Soon after we met, she called me and said she was making me a sari, even though the only scissors she had were the tiny ones her husband used to trim his mustache. Giving a ride to Keshar was the beginning of a lifetime of ministry with internationals. The Sunday after that pivotal day, I overheard a conversation about a meeting for churches interested in ministry to internationals. "I'll go!"

I ended up being asked to be founding director of Friendship, a cooperative effort of many local churches, on behalf of the more than 2000 internationals in the Austin area. I found myself speaking before church and civic groups, and even appearing on a television talk show. Public speaking was something I had dreaded, but I took heart from these verses: "There is nothing in us that allows us to claim that we are capable of doing this work . . . The capacity we have comes from God . . . His strength is made perfect in our weakness." (II Cor. 3:5 and 12:9).

Throughout the past 31 years of ministry, I have often viewed my experience as similar to a dot-to-dot picture. During those times when I could see only as far as the dot before me, I moved in confidence, knowing that God was looking at the big picture. For example, I was particularly challenged by a program which needed volunteers to teach English. Now I had to do some digging about English language teaching, and I began to learn about large group ESL classes. Not long thereafter, there arrived in our city 56 Vietnamese refugees who spoke no English. Finding 56 individuals for 1:1 instruction would be a daunting task.

In another divine coincidence, I learned of the highly successful Columbia Council for Internationals in Columbia, SC. It was their resources which prepared me for another job God led me to: chairing an ad hoc Advisory Council for International Students at Baylor University. These efforts resulted in the development of a Host Family Program, Speakers' Bureau, Loan Closet, Arrival Hospitality, International Week, and New Student Orientation.

In 1980 my husband was called to pastor in Columbia, SC. Since the church already had a well-organized program of ministry for teaching English to non-native speakers, I wondered what I could do. By now, however, I was seeing a pattern in the way God was working in the details. With this in mind, I made an appointment with the Director of International Programs at the University of South Carolina. I asked, "Is there any job that needs doing that no one else wants to do?" Soon, I set about organizing a weekly Coffee Hour for international students on campus.

In 1984, God directed us to a church in Conroe, Texas, and I got involved in a ministry to international wives there. It saddened me to see a large Hispanic population that was not being reached. They were the hurting and lonely ones imprisoned by a language barrier that we could do something about! It wasn't long before the volunteers eagerly embraced an expanded program to include English and special interest classes. In spite of the social gap between the wealthy internationals and women who in the words of one "could have been their maids," a ministry was built which saw all people in God's image.

In 1990, as I was leading teacher-training workshops in Europe, I was thinking one day of all that I wanted to learn to fill in the gaps of what I had learned in the school of experience. Just then I received an unexpected call from my husband. Marshall shared with me his desire to take a sabbatical from the pastorate, and added, "You might want to consider graduate school!" God was connecting dots for a picture that I had begun thinking about only hours before! I knew God was connecting the dots when a nearby program offered the very thing I needed--a degree in Curriculum and Instruction with a TESL emphasis. In fact, God has always been in the details.

A materials project I did for missionaries in EFL settings who were looking for low-cost materials was called "Learning of Jesus." I wanted to be able to introduce Jesus to students who might stumble over the idea that he is God, so I began with presenting him as a friend and caregiver. Another materials project, which entailed many more God-designed connections than I can recount here, uses the "Jesus" video. This film has become an important evangelistic tool for many missionaries.

I had a wonderful opportunity to learn and grow in the TEFL program at Columbia International University. For the first time in my life, I taught ESL as a gainfully employed person--in the Adult Education program of the local school district. As coordinator for ESL classes, I was privileged to work closely with the students and CIU/TEFL faculty. I was blessed to teach with others who saw our work as an opportunity to make a difference for eternity.