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Young Men’s Classes
Back in April
when John and Esther Ratovohery were getting ready to go to the United
States to visit their supporting congregations, the young men at Ankadivato
had a decision to make. Should the Monday night and Thursday night teaching
be dropped back to only one night a week? The reason for this being, with
John in the United States, I would have more teaching to do (twice a week,
instead of once a week) on top of all of the other responsibilities that
go along with being a missionary, and the Ratovohery’s being in the United
States.
I assured the
men that if they wanted to continue on Monday and Thursday nights, we could
find enough material to keep us busy while studying God’s word. I suggested
that instead of covering topics, we could cover a book or books of the
bible, outlining their history and trying to better understand to whom
the books were written and why they were written. Then applications could
be made to help us in our daily lives. This would give the young men a
better insight into the books of the bible, that they have not received
in the past.
The young men
eagerly decided to study books of the bible, and instead of dropping back
to only one night a week (either Monday or Thursday night), Tuesday nights
were added to give us more time to discuss in depth the background and
history of each book, and how it relates to the other books in the bible
and our lives today. It was, and continues to be, such a joy to see these
young men eager to study and give their time and money to come to the center
three extra times a week, instead of just on Sunday for worship together
with the family of God that meets at Ankadivato.
All said and
done, we then only needed to decide what book or books would be studied
during the three months that John and Esther Ratovohery were in the United
States. This was really not a hard decision. For some time now (three of
the four years that we have lived in Madagascar), the big topic for discussion
or bible study has been the book of Revelation. You can read about it in
the papers, hear about on the television and radio and see large banners
strung above the roads all over town, advertising teaching from the book
of Revelation. So, it was not hard to understand why the young men so eagerly
accepted to study the book of Revelation.
Several people
had mentioned what they heard from various "teachers" of the book of Revelation.
Many of them said that when they started to listen to the teaching from
the beginning of the book, they agreed with what was being taught. But,
as the study progressed the "teachers" would get further and further away
from what the bible says, and would start bringing other teachings into
the book. Many became discouraged because of this leaving of the written
word, and stopped listening to the radio programs that were broadcast nightly.
Maybe these so called "teachers" are helping to spread truth by being so
far off from what God’s word is actually saying. These so called "teachers"
wet the appetite of the Malagasy people and are making it easy to interest
people in bible study. Just as the young men were interested in studying
through Revelation.
It was not my first
time to teach through the book of Revelation. About three years ago there
was a group of seven women that wanted to study the bible. Specifically
the book of Revelation. During almost one year (every Friday afternoon
for two hours), we (John and I) would meet together in the center at Ankadivato
with the seven women and study God’s word. During that study it was easy
to show the struggle that is in our lives between good and evil. Also,
how the good will always overcome the evil. Emphasis was placed on the
saints that were receiving persecution due to their belief in God and His
Son Jesus Christ. I pointed out that those saints were the people that,
"have come out of the great tribulation; they have washed their robes and
made them white in the blood of the Lamb." Revelation 7:14. When the study
of Revelation was completed three of those seven women were baptized into
Christ (March 6, 1999). Today two of those seven faithfully worship with
the Ankadivato congregation, and from time to time we see the other five
women. Lord willing they too will become faithful to the call of our Lord
and Savior Jesus Christ. Please pray for their souls.
As the young
men and I started to study the book of Revelation (Monday, Tuesday and
Thursday evenings from 5:30 - 6:30, often times till 7:00), we spent one
week studying and discussing the history, date, background information
and setting of the book. It was necessary to establish all of this information,
so that we could correctly understand what takes place in the revelation
of Christ to John on the isle of Patmos. (The class was conducted in much
the same way as bible classes are conducted in the United States, with
there always being a lot of questions and good discussion that helped to
clarify the message that Christ was giving to His servants in the seven
churches of Asia.) Then we started to read each chapter an discuss what
John saw and wrote to the seven churches in Asia.
During our study
of Revelation many questions were also asked concerning any connection
between the book of Daniel in the Old Testament and the Book of Revelation
in the New Testament. So, now we are involved in a study of the book of
Daniel. Studying both the book of Revelation and Daniel has made it possible
to bring out, and talk about the many varying opinions that people have
concerning things that are written in the Bible.
John and I have
offered our libraries of Bible reference books and commentaries, as limited
as they may be, so that the young men can do further study on their own.
Most of John’s books are in the French language, and all of mine are in
English. So, the men can choose the language with which they are more comfortable.
Please pray
for these young men as they study, grow and become better workmen in the
kingdom of God. And as they prepare themselves to become the future teachers,
preachers, deacons and elders in God’s church in Madagascar.
"Do your
best to present yourself to God as one approved, a workman who does not
need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth." (2
Tim 2:15 NIV) |
