for the record, there is a huge difference between teaching the Bible to american teenagers and asian twenty somethings. just an observation…
on wednesdays, we skip the english lessons or computer lessons and we teach the classes about Christianity. it’s an optional attendance day, but most of the students come to hear the teachers teach about Jesus, or Christianity as a whole. i’ve learned this month that a mind that desires wisdom will find it. these students desire truth and seek after it with such reckless abandon, that i sit in class just smiling and their longing, knowing it will be matched by the promise of Scripture, made “yes”in Jesus, “Seek me and you will find me when you seek me with your whole heart,”or another “draw near to the Lord and he will draw near to you.”
We began with a game…youth group crowd breakers, (which are all i know) do NOT translate to asian culture which is all about saving face and not drawing attention to yourself…
but after, i was asked by a student, “tell us a story, teacher…”
most of my stories make me look silly, and have very little redemptive value – a fact i recognize, even though i love to tell those stories. in that moment, i again heard the word ‘teacher.’ immediately it made me imagine the disciples asking the same question of Jesus…a masterful storyteller. so i went on to tell a story of his, the parable of the unmerciful student, which can be found in Matthew 18. i shared the story, breaking it down into a bit simpler english, but telling the story.
It erupted into a discussion of forgiveness and who is worthy of forgiveness. It was great, and it was at that moment that a boy in the back row asked a profound question, “will you teach me HOW to forgive teacher…?” i thought. can i teach anyone how to forgive? As i wrestled with various scriptures, the Lord spoke through a quiet boy sitting in the opposite back corner.
”You cannot know how to forgive if you have not been forgiven. The story teacher shared tells of a king who forgave the servant much. God has forgiven us, and only if we’ve been forgiven will we know HOW to forgive.” He preached a bit more than that, but it was all scripture, and it was good…and the student, one of their peers, gave an invitation…
i don’t know the results of those seeds. perhaps a friend talked with him after class. perhaps a student is at home or at work as i type this, trying to know what the truth about God is…but i rest in the promises mentioned above…
Praise the Lord for students willing to step out of their comfort zones and be bold for Christ. Another student that we’ve come to know and love, Pisset, shared his testimony with us…and being a Christian is costly for him…but he’s bold and strong and courageous…
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i love and miss each of you all…thanks for your love, your prayers, and your emails…
Answered Prayer: almost every difficulty with finding ministries has been resolved…almost all of them…so you can continue praying as well.
Continued Requests: Matt Williams and Anna Coffey still need an army in prayer for them and for their support which they know the Lord will provide to come in…pray that they are able to trust God to provide…and that he’d move in hearts supposed to give to their trip.
