March Newletter
Dear Friends
This past month has been full of blessings. God continues to amaze us with opportunities to share the gospel and learn more about Him. In this letter we want to focus on evangelism and discipleship.
ABWE provided us with Good Soil evangelism and discipleship training in July of last year. One of the evangelism methods they taught us was The Story of Hope (TSOH). TSOH is a chronological approach to evangelism. In other words, a participant is walked through the story of the Bible as it was revealed to us in history. It starts out with Adam and Eve in the garden, progresses through numerous Old Testament stories, continues with the story of Jesus, and wraps up with a bridge that challenges the person to make a decision to put their faith in Jesus Christ. Throughout the study key theological ideas are introduced through the stories and are built upon in subsequent stories that create tension and excitement.
We have both been working individually with two unbelievers who committed to go through TSOH in ten one-hour sessions. The most difficult part that we have found is not jumping ahead in the story. The program challenges us to only reveal the story as it unfolds and not to unveil the ending. It is effective at causing people to contemplate ideas and concepts like sin that might be rushed through in other gospel presentations. TSOH also ensures that an individual understands God’s plan by simply telling the story that God provided to us in His Word.
Walking an individual through TSOH is a requirement that ABWE has for all prefielders before they leave for the field. It is a powerful evangelism tool especially when working with people from various cultural and religious backgrounds. We have found it helpful to become familiar with the process here in the U.S. before using it in another culture and speaking it in a new language! Please pray that these studies will be fruitful.
We have talked about discipleship in some of our past letters, but we wanted to update you on our education. We completed a Methods of Bible Study class this month and have started an Old Testament Survey class. Our goal is to complete the Old Testament Survey in about two months and move on to a New Testament Survey. After those classes we will wrap up the bulk of our core classes with Missional Theology and Muslim Evangelism. ABWE also requires two courses called Essential Mission Components and Field Prep Seminar that will help prepare us for work in The Gambia.
On a final note, we are thankful for the churches we visited this month. We met some wonderful people and were able to share our passion with them for The Gambia and the Wolof people.
Prayer Requests
Pray for our upcoming church visits and our safety as we travel.
Praise God that funding was secured for the radio ministry in The Gambia!
Pray that we may reach 50% financial support by June, so we can attend the EMC class mentioned above that is only offered once per year.
Pray for the missions’ conference in NY that we will be attending and presenting our ministry.
Thank you all for your prayers!
In Christ,
The Reeds
Patrick, Michele, Alyssa, Danielle, Luke
