Bible study in Bethlehem

Bethlehem is a suburb at the entrance to Loja.  As you arrive from the airport and hit the outskirts of Loja, then start descending into the valley, you know you are close. And when you see the pigs heads hanging on hooks in the eateries on the side of the road, you know you are in Bethlehem, in spanish otherwise known as Belen.

I was asked a while ago to help a family who goes to our church with leading some bible studies for a couple of months. We made our way through a compilation of studies that our pastor and I had developed as an introduction for new believers in the church. Over seven studies, it covers things like new birth, security of salvation, stewardship and how to make biblical decisions. It is a good little book for helping those new in the church understand some important aspects of the Christian life and how to approach these areas in a biblical way. Many ideas that people have are generally things they have heard culturally or what they have previously been taught growing up in the catholic church, without having investigated for themselves what the bible says about these things. This book in a small way helps with developing biblical ideas, rather than perhaps just ‘not-catholic’ ideas in their new found faith.

This family, like many in Loja, have grandparents, children and grandchildren all living in the same house or very close to each other and they were keen to invite neighbours along who aren’t christians too. My arrival at the house was a cue that bible study was happening that night and it was time to go round people up. 

The discussions over time have been interesting. One evening as we talked about new birth, the grandfather brought up the fact that we need to not idolise Maria. True, but maybe not so welcoming to the catholic lady he was sitting opposite to. 

And another time I headed up the hill to Bethlehem and I found myself in the lounge room playing marbles with the grandson, listening to the grandfather play the guitar and the grandmother in the kitchen cooking tortillas de maize. We then sat around eating fresh tortillas, which were much appreciated as being of a superior quality to those you can buy in the market. After all of these preliminaries, we then got stuck into the next study. It was an event not to be missed. So in the midst of it all I stopped myself from playing with the marbles long enough to take these photos.

I realised as we went along that there is still a lack of clarity for these guys in what the gospel actually is. And for those neighbours who aren’t christians, they need to hear more of Jesus. For now, we are having a break from the studies, but perhaps next on the agenda will be something like Simply Christianity, discovering together who Jesus is and the difference he makes. 

Personally I find that being able to enter someone’s house and share God’s word and build them up in the faith they have is a real encouragement to me. Even though sometimes I would rather be at home on Friday nights relaxing, it has definitely been worth it.  

Before leaving Bethlehem, and descending back down the valley, it’s worthwhile to pause and look up. The sky is immense and full of bright stars. It reminds me we serve a mighty God who by his Spirit will continue to make himself known to this family and their neighbours. It’s a process of learning we are all involved in.