Bilingual Bible Study
It is so incredible how God works. He seems to always take seemingly normal situations and turn them into something beautiful and amazing right before your eyes in ways that you could never have imagined yourself!
What started as a simple request to us by good friends of ours to help them learn to read the bible and understand it for themselves one day per week, gradually morphed into our ever increasing bilingual bible study. As the neighbors heard that we were meeting to read the bible and discuss it at home, they came – many out of sheer curiosity – to see what that actually entailed and what it looked like.
Funny how it doesn’t take long for you to realize when God is calling you to something that you really don’t feel qualified for, like teaching a bible study in a second language that you are still learning yourself! The best part of that is how obvious it becomes that you have nothing to offer but yourself, your love of the Lord and your obedience to do whatever He has put before you. Watching the Holy Spirit move in people’s lives, including your own, as He makes His way through your faithfulness is nothing short of miraculous!
As the years have gone on, the bible study has grown and changed as God has seen fit. People from all walks of faith have gathered with us in sheer astonishment that it is possible to read the bible, understand it, ask questions and discuss things, and for some, have the scales fall from their eyes as God moves in their hearts and minds. Many have brought their family members creating the need for one table studying in English while another is studying in Spanish; their children have created the need for a children’s program, and some have gone on to have their lives radically changed by God and are now serving Him in wonderful ways.
The most awe-inspiring part of studying the Word of God, praying and praising Him with people in and from another country is to truly realize how big He is, how much He loves us all, and how He can bring people together with a common theme – to know Him. love Him and be saved by Him. Things change all of the time within the bible study, people come and go, the size ebbs and flows, but the one constant that never changes is Jesus Christ. We will continue to study His Word and welcome others to join with us – nothing fancy, just faithful.