We started up our teaching program again after a week of break with our 38th lesson. Monday there were a number of funerals in the village so we used the time to do a review with the few people that showed up. On Tuesday we started in earnest with a lesson on the tabernacle. Wednesday Francois taught on the Israelites worshiping the golden calf. On Thursday we taught on how the Israelites refused to enter the promised land and were condemned to wander in the wilderness for 40 years.
Next week Francois is away on a survey trip as we make plans as an organization to open a work with a new people group. That means I (Phil) will be teaching all four lessons so pray as I prepare this weekend. Monday we will teach on the bronze serpent. During the rest of the week we will cover the entrance into the Promised land, the time of the judges, King David, the building of the temple, etc.
One of the items we would like prayer for is attendance. This last week it has been down. We don’t know all the reasons for this but we suspect that part of it is because we just started up again after a break. Another reason for low attendance is that the gardens are all starting to produce and people are busy. Peanuts, an important cash crop, are starting to be harvested. Another cash crop is rice and the rice is starting to ripen. This is the time of year that people start harvesting and if they are not harvesting they are busy keeping the monkeys and birds from ruining their crops.
We thank God for the media players that allow people to track with the teaching of God’s word even when they can’t attend the teaching sessions. At the same time we pray that people will attend the actual teaching sessions and not rely exclusively on the media players.