Introducing our Greek Reading Group (one of my favorite times of the day)

When I was an undergraduate student I greatly benefited from two voluntary study groups. The first was an informal Greek reading group that met for breakfast most mornings. If I remember correctly it was initiated or led by Randy Curtis and J.D. Meade. I met with them when I could and I think Brian Bunnell also met with us. Each morning (when we were able to roll out of bed in time) we ate breakfast together and tried to get through a chapter in our Greek New Testaments. It was in this informal and voluntary time of reading that my Greek clicked and things began to fall into place to enable me to use it on a regular basis moving forward.

Second, a new CIU professor at the time, Steve Baarendse, began a voluntary reading group that met once a week to discuss what we were reading outside of class. During my time in this group we read and discussed Life Together by Dietrich Bonhoeffer and The Religious Affections by Jonathan Edwards.

These two groups made a big impact on my development during my senior year and I often determined to facilitate a similar group if God ever led me to minister in a school setting. The time has come!

At the beginning of this semester I began a voluntary Greek reading group. There are no assignments and no needed preparation. We meet for breakfast Monday through Thursday and since beginning in August we have read and discussed John 1-12 in the Greek. My goal is to get through as much of the New Testament as we can between when a student starts and when they graduate. I was not sure if any students would commit to being a part since it is voluntary and there are quite a few competing pressures in a student's life (responsibilities, assignments, and tests that actually carry a grade) but I have been pleasantly surprised by attendance.

It is such a joy for me to study the New Testament in the original languages with students who are committed to loving God with all their heart, mind, and strength.

Student Highlight: John

John hails from Myanmar (Burma), a primarily Buddhist country that has experienced serious social, political, and economic difficulties this past century. Because of the economic situation it is very hard for students from Myanmar to get advanced education outside the country but due to Tyndale's scholarship program (supported by Christian individuals and churches) he, along with many of the other residential students, are able to further their studies. John will return to Myanmar at the end of his studies to teach at an underground (figuratively speaking of course) Bible school and train Burmese evangelists and to continue work on a Bible translation of his native language based upon the Hebrew and Greek.

Student Highlight: Assel

Assel was not raised in a Christian home but after coming to faith in Christ as a teenager has worked with Child Evangelism Fellowship in Kazakhstan for the past 11 years. She is pursuing further education at Tyndale in order to be better able to train and equip Christians in Kazakhstan to reach out to and evangelize children.

Student Highlight: Jean-Pierre

Jean-Pierre is a pastor from Rwanda with an amazing story of God's grace. When he was four he was abandoned to the streets by his mother who could not take care of him. He was rescued by his grandmother at some point and came to faith in Christ. In the aftermath of  the Rwandan genocide he felt God's call to  pastor and help meet people's serious spiritual needs. He is deeply concerned with helping the church meet the needs of people in Rwanda, particularly in light of country's past and present political and social turmoil.

Student Highlights: Fai and Manuel

Meet Fai and Manuel! They are two of our Dutch students who are currently serving God in the Netherlands and are both hoping to become missionaries after their studies at Tyndale. Manuel works as a youth pastor at a large church near Amsterdam and loves to engage in street evangelism and Fai works as an actor/singer/performer and witnesses for Christ among the many seekers he comes in contact with through his work. Although the Netherlands is a very spiritually needy country it is not devoid of Gospel witness! Please pray for the growth of God's kingdom in Amsterdam.

Student Highlight: David

Meet David from Ghana. He has a passion to return to Ghana after his studies at Tyndale to teach and train others for ministry and outreach. David notes that technically over half of the population of Ghana would identify themselves as Christians, but that many of these people are nominal Christians in name only and desperately need to encounter and be transformed by Jesus. I think that Ghana could become a great missionary sending nation in the future; please pray for David as he prepares for future ministry and service in his home country.

Student Highlight: Evan

Meet Evan from Serbia and hear his story; God rescued him from heroine addiction and has called him to missions. He cares deeply for God’s truth and keenly understands the spiritual/psychological issues involved with drug addiction and the power of God to bring salvation and transformation.

Student Highlight: Tadesse

Meet Tadesse from Ethiopia! He has been thrown into prison 2 different times for preaching the Gospel, has planted four churches in Ethiopia, and has a passion for training and equipping Christians in Ethiopia to effectively reach out and share the Gospel with Muslims. Persecution of Christians by Muslims is quite intense in Ethiopia so please pray for Tadesse along with his wife and daughter in Ethiopia. As a Christian living in America I have never experienced persecution or known what it is really like to suffer for Jesus' name. I am the teacher in the sense that I have studied and am teaching a technical subject (New Testament Greek) but I am also a student.

Student Highlight: Timothy

It has been a busy yet wonderful three weeks since we arrived in the Netherlands to teach at Tyndale Theological Seminary for the summer. Tyndale trains and equips pastors, evangelists, church leaders, and teachers from around the world. The best part of the ministry here is interaction with the students: they are passionate followers of Christ from diverse countries and cultures. It is so easy in America to lose sight of the global nature of Christianity and to think that God's kingdom is focused on America (hint: America is not God's Kingdom; God's kingdom is so much larger and grander, greatly surpassing any human geo-socio-political boundaries).

I want to give you a glimpse of the quality and passion of Tyndale students along with the ministry we are involved in here so I am beginning a series of blog-posts that will highlight various students through informal interviews. Please watch, listen, and pray for the ministry here and throughout God's world.

Timothy has a passion to evangelize the least-reached areas of Cameroon; please pray for his wife and children who had to remain in Cameroon during the course of his studies.