Finishing Up Old Testament Lessons
It’s still raining. But the rain held off long enough for us to be able to teach 3 days this week. We are teaching the final Old Testament lessons right now. We are emphasizing how God always saved those who believed His Word. (see below for more highlights!) Despite the poor weather and the fact that with the weather like this nobody knows till the last minute if we will be able to meet, we still had 30 adults attending. And the people are responding well to the lessons. We are often in too much of a hurry to get to the “good stuff” in the New Testament that we skip over the Judges, Kings and Prophets in the Old Testament. But these are important for tying the story of God together. Not to mention, without them, how would we understand what Jesus meant when the people asked Him for a sign and he replied that the only sign they would get was the sign of Jonah. (3 days in the belly of a fish just as Jesus would be 3 days in the belly of the earth) Another thing that is becoming very clear to the Simbaris is that the Israelites were given God’s law but they continuously failed to follow it. For people who think they can please God by their good works this is an important lesson to learn. It was not because of their ability to “follow” God well that He accepted them. But rather he accepts those who see that they CAN’T follow well and so turn to Him alone for help.
Substitute Literacy Teacher
Shari has taken over teaching the literacy classes while our co-worker Lori Morley is out in town for some medical exams. Shari spends most of her time homeschooling so hasn’t been able to be as involved as she would like to be with literacy. So with fear and trembling she taught her first class and came out with a big smile on her face. She did fine and had a great time too. The students are doing so well it was a joy to teach them. They just finished primer 3 and received their 3rd practice reader storybook. It’s a story about a boy who from the time he is a baby has a facination with bugs. As he grows he gets into trouble playing practical jokes with bugs and so on. But in the end he grows up to be a good hunter. It doesn’t use all the letters of the Simbari alphabet. The story was carefully written using only the letters taught in the first 3 primers.
In Him,
David and Shari Ogg
(Esther, Simon, Rachel and Jason)
Praise and Prayer:
- Pray for the weather to clear, it is raining as I write this.
- Pray for good health for our family as some of us are getting colds.
- Our co-worker Lori has been having some abdominal pain, Pray for wisdom in diagnosing and treating whatever it is.
- Praise for the great team we have praying for and supporting us here on the field and at home too.
This Week’s Teaching Highlights:
- God always does what He promises. He brought the Israelites into the promised land after 40 years in the desert.
- Then even though they quit following God and worshipped other gods, when they turned back to God and again put their trust in Him, He always saved them.
- The people chose to have a man as king (following the ways of the nations around them) instead of God who had been their true king.
- Saul is appointed but doesn’t obey God’s word and so God picks another king, David.
- David agreed with God that he was a sinner and believed that only God could save him.
- God gave the same promise of a coming Deliverer to David that he had given to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
- David’s son builds the temple where the priests continue to offer blood sacrifices. God accepted the blood as a covering for the sins of the people of Israel.
- Some while worshiping false gods came to worship God at the temple too but God would not accept their worship.
- God sent prophets with His talk urging the people to change their thinking and turn to the one true God.
- He sent Jonah to Israel’s enemies at Nineveh. But he tried to run and hide from God. Is that possible? No way!
- God made a big fish swallow him. He was helpless to save himself but he prayed to God. Acknowledging his sin and asking God to help him and God did. (after 3 days and nights the fish spit him up on shore)
- When the sinful Ninevites heard God’s word they changed their thinking and turned to God.
- When they believed in God they escaped the punishment they deserved.
- God is the same now too. He has given us His Word in the Bible warning us to change our thinking and turn to God alone for help.