Holiday classes

(posted by Paul Zilmer & Norm Fadelle)

For the third year in a row, we are offering single-session classes during the holiday season. This time of year is very busy for most people, and it's hard for them to commit to a multi-week class. In the past, attendance has not been great. Primarily our "regulars" have attended one or two of them. This year, so far, we have had far better attendance, for which we are thankful.

Two of the four planned classes have been held: The Biggest Bible Study Question is "Why?" from Steve Johnson, and On Being Content from John Fischer. Both instructors are from the Bloomington ecclesia, and we are grateful for the ongoing support we get from Bloomington. Pictures of those classes are included below. We had a pretty full classroom both times, and there was good interaction afterwards as people stayed for coffee and conversation afterwards.

Coming up, in the last week of the year we will have Philip the Evangelist from David Jennings in Los Angeles, via Skype, and Parables: Going Deeper from Bruce Parker, traveling down from Chicago, in the first week of the new year.

Steve Johnson presents The Biggest Bible Study Question is "Why?"

John Fischer presents On Being Content; students & volunteers interact after class

Recognition event

(posted by Norm Fadelle, Ray Pratt, Paul Zilmer)

The Fall Term completed the week before the US Thanksgiving holiday, with the wrap-up of "History & Geography of the Bible" and "Gleanings from Ruth". As we have done at the conclusion of each term since we opened, we held a recognition event on December 1, to recognize and celebrate the accomplishments of our students.

We had (we think) a record attendance for a recognition event — 25 in all. Nine students completed one or more courses during the term. Two of them completed more than one, with one student completing four! Students are invited to bring guests to the event, and this time we had several. We hope that one day they will become students themselves!

Ray Pratt gave an inspirational Bible talk, which was well-received by the students and guests. Certificates of completion were then presented to all completers, as well as a gift book for all first-time completers, and a Bible Reading Calendar for all.

It was a great pleasure to celebrate with these students, and we believe the Father is also very pleased when He sees people seeking to learn more about His word.

Bible History & Geography class

(posted by Paul Zilmer)

Last evening we launched a new class, Introduction to the History & Geography of the Bible. Many people are quite unfamiliar with the geography of the Middle East, especially in ancient times. And even many who are pretty familiar with the Bible have trouble placing Abraham, David, Moses, Job, and Daniel in the flow of history and Bible events. We've scheduled this class twice before, but events have prevented us from actually delivering it, until now.

We had 15 in attendance, which included several members of the ecclesia. A home Bible class suspended their regular study and seven of the regulars are attending this class — five members and two students who are studying with them. All told, we had nine members and six students. Everyone seemed to get a lot out of the class. Some photos follow.

Long overdue catch-up

(posted by Paul Zilmer)

We are way behind in our posts! The summer concluded with 2 standalone classes: "Faith, Hope & Love" and "Prayer".

The Fall Term got underway the first week of September, with two 6-week classes. Wednesdays I presented "How to Study the Bible" again — the 4th time we've offered this course. On Thursdays Norm Fadelle presented "Basic Discipleship", I think for the third time. HTSTB had modest attendance, but 4 students completed. Two of these had taken the course before and were re-taking it for a refresher. The Discipleship class had good attendance and several completed, although there were a few who had to do some make-up classes to finish it out.

Last week, a new class started on Thursday nights. Steve Davis from Boston is presenting "Gleanings from the Book of Ruth" for 5 weeks. He joins us via Skype and we project him on the wall. Skype permits the class to be interactive, and Steve can see us and hear questions.

Tonight we will start "Introduction to the History and Geography of the Bible", a 4-week class. We'll try to be a little more timely in posting something about it!

We continue to have several students who are having individualized instruction. In two cases we are working through a self-study course with them, and in other cases the instruction is customized. Three of our students are attending every, or almost every, class we offer. Two of these also attend regularly on Sunday mornings.

The current classes will run until the week before the US Thanksgiving holiday in late November. As we've done in prior years, during December and early January we will offer a set of standalone classes. Planning has just gotten started for what those classes will be.

Standalone classes

(posted by Paul Zilmer)

On Thursday, July 21 we hosted the first of two one-night classes. During the summer most people find it difficult to commit to a multi-week class – but we don't want to stop entirely.

Our first class was "Faith, Hope & Love". We had 14 people present, including 6 students (the rest were ecclesial members). Two of the students were attending for the first time. There was good conversation after the class.

Our next one-night class will be "Prayer" on August 11.
 

Special guests from South Africa

(posted by Paul Zilmer & Norm Fadelle)

We were privileged to have a visit from Lucas and Leona Scheepers, from Johannesburg, South Africa. The Scheepers are working full time in the Lord's service, primarily serving in the townships that surround Johannesburg. Several of us in the Champaign County ecclesia have had an opportunity to work briefly with them, and have seen the wonderful results first hand.

Since Lucas and Leona were in the area, we put on a special event in the mall where our BEC is located. The mall management let us use the large space in the center of the mall, at no cost (other than a small charge for the sound system). We advertised the special presentation, and made sure all of our current and past students knew about it.

Eventually, we had about 50 people in attendance. Many were from our ecclesia and the Bloomington ecclesia, and even as far away as Rockford and Chicago. We also had a number of friends of members, several of our students, and we think some who came from the advertisements. It appeared that we even had some who saw us there and stopped to listen.

Lucas talked about the Community Outreach Program Trust (abbreviated COPTrust), which sponsors the work. One hundred percent of donated funds go directly to help people, since no admin costs are taken. Workers such as the Scheepers are supported by a US-based foundation. There have been a number of projects, including a Bible Education Centre in Johannesburg. But the majority of the work is in the townships, where many of the black citizens of South Africa continue to live in terrible poverty.

Leona spoke in more detail about the projects relating to creches (pre-schools) in the township of Tembisa. Under an overall umbrella called the CUDDLE project, several sub-projects are providing concrete help to hundreds of the small, informal pre-schools in the township. One effort that has been spectacularly successful is the Creche Course, which teaches the pre-school teachers how to teach. Without such training, the creches are little more than warehouses for the young children, and they end up starting school at a terrible disadvantage. Through training, examples, and follow-up, the quality of teaching at the creches is improving dramatically. To date, 200 creche teachers have been trained, and there is a waiting list of 200 more wanting to take the course.

Also part of the CUDDLE project is providing upgrades to the physical locations of the creches. This includes painting, shelving, carpet, toys, and education materials.

After the presentation, everyone was invited to come back to the BEC for South African desserts, and to talk with Lucas and Leona. (That's Leona in the white blouse.) Many accepted the invitation, and good conversation continued for quite some time.

Second IDL class underway

(posted by Ray Pratt & Paul Zilmer)

The Interactive Distance Learning (IDL) experiment, using Skype to bring in Jeff Gelineau from California, was very successful. So we are doing it again, this time going even farther afield!  Cam Beeler is leading a class from Durban, South Africa, titled "The First Page: God's Way for God's Children". The "first page" refers to the first page of your Bible. Starting there, Cam is exploring how God has set out His way, and called us to be part of it.

For Cam, this approach involves starting at 2:00 a.m. his time. It works out great for us! We are really excited by how well this is working, because it opens up the opportunity to have instructors from literally anywhere in the world, if there is an internet connection.

Cam on the wall in the BEC via Skype

Some of the students taking the IDL course

Recognition for Spring Term completers

(posted by Ray Pratt & Paul Zilmer)

Our Spring Term concluded with two 5 week classes:

• In an experiment that turned out very well, we tried Interactive Distance Learning (IDL) for the first time. Our instructor was Jeff Gelineau, who was live via Skype from southern California. He was able to see the class, and of course they could see and hear him. The class was able to ask questions at the end of each presentation. Jeff's topic was "Journey with a Purpose". The IDL approach worked out so well that we are doing it again.
• We were pleased to have Bruce Parker return from the Chicago area to again present a class. His subject was "Believe the Bible?", and presented several solid reasons to trust the Bible as authoritative.

On May 30 (Memorial Day in the US) we recognized the students who completed one or both classes. This time the Pratt family invited everyone out to their home for a cookout. Unfortunately, several could not attend, but as you can see from the pictures below, those who made it had a great time.

Shop area updated

(posted by Norm Fadelle & Paul Zilmer)

Any retail area needs to be updated from time to time. The storefront manager, Dana Pratt, has updated our shop area, which is the first point of contact for most of our students.

We now sell hand-made greeting cards. Some of these are from South Africa, and others are made in the shop by Dana, Rachel Campbell, and others.


The old round rack for our library has been replaced by a real book rack. Also, the make-shift desk we were using to display our used books has been replaced by a book rack.

The shop now has a more open feel, and what we offer is more visible.

Women's classes

(posted by Dana Pratt)

In December we initiated a women's Bible devotion over the lunch hour, since we noticed so many ladies passing the BEC while they exercise by "walking the mall" during their noon break.  We have had varying attendance at the devotion over the holiday season.  Things have settled down more now for everyone and we currently have 3 relatively faithful attendees.  The class is called 'TBA: The Bible Applied' — a play on the idea of "To Be Announced" — since we are encouraging the ladies to ask for subjects that have relevance to their lives each week for the following week's topic.

Two of our regular students discovered us in the mall and the third works at the bank across the street and noticed an invitation we had placed in the lounge there.  We have some lively discussions and greatly enjoy one another's fellowship around the Word.  One lady was very happy to discover us since she was looking for a "Small Group" to join in a class setting.  Some ladies bring their lunches to eat while we talk, and we offer beverages and a light dessert to round out their meal.

My Mom, Sis. Jen Zilmer, helped with the class until she migrated South to Florida for the winter.  I am thankful that our new Sister in Christ, Liane Morales, has been willing to help in the class, as well as taking a day's shift at the BEC, since Mom left.

 Women's Tuesday lunch devotion participants

 Private classes also continue with several students.

Winter Term classes underway

(posted by Norm Fadelle)

Our two Winter Term classes launched the second week of January:  Jesus in the Psalms is being presented on Wednesday evenings, and we continue our "Introducing..." series on Thursday evenings. Based on student feedback, we are spending a little more time introducing the books of the Bible, taking 2 or 3 class sessions per book, instead of only one. Both of these classes will run for the full Winter Term — ten weeks. Our Tuesday evening Bible study also continues, still studying Ecclesiastes.

We were a bit disappointed that only two of the Fall BEC students have come to the Winter session classes, but we have been delighted with the attendance of five new students.  A woman who came to the first session of the Jesus in the Psalms class was so interested in the Bible-approach and handout material, that she brought her husband and daughter along to the next evening class (Introducing - Genesis).   All three are attending both classes now, and they brought treats for the class on the last occasion.  A university professor signed up for and has attended the Psalms class.  A woman who was most anxious to attend both classes was unable to do so due to transportation challenges and illness.  However, she has has missed only 1 session in each class so far, and has asked to do makeup sessions. We drive her home, saving her a 2 hour bus ride (in very cold weather).

Students in the "Introducing..." class

 The diagrams and text on the whiteboard are built through discussion, and are then provided as handouts the following week.

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Disappointing holiday classes

(posted by Paul Zilmer & Norm Fadelle)

During the holiday season (Thanksgiving through New Year) we don't try to run multi-week classes. People are too busy this time of year to commit to such a class. But, in order to keep momentum, we offer instead some stand-alone classes. This year we offered five classes in Dec and the first week of Jan (skipping the week of Christmas). The photo below is from one of the classes, led in this case by Bro Anthony Green. We thank him, Bro John Fischer, and Bro Jared Johnson (all from the Bloomington ecclesia), and Bro Ray Pratt from the Champaign County ecclesia, for preparing classes for this series.

The turnout was not great. Top response was 3 students, and two of the sessions had no one show up. We had done the same thing last year, and turnout was not high, but it was better than this year.

We will have to look into advertising, content we offered, and other factors that might have influenced attendance. Or perhaps, during this season we should just offer the ongoing Tuesday night Bible study, and leave it at that. Evaluating lessons learned never stops!

And on the glass-half-full side of things, we did have those few students who came, and they seemed to derive benefit. God's word was taught, we pray, to His glory. No labor in the Lord is in vain!