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All About Love

"I think this book, it is all about love."

Mary came to this conclusion after a couple weeks of struggling with the fall of man and the flood.

I can't say it any better than that.

Discussion over Dinner

Surprise! At our next meeting we heard the knock on the door, opened it, and there was Lisa and a new friend of her's. The new person, I'll call her June, said "Hello, I want to learn the Bible too!"

"Great, come on in" I welcomed them into our home.


This meeting was being squeezed in between School and Work for them, so Supper time was the only time we could me. Sara and I had planned on having two people over, but June showing up rather than Mary was a surprise.

I had given Mary and Lisa handouts to introduce them to Abraham for the last week. Lisa brought hers with her and we went over them briefly. After that, I wanted to assess where the students were at through discussion. Having a new student with us, it was important to know what she knew. Surprisingly, she was fairly familiar with the material. Some of her time using the Bible was in her native country, while in the US she has studied a little with Mary and Lisa.

About 20 minutes into our time together, Mary showed up, so we all squeezed into our tiny kitchen and began a review of the past few weeks so everyone could be on the same page. Before moving on we got stuck on the "fall of man" topic again. Sara and I tried to encompass the free will of man as well as the sinful nature of man to describe the paid God experienced at the time. I could tell Mary was still having a tough time with it, trying to understand how God, our Creator, could also be God, the destroyer of life. I told Mary I'd be happy to find some more material on the issue from experts who understand it more than i do.

Before we knew it, our time was up. I pray we can get past this and that God will provide understanding of this tough part of man's history.

The Fall

The third meeting we discussed a very hard topic that Christians today struggle with so much, death and destruction.

Genesis 6:7 says ...
So the LORD said, "I will wipe mankind, whom I have created, from the face of the earth—men and animals, and creatures that move along the ground, and birds of the air—for I am grieved that I have made them."

This did not sit well with Mary. She came to the comment, "I don't think it is right that everyone should die." A follow up question was, "If God created them, why couldn't He make them do good things?"

The prompt led to great discussion on how we are consequences of our choices since the fall of Man. Thankfully God does Love so much to give us His son to free us from those consequences. We explained that without choice, there would be no love.

This opened up a new way of thinking for them. I feel God's leading is very strong because they are asking significant questions to reveal His true nature. I'm excited for what is next, though I know they have more questions about why God wiped the Earth of all His people. I've given them a week to read for themselves without any worksheets, we'll see what questions they have next week.

In The Beginning

We started off our study of the Bible using worksheets that would help guide them through the first few chapters of Genesis. They like using the worksheets because it gives them an idea of what they should be getting out of the chapter. Most of our time was spent in discussion about the text and less on the worksheets. They posed many really good questions, yet one question became the center of some good discussion:

Why does it say "Let us man man in our image? Who is 'us'? Who is 'our'?"

There are many theologians who are still debating who this verse is referring to, Sara and I took the Trinity approach and attempted to introduce God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. I know they could hear what we were saying, but I trust understanding will come with more time. I assured them that the concept will make more sense as we study more.

In the end they understood God as the creator of Earth and of Man, which is a very good start. Next week we get into the fall of man.

The Stories are True?

The first meeting was a getting to know you meeting. We examined what our friends Lisa and Mary have already heard. It is important that we approach our study free from any misconceptions or false teaching. Mary has read more from the bible during her time in her home country.

Lisa had not heard anything of the Bible before, which really sets the tone for what our class will start out with. I've never known someone who has not ever read the Bible before. It was exciting for them and me to explain the essential simplicity of the Bible in the fact that its a Book full of stories. I explained that the stories are about God working through people thousand of years ago all the way up to 2 thousand years ago.

Upon this, Lisa asked, "So the stories in the Bible are true?"

This set the tone for how our lessons would begin.

Fresh Perspectives

**For the sake of this blog being public and 'teacher-student confidentiality' being upheld, the names of the students will be changed. It is also necessary to understand the religious/political situations of where these students come from that will keep me from sharing their native country.**

Yet another chapter in Sara and I's book of life has begun. The Lord knows exactly what we need and will give us only that which has a purpose. This time, the blessing has come in the form of two students from the East pursuing a Master's in Education with me.

This will be the beginning of a journal about a journey the Lord is taking us on in Discipling. To my knowledge this road began just a couple weeks ago, however it is possible that God had been preparing this time months past when these two students were in a class with me last semester.
I'm so excited to share this story for all those who care to read.

About two weeks ago, one of the girls in my class, Mary, asked me,"May I speak with you after class?"
"Sure!" I said.
Five minutes later after our teacher had dismissed class Mary said, "You do missions right?"
"yea," I responded
"Would you teach me Bible? I have a class later this semester and I want to learn the Bible."
"Well sure!" I remarked. "When do you want to meet? Is there anyone else who would like to join?" I had known Mary last semester in a Counseling class I was in. She had a good friend, Lisa, who was with her in that class; both of them were in this class as well. I had hoped she'd invited Lisa to come as well. After Mary approached Lisa about it, we set a date for the following Sunday.

I was both humbled and excited about this amazing opportunity. Never had I imagined that someone would ask Me to learn the Bible! I had actually even decided the prior semester that if someone else would reach out to these students from the East, I would stick with Africa. Praise God for His Divine action in our ways.

I feel like Philip when the angel told him to go South toward the desert. I have no desire to go to the East, or the desert in Philip's case, but the Lord has a purpose. Philip had spent time in other cities proclaiming Christ and seeing God work amazing things through him, just as I have spent time in Africa seeing God work there. I wonder what Philip thought when, in the middle of the road, he comes across a guy reading scripture and seeking answers. The Lord told Philip to go to the Chariot that the Eunuch was riding in and the Eunuch invited Philip in.

In the next blog I will talk about the first lesson as I try to catch up to present day.