Tonight I sat under a simple thatched roof and listened to the frogs croaking. I sat on a wooden milking stool and held a child with scabies. I shooed away pigs who insisted on being in the middle of the circle and watched chickens peck at the bugs around me. I watched little kids (including mine) burying their feet in the dirt floor and swatted at the mosquitoes on my legs. Tonight was Bible study.
Our Bible study probably looks different than your typical study in the States – both in the setting and in the way we teach. Since many of our believers are illiterate, Jeff has been working really hard at making our studies paperless and reproducible. In the picture below, Jeff is teaching II Timothy. Well, it really isn’t a story, but an encouragement to Timothy to not let go of his Christian heritage. Jeff broke the book into 4 parts and on a dry erase board he drew out the story in 4 squares. At the bible study, he told the story twice (from memory) by using the pictures in each square as a prompt. Then, he broke it up square by square and expected audience participation. He asked who wanted to tackle the first square (2 or 3 people did), then 2 or 3 tackled the 2nd part of the story, then a couple did the 3rd and then a couple did the 4th. At the end, a few people said the entire story. The whole process is very repetitive and a bit slow for our North American thinking, but it works here. Our believers are able to share the story with neighbors and family.....which is so exciting.
Pray for the various small groups that meet throughout the week. Currently Jeff is preparing bible study material and teaching the groups in hopes that they will one day be able to prepare and teach on their own. It takes a lot of time and patience, but it is so rewarding when we see the passion these families have for studying the word of the Lord.
1 comment:
Been thinking about yall a lot lately. Praying for M and her family.
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