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I have an ESL student in Japan. His parent wants him to go to Excel Christian School in Sparks, Nevada but he knows nothing about Christianity not even that Christmas comes from Jesus Christ's birth. He has a standard Japanese schooling so he can speak English only a little.

Is there a good source to teach the extreme basics of Christianity for the ESL unaffiliated? I don't think he knows anything about any religion.

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  • Welcome to C.SE. What do you mean "unaffiliated" ? Do you mean unaffiliated to any church, such as Christianity taught in non-denominational churches? Aug 23, 2022 at 0:03
  • It would be a shame to confuse the poor fellow with complicated and confusing doctrines. Best just stick to the Gospel and the core message of hope, faith and salvation for a better life beyond this sad state of affairs under the 'god of this world' and his deceptive, selfish ways.
    – steveowen
    Aug 23, 2022 at 7:19
  • By unaffiliated, I meant no idea about religion at all. That was only word that conveyed that. I wanted the most fundamental parts of Christianity like a missionary would teach non-literate natives. I want him to know basics not seek a conversion. Aug 23, 2022 at 7:42
  • There are too many potential ways to do this, and it's hard to declare that any of them are outright wrong.
    – curiousdannii
    Aug 23, 2022 at 11:11
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    "Christmas comes from Jesus Christ's birth" — only the name. See Is Christmas Christian? Aug 23, 2022 at 19:05

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How to teach Christianity to an ESL junior high school student who knows nothing about Christianity?

Try meeting him or her half way. Let the Lord do his part.

It is not my place to say what Christian denomination, you would like as a resource request, but as I am Catholic I would recommend the book The Bells of Nagasaki (長崎の鐘), in both in English and Japanese.

Although this book was originally to tell the story of the atomic bomb of Nagasaki it explains the origins of Christianity in Japan, albeit with a Catholic influence.

The author Takashi Nagai, originally a pagan, explains how he deliberately bordered with a Catholic family in Nagasaki, only to find himself learning about the history of Christianity in Japan, but he also becomes a convert to Catholicism. The historical part is absolutely amazing. The book is not preachy, but explains a story not well understood by many in Japan and the West.

I could not put the book down when I read it.

If you read it, I am sure it would give you an excellent idea of how the Japanese understand Christianity. It would help both of you in this cultural exchange in many ways.

In 1930 his mother died from a brain haemorrhage, which lead him to ponder the works of philosopher and scientist Blaise Pascal. He began to read the Pensées which influenced his later conversion to Christianity and boarded with the Moriyama family, who for seven generations had been the hereditary leaders of a group of Kakure Kirishitans in Urakami. Takashi learned that the construction of the nearby cathedral was financed by poor Christian farmers and fishermen.

On 24 December [1933], Sadakichi Moriyama invited Nagai to participate in a midnight Mass. In the cathedral, Takashi was impressed by the people in prayer, their singing, their faith and the sermon. He would later say: "I felt somebody close to me whom I did not still know."

On 23 November 1945, a mass was celebrated, in front of the ruins of the cathedral, for the victims of the bomb. Takashi gave a speech filled with faith, comparing the victims to a sacred offering to obtain peace.

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