“Stockstill Invests Life in ESL Ministry”
By Erica Hagar
For Martha Stockstill, her lifelong pursuit to teach English as a second language began as she was washing dishes in her kitchen in the early 1980’s.
“What will they do?” one of her sons asked each other at the supper table. “They’re from Taiwan, and they don’t know English.”
Their conversation piqued the interest of this retired college English professor.
“The very next day, in God’s own providence, my eye fell on a quarter page ad in the newspaper: ‘Would you like to learn how to teach conversational English to internationals?’ I immediately signed up,” Stockstill recalled.
It was at that workshop that she learned about the Friend-to-Friend International Ministry of First Baptist Church in Jackson.
“They invited me to join them, and thus began not only my second career but a deep, compelling conviction that God’s church needs to be about foreign missions right here at home, and I could be part of that,” she said.
Looking back, Stockstill can see that God began to prepare her for her life’s mission long before she knew such a mission existed.
“Step by step, God was opening up a new way of life for this very provincial and limited Southern girl. With God’s help I overcame my basic shyness and a feeling of inadequacy and discovered that I was born to teach. Every morning was an exciting new adventure with God and my students,” she said.
Leviticus 19:33-34 became of key importance to Stockstill as she pursued her ESL ministry: “When a stranger lives with you in your midst, you shall do him no harm, you shall treat him as the native among you, and you shall love him as you love yourself.”
Today, Stockstill serves as the Curriculum Coordinator for Friend-to-Friend International Ministry at FBC Jackson, where she previously served as Director. A ministry that began in 1978, Friend-to-Friend has between 35 and 50 students each week. Stockstill is also an adjunct professor at Baptist-affiliated Mississippi College, teaching in the M.A. in the TESOL program.
Friend-to-Friend is one of 54 literacy ministries taking place throughout Mississippi. In a state that has a 64% illiteracy rate, this is an opportunity for churches to virtually have a foreign mission project in its own neighborhood. Although the need to understand our language and culture is the perceived need of the students who attend ESL classes, the church has the opportunity to introduce Jesus and witness to the students through the close relationships built between the students and volunteer teachers.
“I remember several dear Korean students who became friends while their husbands were studying at Reformed Theological Seminary. They and their husbands visited often at our house, had meals with my family, and discussed theology with my husband. After they returned to their ministries in Korea, my husband died, an unexpected sadness that could have derailed my joy in living and teaching,” Stockstill said.
Instead, she received a condolence letter signed by all of her Korean friends, inviting her to come to Korea, visit with them, speak in their churches, and teach English.
“I didn’t answer. I was too preoccupied with my grief,” she recalled.
Soon another letter arrived: “We think our first letter got lost in the air. Please come. Ticket voucher enclosed.”
That was all Stockstill needed to board a plane by herself on her first trip out of the country.
“I landed at Kimpo Airport, walked through all the gates, saw no familiar faces, heard no English, and almost panicked. But then, down the long corridor, came running a group of friends all smiling and calling my name. God had indeed prepared the way, not only for my trip to Korea but, as I was gradually learning, for the rest of my life,” she said.
Looking back, Stockstill recognizes God’s way of intertwining a tapestry of life events to bring her to the area of ministry she is most passionate about.
“What if I had not paid attention to my sons’ conversation about classmates who needed to learn English? What if I had not taken advantage of that first conversational English workshop? What if I had not been in a church that provided opportunities for me to be a missionary right here at home and opportunities for international people to learn English and come to know Jesus? What if I had let the sadness and loneliness after my husband’s death control the rest of my life? What if I had not taken that first trip to Korea all by myself?”
Her answer to each question is simple: “Oh, it was definitely God’s plan!”
