Back to 'normal" at BEC

We are looking forward to this week when our routines at BEC get back to normal. Our worship service last week was very small, with only three of us, but yesterday it was wonderful to see Nirann, Sithy and Nirath, along with 5 of the ‘dormers’. Of course Gaye and Loy were there too, but Him is away for the next six weeks on a practicum. Steve gave us uplifting words of exhortation. Following the meeting we had a smaller study with Nirath, Sithy and Long Ang in response questions by Nirath about “hell”. It is times like this when we realise the benefits of marking our Bibles. To move through the verses, which support our Bible beliefs helped Nirath understand the problems of believing in an everlasting “hell” of fire and brimstone.

We have been searching for suitable Bibles for our contacts to read. One we have purchased recently is the Everyday Bible which has simple language, although some of the accompanying notes on subjects such as the Trinity need to be considered carefully.

We received a phone call last week from a young lady interested in Bible study, after she read our advertisement in the local paper. She came for the first time last Thursday and wants to come each Saturday and Sunday afternoons. She has lived in Japan for about 10 years and has studied with Christians there. She is so keen that when she arrived for her first lesson on Saturday she brought four other friends with her, much to our surprise!!! This was wonderful for us and we are so excited. When she came yesterday she again brought another friend! Loy has been translating in these lessons, which is great for her also.

Today we sent another bicycle to LCDI so that the students can ride in to BEC for Bible study through the week. Our tuk tuk driver, Vanna, was very helpful as he and Steve loaded it on board. Nirann offered to take Steve on the back of his moto holding the bicycle to get it to LCDI but we decided that may not be the safest way! This makes three bicycles available to students which means that 6 of them can come each time.

We begin our early morning visits to the dorm again tomorrow at 6am. We will continue our studies about prayer and thanksgiving. The dormers who are competent in English take turns to translate in these sessions. Our morning and afternoon groups of dormers are growing and we find that many of these young men also need extra help with their English. We are going to run English classes for some of them for half and hour prior to the Bible study lesson which will hopefully help their understanding.

We have spent considerable time over the last week adapting the Learn to Read the Bible Effectively course for our local audience as we plan to present it each Saturday night at Bethezer boys’ dorm over the next couple of months. Of course the dormers will be there, but we have invited many of our other contacts to attend as well. Nirann will translate, which will double the presentation time of each session. It has been necessary, therefore, to divide some sessions into two. Thanks to Peter we have been able to download the slides from the net and adapt them as well. Please remember us in your prayers that God will be with us and open the ears of those attending. There are so many people here who are already Christians but search for the opportunity to study God’s word. It is so wonderful to be part of this and our name, Bible Education Centre, is so appropriate because we are educating these people how to read the Bible for themselves and empowering them to develop a personal relationship with God and Jesus.

We continue to be inspired by our sister Gaye’s commitment to studying God’s word…if only we all maintained such dedication following our baptism! She rides her bicycle to BEC each evening when she finishes work at 7pm and we have a study time with her and Loy. She has requested that we read Revelation at present, so we are all enjoying the challenges of symbolism and the unfolding pictures of the Kingdom. The friendship between Loy and Gaye continues to grow and they often stay over at each other’s homes…they have much fun together and are a source of great pleasure to us with their laughter, often encouraged by Steve’s silly jokes or teasing!

Spare a thought for this hard working lady across the road from BEC who cooks rice and soup for a soup kitchen down the road. She cooks through the hottest part of the day on wood fires, with temperatures up around 36 degrees…she is amazing - to say the least. So are these girls, who are unloading this truckload of bricks in the same heat!