Bible Studies

Wow, it seems like it has been a while since we have jotted down a few notes from our life. We will try to do better.


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I did want to write and tell you about something that is very exciting to me. As many of you know or would guess part of sharing Christ with people is actually sitting down and talking about Christ with someone. Shocker, I know. As many of you probably know as well some of these conversations are easy to start with people and others are a little more difficult. Well while we were at Continent of Great Cities in Abilene they helped us see the benefit of having some written lessons to use in these situations. It really is a great idea. It helps you think through things you would like to talk about before your conversations and they can serve as great study guides for Bible studies or small group discussions. Another added benefit is they can be very helpful to new Christians that want to study the Bible with their friends as well. (yes, we also know that these lessons are not a magic bullet. However, they can be helpful especially for those of us still learning this new language.)
So with all of this encouragement we decided we would set out to write a set of lessons for our team to use. We decided who would write the lessons, what would be the focus of the lessons, and we even sketched out the content of some of the lessons and then set out to write them. We did not get off to as quick of a start as we had hoped, being that we started this process while still in Abilene, but I am so happy to report that the end seems to be within view. PRAISE THE LORD!! For the past month or so our committee has been meeting weekly to talk through the lessons and help each person think through content and language. And if our meetings themselves were not inspiring enough, the process of translation has been an absolute blessing.
Travis and Mary Virginia, the other two teammates on the committee with me, are currently taking language classes on their own and are currently working during at least one class a week to translate our lessons into Portuguese. What is amazing is that God provided one of the teachers to be a preacher from one of the local churches, so he, knowing the Biblical narrative already, is great at helping us know how to translate these lessons. God also provided the other teacher to be a wonderful woman who before starting to teach our team had not read her Bible in many years. She is a great blessings and brings a fresh set of eyes and an open heart to these conversations about our Lord. Hopefully soon I will be able to introduce them into our language class as well. What a blessings that before we are even finished, God is blessing us with conversations that draw us all closer to Him. Please be in prayer for these conversations, especially with our teachers who may be hearing the story of Christ anew. What an awesome God we serve!