Estudios Biblicos

Hello all,

Just a quick update on some of our Bible studies. They are all going very well! I'm currently conducting five studies, three in Spanish and two in English. Here are some of the particularly encouraging experiences we've had.

One of my English studies, Jorge, lived in California for over ten years, and speaks English very well. He currently lives in Chinandega with his wife and son, and they run a shop in the downtown market. I met him while doing censusing work with the English congregation and was able to start a study with him very quickly. We study out of the Good New From God brochure. He is such a nice guy, and always makes time for the study. He can read in English, but needs glasses, something he cannot afford. Thankfully, the lettering in the brochure is big enough for him to read on his own - he reads it every night before he goes to bed! Thus, he is always prepared well for our study. I also brought him a copy of the Bible in English. However, since the lettering is too small for him to read and his wife cannot read or speak English, I brought him a Spanish copy instead. They were really happy to receive it. Now, his wife reads it with him every night at dinner! He expects me there for the study every Friday, and looks forward to it. So do I!

Here is Simon conducting a Spanish study with a man named Alberto. They study out of the Listen to God brochure, due to the fact that Alberto can't read. Sadly, that is the case with many, many people in Ojo de Agua. Thankfully, most of my Spanish studies read fairly well, but not fluently. It is difficult to conduct a study out of this brochure because you basically have to describe every little thing. However, Simon does a great job with it, and Alberto loves when we come by. He may be chasing ducks around his yard when we get there, but he loves the brochure and the information we share. (SIDENOTE: Do you have any idea how awkward it is to try to take a picture during a Bible study without being noticed? With a huge iPad? It may not be the smartest thing to do, but I do it anyway. That's how dedicated I am to keeping you guys informed. That's how much I love you.)

A couple of weeks ago, Simon was in Costa Rica meeting up with his parents for a mini-vacation. One day while he was gone, nobody was out in the afternoon, and I had a study to conduct. I was really nervous to do it by myself, especially since the man talks very fast and can be hard to understand at times. It got even worse when his wife decided to start sitting in on the study! Obviously, I was happy that she wants to study with us now, but you can imagine that it was a pretty daunting task for me (The picture above was taken while my friend Amy was telling a scary story about spiders, but that is basically the same face I made when this situation arose)! However, it went very well. He actually does better with his wife there. I think it will work out well studying with both of them together. They always expect me there Wednesdays at 4:00. It's nice to have people ask you, "When are we gonna have our study??" You definitely don't get that back home! 

This week, we're getting ready to attend the "Safeguard Your Mind" Circuit Assembly in English. I'm looking forward to it! Also, I'll be blogging soon about something very exciting happening in the English field here. Are you on the edge of your seat with suspense? You should be. You should be...

Take care!

Sam