LONG-WINDed PREACHER on Skype!

So, where are you going to worship today?

I knew that there were no churches in or around my student's city in China; but, surely, an inviting question would bring some focus on our Skype session. China is 16 hours ahead of Oregon where I live.

"Here!" Angela was certain and insistent at the same time.

"Okay? Who will attend with you?"

"My parents are here. You preach, and I'll translate."

Hmmm! I've been on the spot before; but, not exactly like this. The first time was on my honeymoon in Ruidoso, New Mexico, and the preacher was sick -- 5 elderly ladies and my new wife were the only ones present. Good! The communion had been prepared. It's time to step up to the plate, sing, pray, commune, preach, give the invitation, and take up a collection! Years before there was a notion of Skype! My email student had no camera which made me take note that somebody was watching. I had the motion eye camera on my laptop!

"Let's start with the Creator.” “In the beginning, God created...(Genesis 1)” “Today, we know him as Jesus (John 1). And, you can be sure that this Jesus not only made you and me, he loves us far more than even our mother and father love us. (Pause/translate) Over time, he was revealed to us in the New Testament."

(Departure for a while to tell about the "Old and New Agreements.)

"Let's talk about sin and forgiveness, sacrifice, blood, and salvation."

Forty five minutes later: "How time flies!" "Angela, ask them if they believe that Jesus is the Son of God."

"Yes?"

"Are they sure?"

"Yes!"

"Wonderful!"

Remember Simon?

Time passed, and Simon with whom we had been studying using Skype, tells the rest of the story. Simon had just baptized Angela's sister.

"Simon!" "Go see their mother and father."

I can hardly wait for the feedback. Email will fly back and forth. It's time to Skype!

The angels will sing a familiar Chinese song, I'm certain.

God is good all the time. All the time, God is good.

Next time...

Visit http://worldenglishinstitute.blogspot.com/

Learn about WEI at www.weiady.org/

And, sign up for FREE English and Bible at http://worldenglishinstitute.org/

God bless,

Bob

Email, Skype, and The Internet

I'd hate to give up direct email in teaching. WEI’s Internet teaching website,(www.worldenglishinstitute.org/), has some time saving features and built in communication tools making it possible for a single teacher to manage hundreds of students. But, direct email facilitates relationships without the incumbents of automation. Teaching the student instead of teaching lessons is central to bringing about change.  Think about having the Subject line read “chat.” This brings about a feeling of friendship.

Another even more enticing and facilitating feature available to the teacher is face-to-face sharing using Skype. Taken together with direct email a personal relationship emerges miles beyond the written lesson. Skype with a "motion eye” camera brings the student into my home just to look around.  On the email side of correspondence, outlines and photographs can be transferred in the flash of a download. And, it can be accomplished by almost anyone anywhere on the globe. Even hand held telephones can send text and photos. Amazing!

In this IT age, there is a complimentary method lurking in the wings -- Internet lessons + email chat + Skype with a camera + email attachments. It’s like being there with a prepared lesson, a graded quiz with written explanations, and an open private tutoring all in one place. How much more do I need?

Shall I wait on teleporting of the student directly? Likely not. How would they get a visa? Ha! Someday far in the future!

It was way past my bed time in Oregon that Skype’s screeching demanded immediate attention!

“Hello, China calling! I just got off work and thought about talking some.”

“Well hello! What time is it in your side of the world?”

“I just got off work and am raiding the fridge. About four-thirty.”

“It's 1 am here. I'm happy to see you? Oh! You don’t have a camera on your laptop. I forgot. Sorry! I love my new laptop. It came with a built in camera looking right at my face. Wish you had one too. How do I look? Older than you imagined?” That was before I straighten my hair and shirt collar.

“How's your job?" "Fine!”

She's learned how we Americans skirt talking about American’s unemployment. Oh well, we shared stories for a while, stories about bosses who were not open to hearing about Jesus as they walk us to the door. The streets are filled with young people looking for the next rung on the ladder or maybe a necessary career change. The love for Jesus is not always popular when shared openly.

“Do you know Jacob? He’s a great friend in China. He would like to join us. May I invite him to join us?” I said.

“Okay! How do we do that?”

“I just invited him. I have his Skype address.”

“Hello Jacob. I’d like to introduce you to my WEI student.” “We would like for you to send your lesson outline so we can chat about it. You can take over and I will listen. But, remember, I don’t speak Cantonese. My student is pretty good at English now. It’s okay to slip in some Chinese as you may need.”

“Okay. All that I need is an email address. I can send the outline as an attachment.”

Now, you can see why I don’t want to give up direct email in teaching. Powerful!

Next time, I’ll share when I became a “long winded preacher.”

Have a great day and check out the WEI’s Internet “teaching website.” www.worldenglishinstitute.org/

There, we gather students by offering FREE English with Bible reading as an assignment. This gets the ball rolling and when determined to be safe, we chat, Skype, and share in a real-time classroom.

God bless,

Bob