We greatly appreciate your prayers as Stephen and Manfred have recently started new home Bible Studies. Currently Stephen is teaching the Creation to Christ series in two different Agutaynen homes, soon to be three. During the week, prior to teaching these lessons again, both men are working together to revise them for this format of Home Bible studies, less “preachy” and more interactive. In other words, the men are getting the Agutaynens into God’s Word by asking them questions and then they are given a verse to find the answer. By doing so, the Agutaynens can’t answer the question according to their worldview but according to God’s Word.
If you were to look at one of Stephen’s lessons, you would notice many colors. Manfred starts by looking over our old lessons and revising them. When he is finished, the lesson is in black. Manfred then gives the lesson to Stephen to look over and to make any suggestions he thinks are needed. Sometimes these suggestions are just regarding grammar or the focus of the verb. Other times, his suggestions have to do with cultural examples or a verse to use. Stephen’s suggestions are usually colored purple. Then Stephen gives the lesson back to Manfred, and Manfred looks at all the purple. If he accepts these suggestions then the color remains purple. However, if he thinks it should be worded differently, he makes these changes in orange. Usually, but not always, Bible verses are blue. Then, once again, Manfred sends the lesson back to Stephen. Stephen will take the revised lesson and have an Agutaynen believer read through it for final approval. Most of his suggestion are made in the lesson, and as you guessed, given another color, green. The lesson is finally finished, until Stephen prints it out and reads it again prior to the teaching. At that time, Stephen makes many handwritten notes, stress markings on words, and so on.
Please pray for Stephen and Manfred as they partner with the believers in teaching these new lessons. On top of revising and teaching these lessons, the men spend time with their Agutaynen partner. Stephen often has these partners ask the review questions at the beginning of each Bible study. So a day or two before the teaching, Stephen meets with one of his partners and goes over these questions and answers. This ensures that the partner is familiar with these questions and also the answers. Stephen encourages these partners to confirm or correct the answers given by using verses that we have already read in prior meetings. Hopefully, in the weeks to come, Stephen will give more and more responsibility to his partners as they teach the new lessons.
Thank you for partnering with us through your prayers. As you can tell, we need wisdom and strength from the Lord.