Missions

MISSION AND OUTREACH
LETTING IT SHINE!!

“Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.”
--Matthew 5:15,16

Imagine that you live with your children in war-torn Laos. Your husband is away from home in the army. People arrive periodically at your home looking for him and, each time they come, their “questioning” is more violent. You decide that it is time to flee, and you and your children make your way out of the country. Eventually, by the grace of God, you are in the USA. Your sponsor has helped you to find an apartment and a job and, eventually, your husband joins you and finds work. This is the story of one of the students Prue Cass has met as a volunteer tutor for the Taunton Adult Education Partnership literacy program.
Last December, Prue and Deb Beaton took a 5-session training class in adult literacy training for the purpose of helping folks with limited English skills meet their goals for functioning and thriving in American society.
The program is offered to anyone who has a need or desire to improve their skills. Though many of the students are immigrants, many are American born citizens who cannot read/write or, who have a need to improve their skills The students take classes offered by the Taunton Adult Education Partnership and qualify to be matched with a tutor if they do well in their classes and demonstrate a desire to improve their skills. The volunteers meet with their students one-on-one for a few hours a week, getting to know their backgrounds, levels of literacy and education. They assess their learning goals, and sometimes communicate with their teachers to plan a course of study. The Adult Education Partnership provides educational resources and support. The volunteers are called upon to tutor almost any subject, from reading to math to history, or sometimes to help them prepare for GED or college entrance exams. In summary, they “help them with their homework”.
Deb’s first student sends most of what she earns from her nursing-home job back to her family in Nicaragua so that they can have a better life. Her second student, from Haiti is in a CNA program and in the Fall, he will be entering the second level of English classes for Speakers of Other Languages.
Deb believes that God has gifted her with “a love of reading, curiosity about language, learning new things and compassion for folks who want to succeed but have obstacles to overcome.” As for Prue, she acknowledges God’s gifts of patience and empathy, traits that she did not see as valuable earlier in life, but has grown to appreciate now as she sees their importance in her life. Both feel that through participating in this program, they have developed a greater appreciation and gratitude for all that we have, and an admiration for the students who have had to overcome so much in their desire to succeed.
Both Deb and Pru would like to encourage anyone with an interest in becoming a adult education tutor to contact the program’s tutoring director Susan Wladis at Susan.Wladis@bristolcc.edu. You may also contact Prue Cass at cass17@comcast.net or Deb Beaton at dbeaton3563@comcast.net. If you or anyone you know would like to find out more about the classes offered in the adult literacy program, you may contact TPS/BCC Adult Education Partnership at 508-977-9565 (days) or 508-821-1236 (evenings).

If you are working on a personal mission or know anyone in the NCC family whose personal mission could be profiled, please contact Mary McCarthy in person, via e-mail at mary@sanfotek.net or by phone at 508-207-2231. Please…don’t be shy!!