Sowing Seeds

After lots of preparation, hours on Powerpoint, and lots of study, Josh drove to Irapuato last Saturday to give his first class for the new Theological Education by Extension program for present and future church leaders in Central Mexico. He went in to the class a bit nervous knowing he'd be teaching for a total of 12 hours in nothing but Spanish and he'd be communicating deep truths and information about the New Testament to a group of 20 students. The class went really well. They purpose of the class was to give the students an understanding of the historical context of the New Testament so that they would be able to read it, interpret it, and apply it to their lives in a more complete and deeper way. The class appeared to be a success! The students were very participative and thoroughly enjoyed the group projects which included comparing and contrasting different hermeneutics, interpreting and applying the parables of Jesus, and identifying the different parts of New Testament letters.


The most challenging thing for Josh was of course the Spanish. Spending 7 hours on Saturday and 5 hours on Sunday teaching in Spanish is a bit taxing but it was also a very good exercise for him. In the end, both the students and Josh learned from the class. The most rewarding thing was seeing the students being challenged to think in new ways about the New Testament and to read it in a more historically grounded manner. The section on parables was probably the most fun as the students discovered the utter importance of keeping a text in its original context both socio-cultural and literary. Some light bulbs really went on during the parable section. All in all, the class went very well and Josh was able to learn more about how to be a better teacher while the students learned more about being better disciples.
This month Jennifer is preparing her course over Sects and World Religions and is proving to be quite a challenge as she is having to develop the curriculum by herself. She's working very hard but can't help but feel stressed. Please keep her in your prayers as she works on her course and pray for peace and guidance as she does so.