ESL or no ESL???

So before I started really contemplating things with IJM I was planning to take an ESL training course so that I would have a useful skill for the mission-field if ever I was found there (not being a nurse or teacher or carpenter or anything practical like that!)

Now that I'm pondering whether I'm being deliberately called to advocacy work on the missions field I don't know what to do about this ESL business.

On the one hand, it still seems to make sense. "Tent-making" as a missionary -- supporting myself as I go out into the world to serve people. So, if IJM is only willing to take me for a year (or not at all!) but I've already quit my job, being able to teach English is definitely more conducive than a law degree to being able to pick up immediate employment almost anywhere. But on the other hand this thinking seems a little...faithless. If God wants me to advocate, He'll make a way for me to advocate and eat. Then again, maybe He's got ESL teaching on my distant horizon and I might as well learn to do it now while I have the resources... hmm.

Sure, if a person is called to minister by specifically teaching English, then by all means take an ESL teaching course. But if one is called to do something else, is it not an insult to God and a lack of trust to learn how to teach English as a "just in case" sort of thing?


Then again, I may still be here several more years and there are plenty of ESL ministries at the church here that I'm sure could use teachers. But then, you don't need to take a $2,500 course in order to do that... that is money I could be putting away for when I leave (don't get me started on the faithlessness of that statement! ;)

Well, I don't know.

I signed up for the course because the deadline is coming up. But I can still back out of it if it doesn't seem like the right thing to do. $2,500 is a lot of money that could be used for a lot of other things... but being able to give people the gift of English and having a teaching ministry that gives me time to spend with people spreading the gospel is mighty enticing.

Being able to speak English really is a gift. It opens so many doors. Kinda like shoes to an impoverished person. Everyone with shoes takes them for granted, until you realise that you can't get a job without a pair, but you can't get a pair without money, and you can't get money without a job...etc. Same with English if you ask me...

Hmm.

But I could take a 5 day or even a dirt cheap online course and be pretty set. Or even just get out some books from the library. Why get certified? I think I'm just addicted to accreditation. I would have been a mess during the time when apprenticeship was the thing.

Still pondering.