This is Keenan Beere reporting from Central Asia. Our first day of Bible training is complete. When we begin a new round of Bible classes, the first hours always seem to be the most difficult. Relationships are being established at this point and there is more “formality” in the class. But by the middle of the day, the “formality” was gone and we had a lively, profitable discussion. The first class was on homiletics (preaching) and the first few hours deal with “principles” and “theory”, so the lessons can seem a bit drier. We discovered that only a few in the class had ever tried to preach through a book of the Bible or through a large section of Scripture over a few weeks or months. At the end of the discussion, the students seemed to see the many benefits of expository preaching, and seemed to be open to trying to preach through a book of the Bible. This may not sound exciting to folks who do not preach or teach, but for those of you who do, I was pleased that the students were open to giving this a try. I was also pleased that the students asked so many questions as to how this form of preaching actually works. 

One of the other things that is really great about teaching classes is that one gets to spend more time with the students both in and outside of the class. It is great to hear their stories and ministries. I hope to share some of their stories later in the week. Some students lead drug rebab ministries. Others reach out to unbelievers in their villages through compassion ministries. Thanks for praying! God is good.