What is Club Intercambio?
Club Intercambio is an ESL (English-as-a-Second-Language) program put together by Manos for the scholarship students we serve in Honduras. The aim of this program is to familiarize, teach, and empower our Honduran students with weekly classes that focus on other cultures and the English language. In the fall of 2023, Manos worked together with the University of Texas at San Antonio to deliver a series of online classes that were taught by UTSA Master and Doctoral students online via Zoom. Floyd Powers was one of these students who taught and developed a relationship with Manos students. In January of 2024, Floyd had the opportunity to travel with Manos as a missionary and meet his students in person.
Around The World
Club Intercambio offers a holistic approach to language learning that involves many different opportunities for the students to practice their English. This past January, during the Manos de Dios annual mission trip, an in-person event was held at Iglesia Manos de Dios that afforded the members of Club Intercambio the unique opportunity of practicing their English with the Manos team. This event had been planned months in advance and was centered around a fair featuring different countries. Students were placed in groups and assigned a particular country, they then built a table and stand based on their particular nation. The students offered a presentation and answered questions about their subject in English, demonstrating not only a mastery of English language, but understanding the importance of crossing cultures. This unique opportunity offered two advantages: 1. The students were able to practice their English with native speakers and 2. The Manos de Dios team members that only speak English had a unique opportunity to engage with Hondurans.
The following countries were featured in the fair:
U.S.A Colombia Italy
Mexico Honduras
Building Bridges
The Honduras Manos ministry has forged a partnership with UTSA that places an emphasis on bringing two cultures together with the goal of learning. During the fall of 2023, UTSA master and doctoral students met once a week with Honduran students that are learning English. Through the power of Zoom and Google Classroom, the UTSA students facilitated meetings and assignments that helped the Honduran students develop new skills and knowledge regarding the English language. Of these UTSA students, one stood out among the rest by demonstrating interest in joining Manos in their missionary efforts. Floyd Powers, a UTSA doctoral student, applied to one of our travel awards that were made possible thanks to the grant contributions of the College Missions Council of the Diocese of West Texas. Thanks to CMC’s generosity and Floyd’s willingness to answer the call to missions, Floyd joined Manos on this once in a lifetime opportunity and had the chance to meet the students he poured into during the fall semester.
As expected, Floyd had a remarkable time connecting with his pupils, and they were excited to be able to meet him in person. By the grace of God, the call to missions was able to bring together people from different cultures and allow them to exchange words, knowledge, and life. Answering this call furthered the mission of Club Intercambio, and no doubt inspired the students to continue pursuing their studies. The future looks bright for these programs, as Manos is currently in the process of bringing these partnership classes back for fall 2024.
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