Conversation Circles

Written by Alison Berry and Ian Stuart

It is a good thing when God does something new in an old church! What a joy to have many new friends joining us at Bethany Gospel Chapel on Sunday mornings and for the Spanish Bible Study after the service twice a month!

Several of these friends asked if we could help them improve their English speaking skills. So, we started Conversation Circles and developed several resources including a 6-week curriculum, training for facilitators, online storybooks on each topic, and guides for facilitators and participants.

We had several facilitators from Bethany and one from Micah House. We are so grateful for their investment of time, care and creativity to create interesting lessons and host engaging conversations for the participants. We covered a variety of topics including: Getting to Know You, Daily Life, Food and Meals, Seasons and Weather, Holidays and Celebrations, and Hopes and Dreams.

In addition to inviting friends from our own Bethany family, invitations were also sent by Micah House and Open Homes to their past guests. As a result, some of our participants were introduced to our church for the first time.

We had 21 people register, but most evenings we had between 6 and 8 participants show up. For six weeks in November and December, we met together and chatted about these topics. Some participants were quite strong in their English skills and others were beginners. Participants came from a variety of nations including Mexico, Guatemala, Venezuela, Haiti, Syria, and Iraq, and speak Spanish, Creole or Kurdish as their first language. The facilitators worked hard to adjust to the participants’ needs to make it a meaningful and helpful experience for each one.

Every evening, there was lots of laughter and fun conversation. Friendships were made and relationships were deepened.