School Of Biblical Studies, 2009-2010

This is our class! 26 Students, 8 Staff Members

Our students are from: the States, Canada, South Africa, Kenya, Malawi, Italy, Nigeria, Zambia, Switzerland, Norway and Australia. They range in age from 19 to 72.

Our staff are from the States, Canada, Zimbabwe and Zambia.

As you can see, we have a very diverse and interesting group. We are really enjoying getting to know our students. They're a lot of fun and are very interested in learning on both the academic and heart level. The Holy Spirit is already at work in their lives and we've heard several testimonies about things God is teaching them and challenging them with and changing in them. We call those moments our "paycheck" moments! It makes all that we're doing worthwhile.

We will share more stories about this amazing class as we go.

Hans Taught Mark

The School of Biblical Studies is cruising along... We've completed our first month of classes. We have an amazing group of students who are soaking up God's word. We will introduce you to some of them soon...

Last week Hans taught on the book of Mark. He had 3 days to teach... 9 hours of lecture. He did a great job and many students expressed how God challenged them and spoke to them through their study of this gospel. Hans encouraged the students to think about things in ways they hadn't before, and there was much lively discussion both in and out of class.

This is the back row... (L-R) Minah and Christine from South Africa, Ann from Kenya and Natalie from Malawi

And this next pic is Minah and Cherie from Canada... who says studying the Bible can't be fun!

Muizenberg Kite Festival

This weekend was the annual Muizenberg Kite Festival. Since Muizenberg is one of the windiest places on the Cape Peninsula, it's the natural place to have a kite festival. Unless it happens to be the one weekend out of the whole year without wind! The first photo is from last year's Kite Festival. The next one is from this year's festival. You will see the difference! Even though there wasn't wind, people showed up in droves to eat carnival food (potato chips on a stick are delicious) and hang out for the day. It was still an entertaining way to spend a few hours this afternoon...

I did think it was interesting that you could get tested for HIV and TB at the Kite Festival. (That's what the booths in the picture below were for.) Not something you see at most carnivals in the states.

Classes are Underway!

It's been a little while since we've posted... we've just completed our first 2 weeks of classes for the School of Biblical Studies. We've had classes morning and evening in order to introduce the students to the Inductive Bible Study method and to prepare them to study the Bible for the next 9 months. After next week, we will only have class 2 to 4 mornings a week, and the rest of the time they will be studying on their own. As staff, we spend a lot of time working one on one with students, grading their work, and preparing to teach on different books of the Bible. It's challenging and exciting and life-changing, all at the same time. Right now we are enjoying getting to know our students, who are from so many different cultures and nations and walks of life. They are a great group and we are very excited to study the Bible with them for the next 9 months!

Here's a few photos from our first week...

Our class room before the students arrived:

Our class room bursting at the seams with students:

Class outing to Boulders Beach to picnic with the penguins:

There will be more pictures to come... Stay tuned!