Door-to-door, publicizing Fall classes

(posted by Paul Zilmer & Norm Fadelle)

We had hoped to host an Operation Onesimus team for a couple of weeks this summer. As it turned out, the Onesimus program didn't field a team this year. So, we set about trying to recruit a team ourselves. With a significant number of available people participating in the Meal-a-Day project in Guatemala, we had trouble just as the OO program did.

We did, however, get one recruit — Sister Kaitlin Ross from Ohio. She, along with members of the Champaign County ecclesia, have been going door-to-door this week, handing people our Fall class schedule brochure.

Of course, many people aren't home, so we leave a brochure on the door. But some folks are at home, and we have a chance to talk to them. Some aren't interested, but more have at least some interest — and a few are quite interested.

On Monday, Kaitlin and Paul went to the post office to buy stamps (for a mailing to our on-board students).  Karen, the postal clerk, noticed our T-shirts. When we told her about the Bible Education Center, she connected that we were the ones who had sponsored two Bible/Science talks 2 years ago, before we even had the BEC!  She was very interested in knowing about the classes, and Kaitlin went back later with a brochure for her.

Today, Kaitlin talked to a couple, Frank and Sheryl, who were sitting outside (in the heat! it was a scorcher). They were very interested, and before long Norm came by and they all had a great conversation. The couple were so fond of the T-shirts that Norm & Kaitlin went back later and presented them with shirts of their own. Frank said he would attend the classes — we will see!  The photo below is of Kaitlin and Frank.

The door-to-door work has been going well enough that it's become clear we will run out of the 2,000 brochures we had printed. So, we've ordered 2,000 more, and we will try to get to additional neighborhoods. Wouldn't it be wonderful if we had such a big response that we had to squeeze people in for our Fall classes?

.

Summer session underway

(posted by Paul Zilmer)

Our summer session was set to start July 15 – but the instructor (me) came down with a fever that day and class had to be canceled. We're doing another round of "Introducing...", where we introduce a book of the Bible: who wrote it, when, to whom, why, and some of the key teachings.

We held the first class a week late, last week, on Haggai. This week, the companion prophet Zechariah will be introduced.

Bible School break

(posted by Paul Zilmer)

Last week most of our members were at the Great Lakes Bible School (or in one family's case, on the way back home from a Bible School in Montana). The BEC was closed, and we let all of our students know we'd be closed for a week.

The shop reopened yesterday, and we had our usual Sunday service today. It was the first Sunday for our new brother. After our worship and remembering the Lord together, we had our adult Bible study, lunch (as we always do), then a class with our new brother and his wife, who continues to study for baptism. We were joined today by another of our long-term students, for the first time on a Sunday – and she told us she wants to study for baptism too!

At the Bible School, we made a pitch asking for volunteers to come and help us out. We have plenty of work to do!!  We have an immediate need for volunteers the last week of July & first week of Aug, to help us publicize our upcoming fall schedule of classes. Beyond that, we are hoping that some volunteers will come to help us for as long as they are able, anything from a week or two, up to several months. How about you?

As we stand at the brink of starting our second year, we look back at how much our God has done in this community, and within ourselves. What a loving God!  What a glorious message of hope He has given! As our Lord said, the fields are ripe. Can you help us, or rather help him, with the harvest?

Recognition for Spring completers

(posted by Paul Zilmer)

Last evening we held our quarterly recognition event, this time for the 20 students who completed one or more courses during our Spring term. (Almost all of them, in fact, had completed multiple courses.)

We started with a pizza supper, then acknowledge each student by name. For first-time completers, we presented them with a gift book: A.D. Norris' Understanding the Bible. The we watched the WCF video program, "God's Land of Promises", which got good reviews from the students.

Title slide for the recognition presentation. Each student had a slide of his/her own, listing their accomplishments.

Our new brother (2nd from left) was one of the students recognized. We all enjoyed pizza before the program got going.

This coming week is the Great Lakes Bible School, and most of our staff will be there, so we will be closed for a week. We've connected with all of our contacts to let them know. Our Summer Session will begin the following week, with a new round of the "Introducing..." class.

A new brother in Christ!

(posted by Paul Zilmer)

We rejoiced with the angels last evening, as we experienced our first baptism at the BEC. Jim Cope gave a good confession of his faith on Tuesday evening, and he was immersed Thursday. The baptism was followed by breaking bread with our new Brother Jim.

Jim wanted to invite his fellow BEC students to attend, and a few did. Some of them are clearly expressing interest themselves. Jim's wife, Teresa, has also been studying with us for months. She gave serious thought to asking for baptism at the same time as Jim, but concluded she does not feel she is ready yet. In her mind it's a question of when, not whether.

We pray for God's blessing on our new brother in his walk toward the Kingdom. And we pray for Teresa and our other students, to continue with their studies into the good news of the Kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ.

Praise God for His love and His merciful kindness toward us!
 

 Jim asked his two primary teachers, brothers Paul & Norm, to baptize him.

 The right hand of fellowship for our new brother.

Summer session

(posted by Paul Zilmer)

Our summer session brochure is now out. It's been mailed to our contact list, and we have them for people to pick up at the Center. The picture shows our little "Free - take one" table that we put outside our door when the shop area is open. We've found that quite a number of people will stop just outside the door, if they don't feel like they have to come in. And then, some of them do come in!

The summer session is scaled back from what we offer in the Fall, Winter, and Spring terms. We've seen significant drop-off in people coming in, since the weather has gotten nicer. Talking with our on-board students, they also appreciate a little lighter and more flexible schedule.

Our Tuesday evening Bible study will continue as always. This is a discussion class, no registration needed, and no set end date. We're currently studying 2 Corinthians, and we have several students who join us regularly or semi-regularly.

During the rest of the year, we've offered classes on Wed and Thu evenings, that run for a set period, and which students must register for. For the summer, we'll just have one, on Thursday evenings. It will be a second round of the "Introducing..." class that we've been running. This has been a well attended class, and the students like the fact that each class stands alone, so if they miss one (likely in the summer) they can pick up again the next time they're able to attend. By the end of June, we'll have "introduced" 8 books of the Bible, and we plan to do 7 more in the summer session. The students themselves pick what books we look at.

Call for volunteers!!

(posted by Paul Zilmer)

You don't have to go to a developing country to do missionary work!

Can you give 2 weeks, 2 years, or something in-between? Consider volunteering at the Bible Education Center! We would love to have you join our team!  (Don't live in North America?  No problem – come on over!)

What work is there to do?

Short term (2-4 weeks)

• Man the shop
• Door to door work, inviting people to register for classes
• Special event, standalone class

Medium term (a few months)

• Teach weekly classes
• Interim BEC manager or assistant
• Relationship development
• Private classes

Long term (6-12 months, or more)

• BEC manager or assistant
• Curriculum development
• Expansion of services – what are you dreaming of doing?

How can I find out more?

    Write!   Call!   Talk to us!

Email: urbanabec@gmail.com, call (217) 419-4744