by Tim Grindstaff

Imagine driving down the road and encountering a complete stranger, a mother holding her baby, standing in the middle of the road in obvious trouble. You approach only to find that the barrier of language will prevent you from being able to help. Your last resort after several attempts at communication is to call the police.

You could be the owner of a small business, unable to speak to or understand the customs of your employees. They are excellent employees, yet your inability to understand why they never look you in the eye promotes distrust.

You could be a member of law enforcement trying to do your job, but frustrated by language; you can’t understand either the language or the customs, and the persons in your care cannot understand and are afraid of you.

These very real concerns in a community witnessing increasing immigration of Spanish speaking persons led to the creation of a class for practical Spanish currently being held at Church of the Resurrection, Loudon County.

Following up on these concerns, the Rev. A. D. Lewis, III, rector of Resurrection, approached the board of the Loudon County Chamber of Commerce of which the church has been an active member for seven years.

He asked board members if they would support a class of practical Spanish if one were created. They not only agreed to support such a class but also agreed to sponsor and offered to handle the publicity for the class. After such a positive initial response Lewis approached Roane State Community College to inquired if they would help by creating and teaching the class. They agreed.

Lewis noted, “Because of Resurrection’s active participation in both the Chamber of Commerce and in so many other community organizations we were able to gain access to the board initially, and our interest in the project gave the idea credibility in the community. The church is already well known in the community for the presence of our members in so many groups and for our policy for allowing our buildings and grounds to be used for various seminars and retreats. The location is central in the county so we became the logical location for the class.”

When the first class was held on Sept. 13, three times as many people showed up as was expected. “Fortunately, Roane State had already planned on hiring two instructors for the class. When it became apparent from registrations that we had three times as many as we had planned on we were able to split the class into three sections.” Lewis explained.

Currently the class meets on Monday evenings one at 5 p.m. and two at 7 p.m.

When the instructors first met their new students they found they had classes made up of a cross-section of the community. There are bankers, lawyers, law enforcement officials, business leaders and other members of the community of whom many simply want to make an effort at being hospitable to their new neighbors.

As one class participant explained, “for me it is simply a matter of adhering to the Great Commandment. I think we should be hospitable at all times to those whose journey brings them to our community and I personally want to make an effort to simply try and understand enough basic [Spanish] to say ‘hello, how are you today?’ Now I can say ‘Hola! Como esta’?’”

Local attorney Robert Hinton said, “I believe the class is something that any responsible businessperson in the community should participate in. I also believe it is important for the attorneys in the area who have court-appointed clients who cannot speak English to learn and understand basic phraseology. Also, if you sell any products in the county it would be helpful to understand the culture of the Hispanic community.”

Instructors Luz Von Cowering and Christi Von Cowering have created a class that meets the criteria. A careful blend of cultural aspects of Latin society and phrases and definitions that would be the most useful on a day to day basis make up the class material.

For further information or questions please contact the church office (423-986-2390).

Tim Grindstaf is, a communicant at Resurrection, Loudon, and Middle East Correspondent for this publication.