team or even students, and grab a little rest
3. Evening (6 – 9) – Lead the English class, take a refreshment break, and observe life-issue discussion led by the IP Staff. (An IP staff member will usually translate the life-issue conversation for you to follow along.)
4. Classes are generally held in rented facilities, e.g., a local school
5. Your team can discuss which ESL curriculum to use with the IP team. However, your greatest contribution is to focus on conversational English. Ukrainian teachers will cover grammar issues in the follow-up classes after you have returned to the States.
Logistics:
1. Passports must be valid for six months beyond your stay in Ukraine. No visa is required for any stay under 90 days.
2. IP staff secures lodging, usually in rented apartments.
3. Meals: Breakfast food is provided in the apartment. Lunches and dinners will be prepared by staff or enjoyed in local restaurants. (Special dietary needs must be communicated in advance)
4. Travel from Kyiv is normally via bus or train. Public transportation is used for travel in your ministry city.
5. Before leaving the U.S., check with IP staff for weather forecasts during your stay and bring appropriate clothing.
The Orientation Manual contains more information, or you may contact Natasha Bazilevich by email.