CHURCH OUTSIDE

Sunday, June 7, 2009

How wonderful it was to sit outside and sing to the Lord today in Guarani. Usually we meet inside the Floyd’s house but since there was no electricity we met outside where there was light and warmth from the sun. It was a good thing because I don’t think everyone would have fit into their living room. God has been growing our Sunday morning group and it is so encouraging to see whole families attending.

After church each Sunday there is a (Paraguayan) leaders’ meeting. The students are taking turns sitting in on that. Basically, Jeff or Tony will walk the leaders through the steps of crafting a short story from God’s Word. They decide which parts best fit and which parts best bring to light the particular theme they have chosen. Then they decide as a group how to tell the story and the leaders will teach that story during their Bible studies that week. Because everything we do now is geared toward non-literate people, the leaders have the story, scripture verse, and theme memorized (through oral repetition) before they leave the meeting. Then Jeff records them telling the story in their own words. He immediately produces the week’s lesson (in their voice and their words) on an SD chip for them to take home and listen to on their own MP3 players.

This past week Jeff, Tony and three Paraguayan believers traveled to Caazapa to share this method of Bible study and teaching with the elders of a SIM church plant. They were very interested and enthusiastic about trying this method in their own church.

This evening Becky and Paul Dreiling joined us for our devotional time and shared with the group how God called and lead them into missions. Paul and Becky live in Asuncion. Paul is our director and Becky is the accountant. They have over 15years of experience living in Paraguay, church planting, and home schooling.