The mission of Bible Study Fellowship is global, in-depth Bible classes producing passionate commitment to Christ, His Word and His Church. Our vision is to magnify God and mature His people as they cultivate a deeper relationship with Him.
Another Monday night and I just got back home from BSF
In my previous post about my calling, I mentioned BSF and briefly talked about how being a part of such an amazing group has helped shaped who I am as not only as a young adult, but as a Christian as well. Every person who has been a part of this unique organization has a story about how they came to join a BSF group. Well here’s mine:
It was the fall of 2009, I had just been though my first year of what turned out to be 3 years of being broke and unemployed, and I was bored since I didn’t have much of a social life at that point, and I was beginning to feel down about my situation. My mom was a member of a Tues morning ladies BSF group, and she found out about that there was a young adult group near by that met at Hope Lutheran Church in Farmington Hills. I really was not in the mood to go since I was shy and felt like it wouldn’t be much help to me, but like a good daughter I obeyed, and dragged my friend along with me for the welcome night. Let’s just say that going to the very first welcome night was life changing in a way that I had never knew it could change before that first night. After the introduction that night, I decided to commit to that year just to see where God would take me in my faith journey with BSF. The first 3 years were tough since there were issues, but all through that trial I kept going, growing in my faith, and learning more about the Bible, but all in all joining BSF has been one of the best choices that I had made in my life up to that point especially since I credit BSF for saving my life during a dark time in my life where I felt hopeless and wanted to give up my life since I felt like giving in to temptation to hurt myself, but it was with the help of prayer, keeping my faith strong and going to BSF weekly and being around people who I considered friends that I was able to fight back against my demons and I won.
Well 9 years later, I m still active in it, and I absolutely love it and my life has been transformed for the better because of BSF both spiritually and socially. I feel that due to the training that I have through BSF that it has prepared me for what I might have to do while on the Race. We are studying the Book of Romans this year, and I am just learning so much, and studying that book has caused me to look deeper into myself, and my faith, and is making me evaluating what it means to be a Christian which to me is just so powerful, not to mention that I feel like I have 50 plus brothers and sisters in Christ which is also pretty cool to me.
I am so thankful to have this group in my life as it has awesome to learn from my peers who understand all the in and outs of what it takes to be a Christian young adult in today’s world. As out area coordinator put it, we are the next generation Christians as it will be up to us to keep the light of God/Jesus lit for others to follow after the current generation is gone, and that is such a great thought to me.
Our group is led by our head teaching leaders, Jay and Kim. They are such an awesome and godly couple who have young adult children of their own (their daughter went on the race in 2016, and that was how I found out about World Race in the first place). They are passionate for the Lord, and it shows every week as they led us. They treat all 50 plus of us as if we were one of their own, and have hosted numerous fellowship gatherings at both their church, and their home that includes game nights, pool parties, and even an Old English dancing night along with joining us in other gatherings that we plan among each other such as bowling nights, and heading down to Belle Isle for the Freedom Fireworks every June just to name a few.
Another aspect of BSF is our small group discussions where we talk and go over the questions that go along with the passage that we have to read for that week. Each year means a new small group leader, and while I loved every single group leader that I have had, there is one gal who stands out the most to me.
Her name is Danielle, and she was my group leader during my second time of studying the Book of John. She is such a sweet, humble and godly woman, and an awesome leader for she challenged us during small group as well as in our weekly phone calls. I know that because of this that it helped me grow in my faith, and made me look at whatever it was from a different angle. She is also such a prayer warrior, and Danielle taught me to look at prayer differently and taught me that whenever I get overwhelmed/stressed out that I should go to the Lord in prayer, which is something that I must admit to not doing all of the time that I feel this way. She also taught me that there are times that I could pray for something that I would have never even considered praying in that kind of situation before such as when I visit a place with a troubled past such as a battlefield. It was also because of her that I started to attend church a little more regularly then I had been due to my crazy schedule which has led to other blessings in my life. She prayed for us, gave us advice, listened to us, and showed compassion for us especially if we were struggling for whatever reason she was there to talk to. (Not to mention the fact that she is also one heck of a volleyball player, and helped me with my volleyball serve during BSF game night) I often say that God puts people in our lives for a reason, and Danielle is definitely one of those people that I am thankful God put into my life, and I am so honored to call her a friend.
I am going to be so sad when I age out of such an amazedly awesome group since they have been such a huge part of my life, and I am honored to have became friends with so many of them. I feel like my training through BSF has helped me in my journey both before and during the Race.
Books that I have studied so far thanks to BSF:
Johnx2
Isaiah
Acts
Genesis
Revelations
Life of Moses
Matthew
Romans
I still have to study the History of Israel/minor Prophets BSF study
Remember to keep donating!!!!!!!!
Til next time your fellow sister in Christ,
Bonnie
Psalms 18:2
#yolo
