Setting good models in Scripture

I took my first steps with the Bible in Sunday school as an elementary student and, simultaneously, at home through family devotions. It was during this time that I got my first Bible and started reading for myself the words that I heard others teaching.

It was very special to have the opportunity to grow in my understanding of how to study the Bible. Through my participation in high school and college student ministries, I became familiar with a method known as Inductive Bible Study. Following this, as staff with EvaSUE (IFES movement in Ethiopia), I learnt an approach called the Manuscript Study Method.

People often ask me to name my favourite Scripture passages; however, there are no particular passages that I enjoy as such. Rather, different passages become relevant at different times in my life. Having said that, due to the frequency with which I have studied the first half of Mark’s gospel, I have grown to appreciate and cherish how Mark describes Jesus’ teachings on obedience. This is particularly true of the parable of the sower (or should we call it the parable of the soils?), which speaks to this gospel’s larger message of discipleship. Jesus’ teachings on this theme inspire me to see the daily, practical, and seemingly mundane aspects of discipleship.

When reflecting on the needs of and challenges for this generation of students as they seek to engage with the Scriptures, I have two main observations. First, I think this generation requires solid grounding and discipleship in their basic knowledge of the Bible – both its meta-narrative and the smaller portions. This point also ties in with how our churches are doing discipleship. Second, the generation responsible for equipping students to handle the Scriptures must lead by example, where it concerns application of the Word in our respective contexts.

Finally, I would like to share some of my goals for how I will continue to grow in the Scriptures. First, I want to consistently observe my own quiet time, during which I can study the Bible. Second, I should be an example to students in obeying what I read, preach and teach.

Messay Imru
EvaSUE Scripture Engagement coordinator and member of the IFES Scripture Engagement global team

From Caribbean region: The Artistic Bible Study Method

I am happy to share with you an approach we use in the CARIFES region called “The Artistic Bible study method”. It was developed to guide students into the Scriptures from an artistic point of view.

This way of reading can help participants appreciate the details of a passage, while learning to communicate that appreciation in a creative and easy way. What remains of central importance is that we are engaging in the process of exploration. As an additional benefit, students may discover a new talent and enjoy the experience.

However, allow me a few words of caution before explaining this method further. While it is good, this approach may not be adequate in all cases, and it is the leader’s responsibility to manage the choice of texts accordingly. The goal is for participants to respond to the Bible passage using multiple senses and from different perspectives, increasing the possibilities for more comprehensive appreciation of the material. As it is not a rigid method, variations can be tested and implemented.

Regarding the tools needed, every participant should have paper, pencils, and pens in different colours. If tablets are available, these could also be used.

In the first stage, participants must explore and focus on the chosen text for 5 minutes. This time allows each person to consider their understanding of the passage and how they might express that understanding in their drawing. After this, participants should be given enough time to recreate their ideas on paper and share them with the group.

Some questions that can prompt reflection and creative response include:

– Are there any keywords that catch my attention?
– What is clear or not clear?
– What relevant information or important events do I see in the passage?
– What does this mean and how is this speaking to me?

When everybody has shared and explained their drawings, there is an opportunity for what we call “Debate”. Every participant will share one thought about each drawing, considering questions such as:

– Which drawing speaks to you? Why?
– What is your favourite? Why?
– What would you do differently?

Finally, we have what is called “Go Further”. In this stage, participants have the chance to draw something new about the passage and explain what about it is different and why. As an alternative to the ‘’Debate’’, after finishing their first drawings, the group can study the text using the traditional method of ‘’Observation, Interpretation, and Application’’, after which they should complete a second drawing for discussion.

We have tested this method during a training session with students in the region and, according to the survey taken at the end of this training, it was their favourite part. I was impressed with how clearly their drawings expressed the students’ understanding of the text, but also how diverse and rich lessons from the same text can be.

Jean-Davy Frair
CARIFES regional staff team as a Francophone Staff

Scripture Engagement: Power, Poetry and People in South Asia

“Build me up, Lord, keep me firmly rooted
So the truth I’ve found doesn’t become diluted
Let me abound in grace and wisdom
So I may not concede to a worldly system
Lord, make me stronger, take me farther and deeper,
Establish my steps, so I may be a way keeper”
[Excerpt from poem by ST – Artwork by Timaandra Wijesuriya]

You might recognise the verses that inspired ST to write this poem!

ST is a member of the IFES South Asia Scripture Engagement Multipliers Network which is made up of student ministry staff and graduate volunteers. Together we explore how God engages the hearts and minds of South Asians through his Word.

At a recent gathering of the Network, we reflected on Paul’s letter to the Colossians and its impact on us today. We noticed the underlying themes of power and wisdom in the letter and how Paul helps the small Christian community in Colossae to recognize Jesus as the true source of power and wisdom.

This sparked a discussion on where power rests in South Asian society (political entities, family relationships, social structures, memories and interpretations of history, etc.) and how we witness to Jesus and God’s kingdom in the midst of this reality.

We recognized the importance of letting the word of God dwell amongst us in a communal setting (Colossians 3:16) and how God uses those conversations to reveal the fault lines in our communities as well as in areas of our personal lives that need transformation.

For South Asian Christians – who form small, minority communities in their respective countries – this experience was both challenging and encouraging. In shame-oriented and violent cultures, airing personal and community issues presents a challenge. However, the witness of Paul, whose imprisonment by Roman authorities did not stop him proclaiming the universal Lordship of Jesus, was deeply encouraging.

As is evident in ST’s poem, itself inspired by reading Paul’s letter to the Colossians, God’s living Word continues to speak and minister to us in our various situations.

In the coming year, the IFES South Asia Scripture Engagement Multipliers hope to continue to meet, reflect on, and listen to God’s direction through his Word. In our gatherings, we want to spend time exploring Scripture engagement in terms of:

• Creative expression – exploring the interaction between the Scriptures and artistic expression (poetry, song, dance, drama, digital media etc.)
• Spiritual formation – exploring how the Scriptures lead us into greater personal intimacy with God and maturity in Christ
• Contextual engagement – exploring how the Scriptures speaks into the issues present in South Asian societies and mindsets

We’d value your prayers as we take these next steps together… and encourage you to share in this journey by reading Colossians in your contexts!

Yohan Abeynaike
Scripture Engagement Lead – IFES South Asia

Engaging Seekers in the Word

When Zhenya went to a graduation ceremony in the capital city of her Eurasian home country, she noticed the presence of hundreds of international students.They’d been living there for 5 years and were now about to depart, probably without having heard the gospel…

Her desire to reach them with the good news of Jesus seemed an impossible goal. But 12 years on, thanks to the Lord’s direction and provision, a thriving International Student ministry now exists – including students from other sensitive countries.

At the heart of this ministry are hospitality and the Word of God. I asked Zhenya a few questions so we can hear more:

1. How do you study the Bible with international students?

We now have 25-40 students who cram into a small apartment each week – we make food together, eat, and study the Scriptures. It’s really important that the students feel safe and can ask their questions, debate, and also respectfully disagree in the context of friendship.

For our inductive Bible studies, the passage is printed out in all the languages of the students attending and this makes the Word accessible to everyone. After the main leader has asked questions about the text, we split into small (language-based) groups with student leaders to help facilitate a discussion.

It is very important that we ask questions. The leader must ask good questions that guide everyone through the passage and the students must be able to ask their questions of the text, to discover for themselves what is there, and be challenged to keep looking!

2. Over the years, what have you found to be important when studying the Word with students from different cultural contexts?

I’d say there are three main things:

a. Stories- students learn from stories! We mostly study the Gospels and, sometimes, Old Testament stories about the ‘heroes’. The main task is to allow the text to speak for itself and for students to be introduced to Jesus.

b. Visuals – In a multilingual, multi-cultural environment, it is so important to visualise the story; e.g., videos that illustrate the story, students acting out the passage, drawing pictures, and retelling the story.

c. Good real-world applications: the leaders need to guide students well, drawing on what students have said and helping them to see what the passages mean in their lived experiences.

3. Do you have a testimony of how God’s Word has impacted a particular student?

‘Maria’ from a small Muslim country is one example. In her own words, ‘Maria’ thought she already knew the truth, and was curious about her Christian friends who believed wholeheartedly in Jesus. Still believing in her god, she started to discover the truth of Jesus as she attended the Bible studies. But after two years of this, she realised that she believed in one god and was studying about another… and ‘Maria’ knew she couldn’t sit on the fence forever.

Week by week, she continued to discover more about Jesus through the Scriptures, until ‘Maria’ reached the point where she started to follow Him.

Reflecting on John 10, she testifies that:

“I was able to hear the Good Shepherd’s voice… and He has guided me to this decision.”

Paula
IFES Associate Secretary for Scripture Engagement

Engaging the Challenges of Our World

Ricardo Borges, IFES Secretary for Scripture Engagement, interviews Wilson Kiuna, from Kenya, member of the IFES global network of Scripture Engagement multipliers

Ricardo and Wilson

Why might it be important to ask questions of Scripture in the light of challenges we face in this world, such as the issue of politics?

We need to ask questions of Scripture primarily because the Bible is the revelation of God’s mind about the whole of reality; it guides how God’s people are to live, interpret, and wrestle with the issues and challenges of everyday life – across time, space, and culture (Deut. 32:47; 2 Tim 3:16-17). I also see in the Bible a humbling truth: the almighty God, who dwells in unapproachable light, yet invites us to [have a] dialogue with Him in our honest struggles. God is big enough to handle our doubts, anxieties, fears, frustrations. This certainly includes the trauma of broken socio-economic and political reality, as Gideon illustrates for us (e.g., Judg 6:13).

How best to ask questions of Scripture?

First, we need to appreciate the context of the lives of the communities of faith in the Bible; how they interpreted their own challenges; the kind of questions they asked – and to do this in light of God’s overall story in the Bible. Thus, using all our senses, we will try to immerse ourselves in their grief and lamentations, their joys and hope. Secondly, we need to study Scripture in community with others, with our feet grounded in our contemporary realities. This illuminates and deepens our vision.

The Bible is quite extensive and God’s revelation is given to us as a wide variety of content in different formats. As such, how do we know where to look for answers to the questions we ask?

I think it’s absolutely important to affirm that ALL SCRIPTURE is divinely inspired, and useful for all of life (2 Tim 3:16-17) – including inconvenient particularities of it, such as filing our tax returns! There is an essential theological unity that connects the entire Biblical story, pointing to, and ultimately finding fulfilment in Jesus Christ (Jn 5:39ff). In this regard, we begin to look for answers to our questions not merely to satisfy intellectual curiosity, but to respond in obedience to a personal invitation by Jesus himself “to come and have life” (Jn 5:40). So, we approach this quest with a humble plea for illumination and guidance, that whatever our starting point in Bible study, the Holy Spirit, our trustworthy teacher, will “open my eyes to see wonderful things in your law” (Psa 119:18).

What is the benefit of asking these questions with people who are different from us?

I believe that this practice helps us appreciate our ‘fellowship of neediness’ as God’s people – regardless of our cultural, gender, socio-economic and other aspects of diversity; we are all so needy of the grace of God! Second, this practice enriches our discernment of Biblical truth, as people share hermeneutical resources and tools from other cultures and lived experiences (cultural idiom, stories and anecdotes etc.), and illustrations of use of Scripture in real life. Thirdly, it provides a ‘redemptive’ challenge to our personal and cultural blind spots, which so often frustrate our Scripture engagement.

How do we deal with questions that the Scriptures ask of us in return?

I think it is a redemptive act of God’s mercy whenever Scriptures ask us questions – especially those that confront our various shortcomings. It often invites us into self-examination and realignment (Psa 139:23-24). This transformative aspect requires us to cultivate a contrite, teachable spirit (Psa 32:8-10), and the ‘Berean’ diligence of searching the Scriptures in community (Acts 17:11).

Questions to and from the Scriptures

Photo by Matt Walsh on Unsplash

I have always been fascinated by the questions we ask and that are asked of us when we interact with the Lord through Scripture. In this I include both the big and small matters of our time, asked by people around us, as well as the way in which the Scriptures themselves act to challenge and transform us.

Perhaps this is why I have enjoyed an exercise recently undertaken by our friends at IFES East Asia. Through a series of videos, staff from different movements are exposed to a text of Scripture and invited to ask questions prompted by that text. I believe this helps us recognize an important point that we often overlook: when we come to the Scriptures, who we are and where we are impacts how we respond. In other words, context matters.

The circumstances in which we live, our background – even our age and gender – all play a part in how we read the Word of God. I think that being more attentive to this would help us to benefit more from the diversity of the community in which we study the Scriptures. This variety of perspectives and questions would help us be mindful and open to how the Holy Spirit speaks his Word.

Being attentive to these nuances can also encourage us to be more effective in our witness. I believe that religious people, whether they are long-time Christians or interested in spiritual matters, ask questions that are quite different from those asked by an atheist or agnostic. When I study the biblical text, for example, the questions I pose are unlikely to be the same as those asked by someone from another religious tradition or non-religious worldview. But I should not ignore them; neither should I try to answer them quickly, nor say that they are not asking the “right” question of the biblical text. Rather, it is legitimate and appropriate to listen carefully and seek to understand the questions they bring to the Scriptures.

Similarly, we must always pay attention when the Scriptures ask something of us – especially when such queries disturb, challenge, or bother us. It is the questions we take away from our reading of the Bible, and those for which we do not find an easy answer, that usually have the most transforming potential. They shake the foundations of what we take for granted, whether in our own opinion or from broader tradition. In doing so, they reveal more to us of God’s authoritative voice. And that voice, spoken through the Scriptures, is the One that provokes change. Questions bring forth life, and we should not be afraid of them.

Ricardo Borges, IFES Secretary for Scripture Engagement.

Asking God honest questions — the Suffering of Job

“Who is God? Does He matter? Does He care for us?”

These seemingly simple questions could be the most profound questions that students ever ask…

[Artwork by Fercho Vera, Ecuador]

I grew up in a family of pastors. God was part of our daily lives. I knew Him and had some powerful experiences with Him from childhood. But in my years as a university student, I experienced a crisis of faith during a time of personal suffering and loss.

One day, a friend I had invited to attend our Bible study said: “I don’t want to get close to God. I’m afraid of Him because of the way he treated Job in the Bible.” Lacking a concrete answer, I concluded that she did not know God at all. But I too had these very same questions: “Who is God? Does He matter? Does He care for me?”

The Book of Job feels like a book that requires its reader to have a pre-arranged appointment! My journey with Job intensified last year when I was invited by GBUCh, the Chilean student movement, to prepare three talks for their national student conference online.

I first read the book three times, praying that any prejudice and prior knowledge would not hinder the process of knowing God more deeply through this book. As I reread Job again (and again), I kept asking: “Where is God in the whole narrative? What is the author telling us about who He is?” I was still left with many questions, but also a sense of wonder and worship.

Mindful of the friend who had been scared off by God’s behavior in Job, I prepared talks focused on chapters 1, 19, 28 and 42, which I feel provide many jewels to treasure about the Divine character. We, the readers, are taken on a journey. First, we witness the declaration of who God is and his love for Job (Job 1), only to encounter the turmoil and discomfort of Job’s suffering, echoed in his anguished cry of lament (Job 19). Finally, these scenes climax with the beautiful image of God as redeemer, giver of life, and we are introduced to Him as the personification of wisdom (Job 28). In the end, though not without difficulties for Job or our own understanding of the text, we see a God who restores and brings new life (Job 42).

I have walked in suffering and in joy with staff and students from Chile, Ecuador, and, most recently, northern México, as we have made our way through Job. These journeys have brought students to moments of reconciliation with God. As one participant said:

“God surprised me… I discovered the spirituality of someone who loves God deeply, God the marvelous Creator, who deeply loves us despite all the suffering He allows in our lives. The Book of Job inspires me to a new level of relationship with God, a life of honest prayer and waiting…”

Ana Miriam Peralta, staff worker with COMPA and member of the Scripture Engagement global team.

Engaging with Scripture and God in a time of war

[A dear Ukrainian friend from our Scripture Engagement multipliers network shares some thoughts.
She is faithfully walking alongside students and staff, studying the Bible with them and together they are caring for refugees of the conflict.]

On a recent visit to my mother, we could not take our eyes off the flowering bushes and daffodils that God seemed to have scattered everywhere, bringing His light into the darkness. (photo by L.S.)

It was a good reminder that God’s light has already eradicated darkness, and that He continues to be at work in our world. It is this truth that we need to experience, in the reality of our everyday lives, in this country.

On February 24th, people in Kharkiv, Kyiv, and other cities and villages woke up to the sound of their homes being bombed. In the days and months since, many innocent people have suffered in unimaginable ways. Men, women, and children of all ages have been killed or made homeless. They carry the scars of innumerable horrors with them: housewives and soldiers alike.

Kyiv suburb (photo by M.M).

Five million people left their homes looking for safety. Hearing stories of destruction and brutal terror from the refugees arriving in Lviv, we experienced shock and anger. We wept and called out to God with so many questions.

Just before Easter I woke up with a sudden anxiety attack. I tried to fall asleep, but all my worries intensified – what if our house was bombed and we had to flee: where would we go? What if my sons and husband were called up to fight? What if people were murdered in our city? And what if peace does not come soon?

That day, I spent a long time in silence, speaking with God.

I reflected on the last conversation Jesus had with His disciples in John 13-14, when He announced that He was to leave them.

Reading the disciples’ questions, I could almost feel their panic.

For three years, they were together: eating, laughing, seeing the miracles of Jesus. They listened to His teachings, experienced His power, and then, suddenly, Jesus was going to leave them – alone.

Faced with the anxiety of being without their Master, Healer, Teacher, and Prophet, the disciples wondered how they would cope. So, they asked where He was going and if they could follow Him there. One might say that they too had an anxiety attack.

“Believe in God, believe also in Me”- Jesus responded (John 14:1, see also 14:11-12).

That morning, I could almost see Jesus holding my hand and hear His voice telling me: ‘No, you do not understand all this suffering around you, the brutality and destruction your people are experiencing, just believe Me, believe in Me”. I continue to see God graciously giving me peace in my mind and calming my troubled heart. He gives me strength to continue walking the path He has laid out for me. I do not know the end, I just trust Him.

Unlearning and learning with Paul

For most of us in the African context, prayer and prayerfulness are an indispensable part of our spirituality. We pray, and we look to God for everything, from medical care to employment and bank loans. Nothing is left for granted or to chance because mostly our systems do fail us!

Prayerful as we are, some of our prayers are very much worrying. Their content is foreign to the language and the attitude of the Bible. The same can be said of the posture of our prayers and the people who pray them. The motivation is often fear and the desire to manipulate everything spiritual to our advantage.

Here are some of Paul’s prayers we looked at in a recent journey with staff of ESWAFES, the movement in Eswatini:

1) Paul thanking God for his people (e.g. Romans 1:8-10, 1 Corinthians 1:4, Ephesians 1:16, Philippians 1:3-4, Colossians 1:3, etc).

2) Paul prayed for their wisdom and knowledge (e.g. Ephesians 1:17, Ephesians 1:18, Romans 15:13).

3) Paul asked people to pray for him (e.g. 2 Th 3:1-2, Phil 1:22) and a range of many other issues.

As we looked at Paul’s prayers in our studies, we saw a lot of both learning and unlearning to do. We need to unlearn a lot of practices with which prayer has become associated in our context, just like how in their context, the disciples needed pray differently to hypocrites and pagans (Matthew 6:5-8).

Here is some of the unlearning:

a) God is not an errand boy we send around as we wish through prayer.

b) Prayer is not a weapon we use to change God’s mind and do our bidding.

c) Prayer is bigger than our own self-centredness; it is not about us.

These were very difficult things to unlearn because they have been part of our prayer economy for as long as our salvation and that of our pioneers! Praise God there were a lot of vital lessons learnt from Paul’s prayers including the following:

(a) God’s priorities must become our priorities in prayer.

(b) God’s sovereignty over the affairs of men and his creation are the basis of our confidence in prayer.

As we think about prayer, I would like to invite all of us to look at some of the great prayers God’s people made in the Bible. Let us try to learn from them. Paul’s prayers are such a wonderful collection for Christians today!

Mukululi Ncube, ESWAFES Re-pioneering Staff and member of IFES Global Team on Scripture Engagement.

The Bible in my life

The Bible is a lamp to our feet and a light for our path. It is healing for the soul; it is the breath of God himself. Through it, God challenges and comforts, rebukes and restores, exhorts and encourages. It is, in its entirety, God’s revelation of truth to us.

But the Bible can also be misused. That is why the great IFES discipline of inductive Bible study is important: learning to understand Scripture on its own terms; respecting the context and obeying the message, no matter how uncomfortable it may make us feel.

Bible study can also too easily become an abstract exercise. That is why I love that one of the core IFES values is not simply “the Bible”, but “Scripture Engagement”. All Bible study should not ultimately and primarily be about us, but about God, his character and his invitation to use this Holy Revelation to get to know him better.

When Darrell Johnson was interviewed at the 2015 World Assembly, he shared how, before he opened a passage to prepare for preaching, he would ask himself (referencing the Song of Solomon) “what does this passage tell me about him whom my heart loves?”. That should be the question for all of us when we open Scripture at any time, whether we are preachers or Bible study leaders or not.

Speaking personally, my journey with Scripture has gone through various stages. I was privileged to be taught it as an infant sitting at my parents’ feet and was fascinated by it as a listener; it was a bedtime story for me. In adolescence as I committed my life to Christ and read it regularly as a spiritual discipline, I saw it as a story to me; a set of exhortations to help me live well as a disciple.

Then as I grew in the faith, I realised it was a story about me; I saw more clearly my own shortcomings in the lives of its flawed heroes and marvelled at the sufficiency of Christ to cover all my sin. As I studied it more deeply in seminary and embarked on a preaching ministry, it became (not always for the best) a story from me; truths that I felt commissioned to pass on to others. Eventually I realised that these strands all needed to come together and, as I grasped more firmly the depth of God’s grace, they became a story growing within me. As I engage with Scripture, the Spirit who inspired those authors is the same Spirit who is convicting and changing me. That is a journey I am still on, and if I can, I want to bring others with me.

David Montgomery, IFES Europe Regional Secretary