Discipleship Adventures

There are few things that I find more exciting than discipleship. Teaching God's Word to hungry young women is one the most fulfilling joys of my life. There is something so precious about seeing the light in someone's eyes as they grasp hold of new truths from the Bible and learn more of the Lord than they knew before.

Three weeks ago, I went over to our neighbor's house to help the ladies in their family with a home work assignment for the Sunday school class we are all in at church. Because these ladies are baby Christians and their knowledge of Scripture is limited, I figured they would need some assistance navigating their way through the home work assignment as well as the pages of Scripture necessary to fulfilling it. They were very grateful for the help, and we had a delightful time gathered around their kitchen table studying Proverbs 31, Titus 2, and 1 Peter 3 as pertains to virtuous women! These Scripture verses were new to them and they gleaned a lot from the pages of God's Word.

During that evening study, the oldest daughter, Stephanie (age 17), asked if I was available every Wednesday to come and do Bible study together. What a blessing to hear her request!

Stephanie is one of the "sheep" in my little fold, having become a Christian at age 12 during an evangelistic Bible study outreach I held for neighborhood girls several years ago. Soon after, her mother became a believer as well, and then her two younger siblings awhile later. They came to church off and on when they could, but it's hard to stay faithful when one's father is not on board with this whole "Christianity" thing. (We've been praying though...and God's definitely doing a work in his heart!)

It's been ages since Stephanie and I have done any Bible study together, her high school home work being the main distracting factor. Therefore, I was surprised and incredibly exciting when she inquired about the possibility of meeting weekly for study. She is so hungry for the Word of God right now and longs to grow.

Well, tonight marked the third Wednesday of our discipleship nights, and they have been such a blessing to me! I look forward to them every week. Last week, after Stephanie and I had studied two Psalms, with Amber (13) listening in, Amber peppered me with dozens of questions that took us the rest of the evening to get through! Questions like, "What's going to happen at the end of the world?" "Do people get a second chance after they die?" "How come God doesn't talk to people out loud the way He did in the Bible?" "What about dinosaurs?" Some questions were random; some were related to one another. She had obviously been thinking a lot about these different topics and it was so much fun to feed her with the knowledge she was hungry to understand. Not long into our discussion, the girls' mother joined us at the table. With each question, we turned to Bible verses that answered them. It was obvious to see each person's wheels turning and the light bulbs clicking on as God's Word made sense!

Seeing Amber's quest for answers, we made a deal that night. From now on, the first thirty minutes of our time together will be devoted to a structured study, followed by another thirty minutes for questions and answers. This caused both girls to be satisfied with the arrangement and their mom smiled too.

Tonight, Stephanie and I were able to make it through 5 Psalms, stopping along the way to explain definitions, look up cross references, and share which verses were particularly meaningful to us. Amber listened in again as she ate Chinese take-out. (I'm learning that she is more of an auditory learner rather than one who needs to see things written to understand them!) When we finished with the Psalms, her question tonight had to do with Satan and whether people could see him or not. Well, of course, such a question merits a very long answer as I felt it necessary to explain the background of Satan, his demons, their agenda, etc. We finished by reading in Ephesians 6 about the armor God has given us in which to stand strong against the devil, and the weapons we are to use in battle. Both girls were encouraged by this passage! (And so was I!)

I am so grateful for the precious gift of God's Word and the opportunity to share in its riches with these sweet friends. There is nothing more exciting than seeing disciples of Jesus Christ grow in their love for Him!