'Blown away' with the benefits of God's Word
Missionary Chris Lujan is convinced that one of the greatest gifts that can be given to the Siar church, or any church, is to teach and equip believers to study the Bible on their own.
Chris says that when he sat down to prepare the curriculum for a three-day seminar on how to study the Bible, he was increasingly “blown away” with the benefits of studying God’s Word and with the impact of the negative consequences of not studying it.
“This will be no surprise to you, but missionaries are normal people who can easily lose focus,” Chris writes.
Some months back, Chris was thinking through how to help the Siar men write Bible lessons. Suddenly it dawned on him that these men first had to be equipped to study the Bible themselves.
“That mistake perhaps doesn’t seem so bad at face value, but unfortunately it has huge negative consequences,” explains Chris. “What good is it if we disciple unto ministry and Christ becomes an afterthought? That is exactly what happened in the Ephesian church, according to the book of Revelation. The lost their first love, Christ, Who is the Word.”
He continues, “So I was unknowingly preparing to take the Siar church down the road of losing their first love—because ministry was the focus, not Christ Himself.”
So Chris made plans for a Bible study course available to the entire Siar church, which included teaching, practicing, reading, asking questions, writing and fellowship. He says that three principles for understanding God’s Word were introduced: What does the Bible say? What does the Bible mean? and How does the Bible apply?
“Practically the whole church showed up for the whole course. About 25 people came faithfully and applied themselves to these brand new concepts. … They were really excited to practice it for themselves,” Chris says.
“We will have a church-wide study plan beginning this weekend where we can all be studying the same passage on our own and then can come together to talk about it. Erin and I are really looking forward to that time with the church,” he continues.
Chris is convinced that one of the greatest gifts that can be given to the Siar church is to teach and equip them to study the Bible on their own.
Chris concludes, “You could be praying for the Siar church in that.”
But he shares, too, his own desire to faithfully study God’s Word. His heart’s desire is that God will use His Word to “open up our lives to it so that we become more Christ-like through it. We, along with the Siar church, desire to be more like Him.”
Pray for Chris and Erin Lujan as they minister faithfully to the Siar church. Pray that God will use His Word powerfully to bring growth to both the church and the missionaries.