Hmong Mission News

Articles on Immigration (7-2007)

The following articles are provided by the Ethnic Ministries Task Force (Chairman Rev. Herb Hoefer) regarding immigration:

• Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service Article (Collapse of Immigration Reform Means Increased Need for Pastoral Care for the Undocumented and Their Families - includes statement by Synod President Gerald Kieschnick

• Article on Response to a local immigration incident by Pastor Mark Hoelter, Trinity Church, Portland, OR  (coming soon)

• Effects of Illegal Immigration on Communities 

• Immigrants Don't Destroy Our National Identity,
  They Renew It 

Center for Asian Missions and Evangelism  

NASA Spanish Site -

(From TechSun Newsletter, Doug Urban) This Spanish-language site (http://ksnnsp.larc.nasa.gov/intro.html) is for students in K - 5th grades. It is designed to "introduce young Hispanics to the world of science, technology, engineering, mathematics, as well as NASA missions and research." Some schools may want to take their Spanish classes to the site, though, for fun and practice. The home page has a video of a student introducing the page. The same web data is available in English at http://ksnn.larc.nasa.gov.

VBS resource information from Editorial Concordia es una division de Concordia Publishing House (Spanish division of Concordia Publishing House). The VBS is called A Trip of Discovery - written in Spanish for Hispanics. With Heroes' Journey, each day is an adventure where the explorers - the children- meet a hero who teaches them about God's love and care. All stories present the greatest hero of all - Jesus. Item # is 75-5111.

Information about LCMS World Mission and Places to serve throughout the world

This valuable resource is a must for anyone interested in cultural ministry. Find maps, mission information, bulletin inserts, prayer cards on specific missionaries and more. Too many great tools to list here – check it out!

Teach English!  Long & short term opportunities available!

Email:      mission.recruitment@lcms.org

Website:   www.lcmsworldmission.org  or call: 1-800-433-3954

Various English as a Second Language Resources: 

• http://www.2flashgames.com/learning_english_games.htm 

This is a very cool tool – it has several online concentration type games for learning various words – when each game is completed then it goes to a level up where the word is then recognized so spelling is part of it – the words are pronounced in English so sound is a must. At least I had fun playing through a game or two… there are other games but this is one that is great for learning English.

• http://www.scs.k12.tn.us/SCS/subject-areas/ESL/esl.html

• http://zhongwen.com/

has a Chinese – English dictionary – if you click on the characters there is more information about them that pops up – again, may or may not be helpful

Other links to take a look at:

• http://www.smic.be/smic5022/index.htm

• http://www3.telus.net/linguisticsissues/problemschinese.html problems faced by Chinese learners

• http://www.eslteachersboard.com/cgi-bin/lessons/index.pl?noframes;read=911 good article on the home page about how to teach English with movies and writing….

• http://www.imtoo.com/er-enucht.html some things for purchase...

• http://www.mandarintools.com/flashcard.html

• http://www.independentlearning.org/ila03/ila03_wei_and_chen.pdf

A great place for many language translations is http://www.ibsdirect.com 

Click on the tab marked International at the top of the site and you will find translations for Amharic (Ethiopian), Cebuano (Phillippines), Chichewa, Farsi (Persian) and much more - of course the more standard ethnic translations like Spanish, Korean, and Chinese are there too.  There is also a quite large section on studies and books for children in Spanish.

Cultural Etiquette

Doing business or visiting another country requires more than just a knowledge of the language or a good interpreter. Communication on an international level requires knowledge of basic etiquette in the country where you are doing business or visiting.  These links provide some tips to help you communicate effectively.

http://www.ediplomat.com/np/cultural_etiquette/cultural_etiquette.htm

Go to: http://www.mobal.com/articles/27.html