By Shelli McNutt
By all accounts, Barbara Newsome of London, England, is not the kind of woman who seeks the spotlight. But the impact of her life and ministry—rooted in humble beginnings, compassionate service, and unwavering faith—makes her story worth telling. Barbara’s amazing, God-filled story of Jesus’ saving grace, her heart for teaching and service to refugees led her to Light of the World Learning.
From Classrooms to Screens
Barbara had taught English to refugees and asylum seekers in the UK for many years. Then as the world shifted during the COVID-19 pandemic, she transitioned to studying how to teach online on two of Dr Melina Gallo’s English teacher training courses. Having been invited to teach English at a nearby Iranian church from January 2019 to lockdown, she planned her strategies to teach a multi-level group. Her classes, filled with Iranians and some Afghans, all hungry to learn, included lessons of ordinary English, periodic Bible stories with participatory drama and props, and prayer following the Prodigal Son story, which opened up broken hearts over lost, close family relationships, and pain from unforgiveness. This enabled the Iranian leader to pray for the whole class in Farsi. Immediately after each lesson, students were invited to the culturally adapted evangelistic Alpha course.
Just before lockdown, just over a year later, it was Barbara’s very great privilege to watch seven (of the ten present) of her students get baptized. They had been led to the Lord and discipled by the Iranian pastors. They had only come through the doors because they wanted to learn English! The online Farsi Alpha classes grew to over 100 participants. Barbara received students from Pastor Shahriar’s Alpha course, dividing them based on assessments, into three levels in three separate classes. At the end of each lesson, she invited prayer requests, and prayed in simple English but addressing the Lord in the little Farsi she knew, with thanksgiving. She taught them that God is bigger than the biggest problem they face, bigger than all the governments in the world, and much bigger than Satan. This built them up, and they valued prayer for themselves and their families. To learn that God loved them was so very different from what they had ever learned in school back home. In such ways these classes became places of friendship, community and healing.
Barbara’s lessons were not just about grammar and vocabulary. They were about Jesus—His hope, His Word, His love. One beginner student that she introduced to the local adult college went for his assessment to enroll in an English course. When invited to write, apart from his name the only thing he knew to write was his memorized Bible verse from LOTW Lesson A1-01. He wrote, “I am the A and the Z, the first and the last, the beginning and the end.” Revelation 22:3 and “God is Love.” That must have been a very surprising and unexpected seed sown for the teachers’ marking for his assessment. He was accepted to begin classes in September.
Light of the World Learning
When Barbara was invited to write her first English lesson for the Light of the World (LOTW) curriculum, it was an exciting challenge, and had to be completed in a week. Immediately she was asked to complete six more in six weeks. That was a bigger challenge, but also very enjoyable, and a new experience. The faith-based curriculum, rooted in the gospel and designed for English learners, was exactly what her students needed. As seven others were all doing the same thing, very quickly Melina was organizing, editing, changing it into PowerPoint, re-editing, honing it until ultimately there were the fifty A1 lessons, available in PowerPoint, PDF printouts, and as paperback books. Lockdown passed by almost unnoticed as a result! So Barbara began teaching LOTW’s A1 lessons online to the beginning group, integrating Bible stories, reading comprehension, and worship through songs. These lessons were created to be very interactive—filled with joy, listening and repeating, and structure. Vocabulary is intentionally recycled, enabling students to build on what they know and grow in confidence. Review tests confirmed their progress. Some students were placed in advanced A2 classes at Adult Education Colleges before even completing the full LOTW course. The prayer times at the end of each class were sacred. “Every student I taught wanted their loved ones prayed for,” Barbara said. “They were far from home, many had lost everything, but prayer gave them hope.”
She also took on the laborious work of converting all 50 LOTW A1 PowerPoint lessons from American to British English for Zambian schools, where British English is the official language. Later, having reached lesson 12 of A2, when health issues—including debilitating headaches—prevented her from continuing, she requested that further lessons be assisted by AI. Still, her heart remained in the work, and she resumed teaching as soon as she was able to.
A Life of Hospitality and Purpose
Barbara’s ministry continues in her home, where she boards a refugee to whom she’s teaching LOTW lessons, and another Iranian who is seeking work. She shares meals, lessons, and the love of Jesus. She works closely with her pastor, prays regularly with her supportive weekly church fellowship group, the local Iranian church, and relevant linked Christian organizations. She is always looking for opportunities to witness. Her life has not been without suffering—bereavement grief, divorce, and chronic fatigue—but Barbara continues to look to see how the Lord is with her in each trial and how He shines His glory in one way or another, so that even if we only see Him through a glass darkly through the hardest times, He’s right there. Knowing that the Word teaches us that this equips us to more effectively serve others who are suffering, she sees herself a “small cog” in the giant wheel of God’s work, yet the light she brings is anything but small.
A Legacy of Faith
Barbara Newsome is not just a teacher. She is an evangelist, a prayer warrior, a servant of the gospel. Her legacy is written on the hearts of the countless students who now read and speak English, and who have also heard the name of Jesus—often for the first time. As she says, “Despite all the brokenness of this world, the Lord continues to do new life-giving things. Light of the World Learning is now lighting up hearts and minds in many parts of the world.” Through faithful servants like Barbara, the light continues to shine.