Some of you may be interested to know how we came to the point of ‘Thinking through the Bible’ on this island…
In our 31st year of ministry in South Africa we began to realize that our mission in the Indian Ocean coastal city of Durban was coming to an end. We knew that those the Lord brought into our lives to become ‘equipped with the Word for the work of ministry’ would not grow under our shadow – they needed full ‘Son-shine’!
And then in our 32nd year we were invited by our commending church here on the island to consider the possibility of returning to America, and specifically Bainbridge Island, to ‘do what we did in ministry in Africa’. We dared not ignore the timing because of the realization we came to a year earlier – we see this as God making us aware of some changes! After our visit and after consulting with those we were in partnership with in the Durban area, we agreed to make the move in April, 2007. There was a time of feeling quite surprised that our move would be back to America, because we always thought it would be to another location in southern Africa.
After settling into our present home on Bainbridge Island in June, 2007, and becoming involved as a ‘teaching elder’ in Bainbridge Bible Chapel, we knew that there would be a transition time while we became accustomed to the American culture we had left behind 33 years earlier (especially with its changes), and while we gave ourselves to those the Lord once again brought into our lives. We also knew time was necessary to develop loving relationships built on trust, no matter how fast the pace was in our new environment! It reminded us of the title of a book by C. Peter Wagner many years ago: ‘Stop The World And Let Me Get On’.
Finally, in January, 2010 we began to sense that we were beginning to ‘do what we did in ministry in Africa’ when a group gathered in our home on Sunday afternoons to begin ‘Thinking through the Bible’ together in a similar way we did it in South Africa. We gathered to get to know the Bible as ‘One Book’ that gives God’s Story. And then this summer an interest developed for us to consider taking this approach in our Sunday morning meetings. It was received well.
The Sunday afternoon sessions will continue, so pray that those who have gone before others will be a living example of what it means to truly ‘think’ about what they read, and share it in a non-threatening way by listening without interrupting, which will be the topic of my next blog, so stay tuned…
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