...too small a thing...: The Joys of Teaching Pastors

It was a great class to be a part of and especially to be able to teach. They were excellent students. So faithful and so studious. We were teaching the Bible Training Center for Pastors (BTCP) curriculum. These students have been through 3 years of study already with Jim Palmer's Bible Institute Teaching program and the thought was to turn the level up a notch. The first course on the program of BTCP is the Biblical Interpretations Methods. It is a very detailed course dealing with three basic questions about Biblical Texts.

What does it say?
What does it mean?
What shall we do?

The first photo is the class from the back. I taught 4 sessions each day and Jim taught one session for me each day. We took a break about every hour and a half, and I assure you it was a welcome break. Both classes would head out to get something to drink and head to the bathroom. Getting them back in when the break was over was a challenge the first time or two but I soon discovered beating a metal pot was a good signal. I did this the first day or so and then the Kitchen help took great joy in using the pots they were not using to do the signal for me. They laughed and laughed each time we had to start back.

There was of course a time to testing for each of the students too. We used the test more as a learning tool than a evaluation tool. They were all looking in their books which we encouraged and helping each other which we surely encouraged. They all did well. Everybody likes to do well on a test. But they were a bit apprehensive about how they would do. It was a joy to go over each question and see them as they realized the reason and truth of each of the answers.

The Last of these photos is something that would look familiar to my Sunday School class. It seems I am sometimes a bit carried away in my teaching and decided to try my hand at a silly drawing to keep the attention of the class. I drew an Ethiopian man who has Jesus in his heart. This is why he is smiling. They were laughing and talking about the man but what really surprised me was that they took our their phones ( yes most of them have a cell phone) and took pictures of this silly stick mean.

The joy of teaching is multiplied when the students want to learn. They are eager, full of questions, and all so very thankful that we came so far and help them so much. Their perception and knowledge is inspiring. The pastors are true Bible students and gaining knowledge of how to interpret the Bible is something they really were desires to have. I thank God for each of you who have prayed for me and every sponsor of Mission Team Inc who has helped to make this and every trip of MTI possible. We have been able to do a few extra things on this trip to help the work here and I will be sharing these with you in the next few days.