Our History

Learn English Ministry (LEM) began when Barbara Garaygordobil, director and founder of the organization, began to ask herself what more she could do to really make a difference in her community. As a child, her family lived internationally, and later, as an adult, she lived in China. From these experiences, Mrs. Garaygordobil experienced firsthand the problems one encounters when one cannot understand the common language surrounding them.

Many years later, as Mrs. Garaygordobil contemplated the best way to make a difference, her experiences living internationally inspired her to reach out to others who face the same language dilemma. She realized, on Christmas morning of 2007, that she could make an impact by teaching English to non-English speakers FREE OF CHARGE. She decided to parlay her 30 years of business acumen into creating the Learn English Ministry. Initially, she envisioned recruiting a friend and working together to teach an English as a Second Language (ESL) class at her church. Little did she know that within three short years, her mission would touch thousands of lives. Before the doors were opened for the first ESL class in August of 2008, hundreds of students had pre-registered for the classes; hundreds of volunteers had rallied to teach the classes; and churches and community centers had generously opened their doors to host ESL classes.

Learn English Ministry, has expanded rapidly. In 2010-2011, our students and volunteers logged over 215,000 hours. To date, more than 800 volunteers have given their time to teach 6,500 registered students from more than 80 countries. What started out as a small endeavor has grown exponentially since its inception and Learn English Ministry, Inc. is now a dynamic and thriving non-profit volunteer-run organization.