I did a new thing this week and it was awesome! I studied the Bible with two Muslim women from Iraq!
Brittney, Kenisha and I did a "Discovery Bible Study" with our friends Widad and Sinarya, both Iraqi refugees. Widad is a widow and is around 50 years old, and Sinarya is single and came here alone. She's only 25. I've known Widad for about five months and Sinarya just moved here a couple months ago. They are both sweet, funny and outgoing.
I'm not exactly sure what Widad believes about Jesus but I know that her father was Christian and she grew up going to a Christian church in Iraq. She read the Bible regularly with another woman last year. She also reads the Qur'an. When I asked her if she follows Jesus, she said "Yes, Jesus is very nice. When I was in the hospital, I prayed to Jesus." (She's had a couple recent hospital visits recently due to her heart.) Part of the problem is simply the language barrier. Her English is good but not great.
Neither she nor Sanarya cover their heads. They are both Sunni and from the same region of Iraq. I really don't know too much about Sanarya except that she worked for the U.S. Army in Iraq.
We asked each of them last week if they would like to study the Bible with us and they both said yes. So on Monday the five of us packed a picnic and went to Mueller Park. We sat by the pond and watched the sun set and enjoyed the cooler temperature. We started with the first chapter of Genesis, Gen. 1-25. The story of creation.
Brittney found this awesome website where you can print the English version and the Arabic version of the passage side by side. So we brought copies of that.
Sanarya read the passage out loud in Arabic. It was so sweet because after almost every verse, Widad would say "That's the truth!" or "Yes, that is right!" I felt like I was sitting next to a Baptist preacher. After she was done reading, she said 'It's just like the Qur'an!"
So in Discovery Bible Study, the goal is let the Bible be the teacher. So after reading the passage, we asked three simple questions. 1) What does this passage tell us about God? 2) What does this passage tell us about man? and 3) If this passage is true, how would it change the way you live your life this week? It was so simple but we had a great discussion. We also each said one person that we could tell the story to this week.
Afterward, we asked if they would like to do it again next Monday and they both said yes! So we will continue with the rest of Genesis Chapter 1. I'm really excited!
Brittney, Kenisha and I did a "Discovery Bible Study" with our friends Widad and Sinarya, both Iraqi refugees. Widad is a widow and is around 50 years old, and Sinarya is single and came here alone. She's only 25. I've known Widad for about five months and Sinarya just moved here a couple months ago. They are both sweet, funny and outgoing.
I'm not exactly sure what Widad believes about Jesus but I know that her father was Christian and she grew up going to a Christian church in Iraq. She read the Bible regularly with another woman last year. She also reads the Qur'an. When I asked her if she follows Jesus, she said "Yes, Jesus is very nice. When I was in the hospital, I prayed to Jesus." (She's had a couple recent hospital visits recently due to her heart.) Part of the problem is simply the language barrier. Her English is good but not great.
Neither she nor Sanarya cover their heads. They are both Sunni and from the same region of Iraq. I really don't know too much about Sanarya except that she worked for the U.S. Army in Iraq.
We asked each of them last week if they would like to study the Bible with us and they both said yes. So on Monday the five of us packed a picnic and went to Mueller Park. We sat by the pond and watched the sun set and enjoyed the cooler temperature. We started with the first chapter of Genesis, Gen. 1-25. The story of creation.
Brittney found this awesome website where you can print the English version and the Arabic version of the passage side by side. So we brought copies of that.
Sanarya read the passage out loud in Arabic. It was so sweet because after almost every verse, Widad would say "That's the truth!" or "Yes, that is right!" I felt like I was sitting next to a Baptist preacher. After she was done reading, she said 'It's just like the Qur'an!"
So in Discovery Bible Study, the goal is let the Bible be the teacher. So after reading the passage, we asked three simple questions. 1) What does this passage tell us about God? 2) What does this passage tell us about man? and 3) If this passage is true, how would it change the way you live your life this week? It was so simple but we had a great discussion. We also each said one person that we could tell the story to this week.
Afterward, we asked if they would like to do it again next Monday and they both said yes! So we will continue with the rest of Genesis Chapter 1. I'm really excited!
Widad, Sanarya and Brittney
