When I was asked to edit this column spotlighting people and organizations that exemplify Christians in TESOL, I knew right away that I would start by introducing you to Sally Eimer. She represents to me what it means to follow the Lord in life and profession and to serve one's students. She's also been involved in such a range of ESL and EFL teaching that looking at her life gives us a panoramic view of TESOL.

Sally began her involvement in ESL, like many of us, through volunteer work. She volunteered in the 1980's with the Southeast Asian Fellowship in Pasadena, California. Meeting weekly with a Vietnamese family, she went beyond English tutoring and advocated for their children at school, provided resources for employment, and even found a donated piano for this musically-gifted family. But Sally knew that training and qualifications were important if she was to continue to use teaching in conjunction with cross-cultural communication of the Gospel, so she got her M.A. in TESOL.

While working on that degree, Sally got a job teaching beginners at the Community Skills Center of Pasadena City College. Here her students were also immigrant and refugee adults, but from Mexico and Central America. Again, Sally approached her teaching holistically. "I started out like a traditional teacher, giving homework, and so on. But after I listened to their stories, how they woke up at 4 a.m., worked all day, and then came to my class, I changed my style. I wanted to teach them what they needed, like how to make a phone call to a refrigerator repair person. I wanted to emphasize their abilities. I found out, for example, that one of my students was a gifted violinist. I found a loaner violin for him and invited him to play for my class. Even though adult ESL has challenges of attrition and turnover, I loved their eagerness to learn. I'll never forget one elderly gentleman who, for three years in a row, returned to my class; he never learned much English, but he enjoyed our little community. I was these students' first real contact with an American; as they felt comfortable with me, they felt better about being here."

During these years, Sally was also approached by the 1st Evangelical Free Church of Fullerton about setting up an ESL program. "I suggested that to do it right, they needed a trained teacher. That ended up being me! But the church had a wonderful group of willing volunteers. My job was organizing lessons; their job was being in the classroom so the students had native speakers to practice with. What an ideal situation! I taught for a year and then some of the initial volunteers were ready to take over and the program continued. It really expanded the church's vision for the community."

China was Sally's next challenge. She went to Chengdu with English Language Institute China in January 1986 as a replacement team leader. "I loved every minute of it, but there were a lot of new things to get used to. I was used to informal teaching; now I had to make a course outline. I was used to students who were motivated--and although I had lots of eager students, there were several who didn't want to be in my class. Among my English teacher students was someone who was being forced to be an English teacher--he really wanted to be a rock star. But I also experienced new joys. One of my teacher trainees was applying for a job and asked me for some teaching tips. I helped her put together a sample lesson with a variety of activities. When she got the job, we were both thrilled." Besides her regular classes, Sally did things like give presentations on life in the U.S. and teach demonstration lessons at a local elementary school.

And it was at an elementary school in Pasadena where Sally found herself in her next stage in the TESOL profession. Since 1988 she has been at Webster Elementary, first teaching in a Spanish bilingual classroom, then being a Bilingual Resource Teacher, and more recently back in the classroom (this time, due to California's changing policies, teaching the same Spanish-speaking kids, but all in English). Before her M.A. in TESOL, Sally had gotten a teaching credential, but felt uncomfortable in the classroom with children. Now it was the right place. Having studied Spanish since grade school and having been inspired by a visit to missionaries in Latin America in 1972 to dedicate her own life to missions, God was pulling together these threads in the tapestry of her life. "It was tough to manage a classroom of kids after my years with adults. But I love making a difference for their future. I have kids in my classes now whose parents were in my Community Skills Center class!"

Asia was still a part of Sally's life, however. "For several years I taught a TESOL methodology class at William Carey University. One of my former students told me that she was on her way to Mongolia. At that moment I knew that I'd be going there, too." In 1995 Sally was a team leader for English Language Institute to Mongolia. Each summer since then she has gone back, moving into the position of director of ELI's Summer English Olympics program. That ministry included a year's leave of absence from Webster, but also included a number of years of working her regular job while volunteering many hours for Mongolia. "My coming back year after year speaks to the students there. They know I'm a volunteer, paying my way, so my return communicates love and commitment to them. I've especially enjoyed deepening my relationship with some special friends there."

"Over the past five years, I've seen some wonderful changes. At first, there were only a few Mongolian Christians and they were afraid of speaking out. Then gradually they began to encourage each other. Most recently I've heard public testimony given by Christian students."

"God used my time in Mongolia to transform me. One summer there I was asked to lead a Bible study for a woman who was a new Christian. During our first meeting, her husband joined us and himself came to Christ. Another seeker joined us too and by the end of the summer had made a commitment to Christ. As we studied John, God ministered to my heart and fed my soul. They asked questions and I answered, but God was answering my own questions at the same time."

"Mongolia is a place of worship for me too. One day I was returning to the capital after a ten-hour drive to visit some teachers in the countryside. We stopped by a river. Surrounded by sky and fields, in the company of a few fishermen and horses, I thought, 'You have called me here to the ends of the earth, Lord, and I get to worship you here.' Even now, when I need a quiet space to worship, I return to that river in my minds' eye."

Sally's story reminds us of why we are Christian educators in TESOL: the call of the Lord, wonderful students, and opportunities in the U.S. and around the world. And ultimately, we come back to worship. As it says in Revelation 7:8-12, "There was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb...saying, 'Salvation belongs to our God who is seated on the throne, and to the Lamb.'"