We caught up with Eilidh Botha, Bernice Mitchell, and Emily from Converse—a free programme Agora Church in Hamilton runs each week to teach conversational English. Eilidh is the Converse Manager, with Bernice and Emily serving on the team.
What does a typical week at Converse look like?
Eilidh: Our Conversational English sessions for former refugees and migrants are a safe and encouraging space to practise English and connect with others. We begin at 7pm and run until around 8.30pm, sharing support, having fun, and learning in that time.
Our Wednesday night classes can have between 35–45 Converse Friends (learners). We have beginners, intermediates, advanced learners, and usually a small group of children.
The nationalities in the room vary from term to term, but quite often we have people from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Brazil, Chile, China, Colombia, India, Japan, Russia, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, and Ukraine (and that isn't including the nations our team represent as well).
Tell us about the team that enables Converse to take place each week.
Eilidh: Our team has around 18 helpers made up of local Bible college students and volunteers from Agora and other churches. There is a chatty buzz in the air on a weekly basis, and with the help of our trusty hand bell we can manage to quieten the group in between the activities.
We start the evening with supper prepared by one of our generous helpers. Some weeks there are homemade pancakes, scones, or large cakes. In-season fruit is often around, and of course cups of tea.
Emily: The converse team is caring and hardworking. Everyone is so welcoming and kind. You can have a chat with anyone. Everyone always pitches in. It's so easy to work as a unified team.
Hospitality is a really important part of your ministry—how does this pave the way for connection and conversation?
Eilidh: While everyone has a mingle they can snack before the lesson begins with our Good News segment where we can celebrate if anyone has good news that week. Often we hear of visas that have been approved, driving lessons that have been passed, assignments that have been achieved, and new jobs.
What structure do the lessons take?
Eilidh: Our terms have an overarching topic that guides our lessons and is prompted by feedback from the previous term. Our themes have embraced prompts from Kiwiana, highlighted Kiwi slang, and focused on English phrases relevant for everyday life (at the supermarket, going to the doctor, buying petrol, greetings, and much more).
We start as a whole class before breaking into smaller groups for conversation practice with pre-prepared activities. Time flies quickly and usually there are sounds of disappointment as we end the night before closing with a karakia. All hands are on deck to clear up—tables folded away, 60 chairs stacked, and cups washed. Some head straight home while others linger chatting in the church or in the car park.
Our main programme is the Wednesday night class, but we also have a coffee-and-chat group on Thursday mornings and a walk-and-talk around Hamilton Lake on Thursday afternoons, weather permitting.
What do you love most about being part of the Converse Team?
Eilidh: The community. What I love most is looking around and seeing people from all around the world connecting in our space. The room is often filled with chatter and laughter.
My hope is that everyone who enters Agora's door will feel the welcome and sense of belonging our community offers. Providing free conversational English classes in our church is a practical support that has been offered here for almost 15 years and happens in churches around the globe. Growing conversational skills builds confidence, fights isolation, and provides opportunities to thrive in a new place. It’s a tangible way to show the love of Jesus in our actions.
What encourages you about these growing connections?
Eilidh: I love hearing about the connections forming between the Friends (learners), volunteers, and one another. On one of our walks, a man from Taiwan offered to help a South American man move house. When I commented on how kind that was, he told me a man from Russia in our group had helped him move recently.
Shared outings after Coffee and Chat, dinners at one another’s homes, BBQ invites, and ladies giving a volunteer her first bubble tea are all stories I enjoy hearing. A sweet Sri Lankan lady made every volunteer a Christmas card last year; an Afghani woman baked special cakes before Coffee and Chat; there are house visits and WhatsApp introductions to family members overseas who don’t speak a word of English.
Bernice, you’ve helped learners explore Christianity through a house group going through the Alpha Course—how did that begin?
Bernice: The Agora Alpha group came about as I met a young Chinese man at Converse and invited him to church, and he came along. He told me prior to leaving China he had bought a book called The Story of the Bible.
He was interested to know more, so I asked two other young Chinese women—who had already become Christians since arriving in NZ through their fellow countrymen and the Mandarin church. One had started coming to Agora Church, and the other had visited my home, and both were keen to do a Bible study in English (with English subtitles). We all enjoyed the extended time we took over Alpha, and whilst the young man has not yet made a decision, he believes what he learned is true.
I have also invited many others either for coffee or to my home, where we talk and learn about NZ. I answer their questions and help where I can. I also teach them to bake simple Kiwi classics like cheese scones and muffins. Through this I have often been able to share about Jesus, salvation, and creation. One time I read the whole of Genesis 1 to some Sri Lankan Buddhists. I also gave Bibles to a wife and children who had to return to Sri Lanka, along with a tract explaining how to be saved.
I have also met with a group of Brazilian women—some Christian, some not. The Christian women have felt very encouraged and supported by my friendship.
All of these have come about through Converse!
What events help connect the Converse community with the wider Agora Church?
Eilidh: A growing connection between Converse and Agora Church is what we are hoping for. To help integrate these communities we host a variety of events in a comfortable and relaxed setting. Each term ends with a potluck dinner or event at church. So far our open invitations have included games nights, movie nights, an art project, and potlucks.
There is a long list of ideas for more ways to connect with Agora and hopefully in the coming year, with God’s guidance, that will flourish.
What do you see God doing among refugee and immigrant communities? How would you encourage other churches?
Eilidh: I believe that as we host people from a variety of backgrounds and ethnic groups, we can witness God using Agora as a bridge between these communities and the church. For some, that might be a deeper one-to-one conversation with a volunteer, attending a service, or receiving prayer. For others it may be smaller—knowing that helpers attend church on Sundays, hearing us pray at the end of sessions or say grace, or simply noticing kindness and joy in the people here.
We've had several people move to different parts of New Zealand and before leaving ask, ‘Is there a church in the new area where I can go to learn English?’ which is really encouraging.
Emily: I would encourage other churches to start conversational English classes because both the relationships you form and the growth you see are just so rewarding. You also see the diversity of the kingdom of God every week through everyone who walks through the doors.
What would someone need to start a group like Converse in their church?
Eilidh: Firstly, check there is a need and what is already available locally. Get a good team around you—having people with different skills and passions is invaluable. Tap into the resources out there (there are great ones online) and, in my experience, people are very willing to share their knowledge.
Connect with local groups and organisations. Being known as a group that shows up can make a big difference. Facilitating, ESOL, and teaching skills are helpful, but there are many roles needed to bring a programme together.
It’s important to know that while some will be involved long-term, others may only be with you for a season. Even in a short time, we can give people a glimpse of God’s heart and the kindness of the church.
