Raising Hope Together

To Our International Friends and Neighbors:

Since June 2011, the West Springfield Church of Christ has been privileged to build relationships with a diverse international community in the West Springfield Area. We partnered with Raising Hope Together, Ascentria (formerly Lutheran Social Services), the Town of West Springfield, and others to assist those impacted by the tornado. We would like those relationships to continue to grow.

We are offering a FREE one-on-one English language learning program called FRIENDSPEAK. It is designed for students who can speak and read English but who have limited vocabulary, comprehension, and pronunciation skills. Interested students will have one-on-one sessions that will broaden comprehension and reading skills. These skills will help improve the student’s ability to communicate in their work, school, and community environment.

The curriculum uses Bible stories as the textual basis of mastering these skills. Short Bible stories will be read… vocabulary lists will be developed… pronunciation (reading) will be practiced… and comprehension will be tested. The use of the Bible stories will introduce students to the biblical text as well as increase their English skills. The program has been used successfully in every part of the world and the United States.

To launch the program, we have invited three (3) teachers to join us August 31-September 12th. These teachers will teach daily (Monday-Saturday), one-hour classes from 10-12, 2-6, and 7-9. The classes will be held at the Church of Christ in West Springfield. Transportation will be arranged and provided as needed.

It is important to call – 736-1006 or 297-1286 – to register and set up an appointment.
Please call SOON.

Sincerely,

Gareth D. Flanary

Gareth D. Flanary
Friend

This morning, I met with Bill Moynihan at his Virginia Avenue home. I am hoping Raising Hope Together can extend some assistance to this family. They are not able to live in the home until structural security issues are addressed. They will be forced to live in a local hotel for the time being. They have two small children. Let's keep them in our prayers.

Tree falls on W. Spfld. home during storm, family makes it out safe A tree fell on a home on Virginia Avenue late Wednesday night during a storm.

Today (Sunday), we found at that Church World Services contributed $5,000 to our work helping folks recover from the tornado... God continues to provide the resources...

Special thanks to a new friend and volunteer -- Omar. Omar is a recent immigrant from Iraq... he finished the last section of siding for the Main Street project...

Our recent mailing has surfaced three new projects in Westfield... we are hoping to secure volunteers from Westover Job Corp to help us...

Well, tomorrow we brace for another storm... our prayers are that there will be limited damage... FEMA and MEMA are prepared again to help...

Be safe everyone!

Project 99% finished... the volunteers steadily worked through the rain for over two weeks and finished their work yesterday afternoon... a small section will be completed by a local volunteer... the volunteers worked tirelessly... pictures will be posted soon...

What's next? We are sending out postcards to announce that residents need to contact RHT by October 31 if they have unmet needs... we would like to wrap up our work by the end of the year...