The Fifth Week....

of class is over. The topic was Bible Overview and Inductive Bible Study. It proved to be an impossible task to cover every book of the Bible, as the time was not enough. Even briefly touching on the major Old Testament stories and general history leading up to the birth of Christ was difficult. Our teacher taught in English so I was translating for her. I know my Portuguese is not perfect. It is actually quite rusty after 3 years in America but I felt like I was managing. But one student finally came and told me “I’m not understanding you. I think it is your accent.” I was quite discouraged.



MELISSA, THE TEACHER OF THE WEEK, AND ME TRANSLATING FOR HER

After 3 days of Bible overview, the teacher switched to introducing the inductive Bible study method. At this point, we divided the class up between the literate and illiterate students. I took the illiterate students (about 9 of them) and started over from the beginning, teaching them a few Old Testament stories. It seemed as if the Bible overview had not gone well because the students were not familiar with the characters and events we were referring too. So our task was redefined from teaching Bible overview to Bible literacy – basic characters, stories, and themes.
The literate students, many of them with a high school education, treaded deep waters with the teacher, diving into the book of Titus. It was hard work, digging up information about original audience, drawing out observations from the passage and deriving application for their lives. But they stuck with it and were richly rewarded! Light bulbs starting going on and excitement grew as the Word of God came alive to them! (By the way, Victor started translated for the teaching when I left with the illiterate group, and then the students realized and commented that the problem was not my Portuguese, but that so much of the material had been new, they had not be able to process a lot of it. That made me feel a bit better.) So the week finished well.

A couple of the students’ summaries: “Before the Bible had always seemed confusing to me. But now I know how to study it and can study it for myself!” Another student was challenged by God’s Word through Titus: “I’ve realized that I need to change my life and live a more faithful righteous life so that I do not bring dishonor to the name of Christ!” Praise the Lord!


HALF THE STUDENTS (THOSE WITH DIFFICULTY READING AND WRITING) AND I WORK ON LEARNING A FEW OLD TESTAMENT STORIES

One more testimony from one of the students: “When I go home, I’m going to return as a real Christian. I’m learning so much. And I just thank God for the change in my wife. She is from a Muslim family and has been reluctant to be a Christian. We had been staying in the home of her family (I think a sister) but when we left to come here, they made it clear that we were not welcome to return. But since coming here, my wife has changed. She now will not allow us to go to sleep without praying first. And first thing in the morning, she wants to pray. What a change!” Yeah! Praise God!