What We Do
Information for internationals 
Our Mission
Water for Ishmael’s mission is to partner with the local church to build a
welcoming community for Toledo area internationals, to share the hope and love
of Jesus Christ, and to empower internationals with skills to become successful.
Water for Ishmael fulfills its mission by:
01 Inviting and involving the local church in all we do.
At Water for Ishmael, members of churches from multiple traditions and denominations across the wider Toledo area love their international neighbor with their time and gifts. Church members volunteer to teach classes to internationals, to aid teachers in the classroom, and to drive internationals to classes, among other forms of volunteering. Pastors join Water for Ishmael staff in prayer for the work of the local church. Churches give freely in love from their missions budgets to support internationals through Water for Ishmael.
02 Sharing the hope and love of Jesus Christ.
Because we have been loved so greatly, we are freed and invited to love our neighbor as ourselves. Internationals are our neighbors. We want all internationals to know that God loves them, sees them, and cares for their needs. Our very name comes from Genesis 21, where God saw the plight of Hagar and her son Ishmael, who had been cast out of Abraham’s house, and God provided water for the boy Ishmael. We share the hope and love of Jesus with internationals through word and deed, sharing stories with our clients from God’s Word, practicing culturally sensitive evangelism, engaging in spiritual conversations, and also providing a quality English education, childcare, hospitality, and community to those we serve.
03 Empowering internationals with skills to become successful.
Water for Ishmael serves internationals from six weeks old through the elderly. Even students who have no reading and writing skills in their native language can begin their journey to English proficiency at Water for Ishmael and progress through multiple levels of English education. For those seeking to enter the workforce, Water for Ishmael offers English for vocational purposes. For international children, Water for Ishmael offers infant, toddler, and preschool classes that will help children prepare for kindergarten in the United States. For school-age international students, Water for Ishmael offers homework help. Water for Ishmaels helps internationals become U.S. citizens, learn how to earn a driver’s license and how to vote, prepares internationals to advocate for themselves and their families in education and healthcare, and helps internationals access social services with confidence.
Our Vision
At Water for Ishmael, we want every international in Toledo to “connect, belong, and become.”
01 Connect
At Water for Ishmael, internationals connect with other immigrants and refugees. Internationals also find staff who are here to help them meet their goals and achieve their dreams. They interact with community members and are able to find jobs through the connections they make at Water for Ishmael.
02 Belong
At Water for Ishmael, internationals move from isolation to community. They enter a warm, inviting place of welcome. International voices are heard and respected in our classes. Water for Ishmael helps internationals become productive members of the local community. And in many cases, internationals move from a place of trauma and rejection to a place of peace and acceptance at Water for Ishmael.
03 Become
At Water for Ishmael, internationals move from dependency to self-sufficiency, from receiving to contributing, from “I can’t!’ to “I can!” Internationals become citizens. Mothers become advocates for themselves and their families. Internationals gain the skills needed to get and hold a job, to earn a driver’s license, to access social services, and to attain other meaningful marks of integration into our community.
OUR PROGRAMS
OUR PROGRAMS
American School Women (ASW): American School for Women (ASW) is a women-only English school that not only provides international women with a quality English education, but also facilitates life-giving relationships between women from different backgrounds and cultures. In partnership with American School Children (ASC), ASW aims to remove the barrier of childcare that often prevents international women from acquiring the English skills necessary to find their own voice in society and become an advocate for themselves and their families.
ASW teachers and volunteers are passionate about building relationships and empowering international women to reach their goals! ASW features English classes for beginners (Literacy level) to students with some English skills who want to grow stronger toward English proficiency (Levels 1-5). ASW also features a number of elective classes for international women including grammar, newspaper reading, and sewing.
ASW students are determined! Some want to go back to school or attend college for the first time. Others just want to understand their doctor or child’s teacher. Whatever ASW students’ goals are, Water for Ishmael strives to empower international women with the skills they need to achieve them. To learn more about ASW or apply for classes CLICK HERE
American School Children (ASC): American School Children (ASC) offers childcare and preschool for children from six weeks old through pre-kindergarten. International children from multiple countries learn and play alongside the children of Water for Ishmael’s staff and other children from the Toledo community.
It can take up to 5 years for children whose native language is not English to gain the English skills necessary to learn at the same pace as native-born American children in American schools. American School for Children’s classes aim to close this language gap for international children and prepare them for kindergarten.
Beyond education, though, international children need a strong foundation of love, community, and creative play to adapt to life in a new country. Our colorful classrooms and outdoor playground offer children a space of their own to learn and make new friends.
Would you like your children to join our community? To learn more or apply for ASC classes, CLICK HERE
American School Evening (ASE): American School Evening offers English classes for both men and women! ASE classes meet on Tuesday and Thursday evenings from 6:30pm to 8:30pm. ASE’s classes are especially designed for students who are busy at work during the day, who need help gaining the language skills needed to find and keep a job, or who just want to find a fun, multicultural environment where they can learn English alongside a community of fellow internationals from around the world!
American School Evening meets students where they are in the process of learning English, offering multiple levels of English training for students who are beginners to students who are trying to improve their English skills for work, community relationships, or other needs.
Are you ready to join the exciting community of ASE? To learn more about ASE or to apply for classes, CLICK HERE.
Connect.
Belong.
Become.
American School Kids (ASK): American School Kids offers homework and general academic help to school-age international students. It can be overwhelming for immigrant and refugee school-age students to adapt to school and to life in a new country. Not only may schoolwork be hard for international kids, but making friends, too. ASK not only offers these students a helping hand with schoolwork, but also a community of other international students who can identify with their needs. Our ASK staff and volunteers understand these challenges, and are there to help international students succeed! ASK can also help international families with school-age children to navigate relationships with teachers.
Are you interested in finding out more about how ASK can help your school-age student? To learn more or apply for ASK, CLICK HERE.
Workforce Development (WFD): Workforce Development links internationals with job opportunities in America. Water for Ishmael has an English for Specific Purposes teacher who prepares internationals for careers in trades like STNA (State-Testing Nursing Assistant), office specialist, building trades, welding, and other vocations with career-specific vocabulary and soft skills for the American workplace.
WFI Welcome Corps: In 2024, Water for Ishmael became the first nonprofit organization in Ohio to be designated a Private Sponsor Organization (PSO) with the U.S. State Department’s new Welcome Corps program. Welcome Corps recruits, supports, resources, and oversees private sponsor groups of 5+ Americans who are receiving and resettling refugees. Through Welcome Corps, Water for Ishmael offers life-giving, and in some cases life-saving, resettlement to legally vetted refugees who in many cases may be fleeing war or other life-threatening situations in their home countries. Through Welcome Corps, Water for Ishmael helps the local church be the hands and feet of Jesus to the foreigner and the stranger, offering hope of a better tomorrow.
Global Opportunities at the University of Toledo (GO-UT): Water for Ishmael partners with Global Opportunities at the University of Toledo to serve international students with two programs:
- Conversation Partners (CP): Conversation Partners serves international students at the University of Toledo who are studying English by providing a volunteer conversation partner to practice their conversational English one hour a week for one semester. Through Conversation Partners, Water for Ishmael and GO-UT build cross-cultural friendships through the simple task of practicing conversational English with an international university student. In this way, internationals and Americans broaden their views of the world and internationals gain a greater sense of their belonging in our community. For more information and to apply to be a conversation partner, CLICK HERE.
- Toledo International Hospitality Program (TIHP): Through TIHP, Water for Ishmael links international students with American families for fun monthly activities for one school year. Internationals and their partnering families may gather for a meal, go to the zoo, attend a sporting event, or other forms of relationship-building and recreation. TIHP especially helps local families practice hospitality with internationals. For more information and to learn how to partner with TIHP to build relationships with international students, CLICK HERE.
- Household Items Giveaway: GO-UT provides furniture and other household furnishings to international students at the University of Toledo. To donate furniture or to learn more about this unique hospitality program, click here: https://www.utoledo.edu/cisp/international/IEP/GO_UT/Household_Items/hig.html.
- English Corner: English Corner is a fun, informal weekly time of tutoring for international students to improve their English skills. It is open to any internationals from the greater Toledo area who would like to attend. Activities at English Corner range from studying to playing games to discussing cross-cultural topics and sharing light refreshments. English Corner also holds picnics and cookouts! To learn more about this fun, engaging time of cross-cultural learning, click here: https://www.utoledo.edu/cisp/international/IEP/GO_UT/English_Corner/ec.html.
WANT TO KNOW MORE?
If you would like to learn more about Water for Ishmael’s life-changing work with internationals, please contact us at https://waterforishmael.org/contact/.
If you would like to learn more about volunteering at Water for Ishmael, scheduling a tour of our building, or becoming a financial partner with us, please visit our “Get Involved” page at https://waterforishmael.org/get-involved/. We look forward to hearing from you!