Back in the Habit

Today we are officially one quarter of the way through the first semester of the 2017 academic year at Namibia Evangelical Theological Seminary (NETS). Students are excitedly learning and I often see them in the library busy about their assignments. This is the point in the semester where students are still optimistic about keeping on top of their school work and not feeling too overwhelmed. Though as the weeks wear on, I know that will inevitably catch up with them. :)

My preaching class has been fun so far. They are a very interactive group of 17 second and third year students. So far we've been focusing on having only one big idea and how to find the big idea of a passage of Scripture. In the coming weeks we'll work through that process together using specific passages they'll be preaching on.

Yesterday was class picture day, so let me introduce you to our sharply-dressed student body:

NETS 1st year class

NETS 2nd year class

NETS 3rd year class

NETS 4th year class

The whole NETS community, students and staff

Sunday School Training

Part of my role working at Namibia Evangelical Theological Seminary involves going out into the community to serve the local churches. This past weekend I was invited to train a group of Sunday School teachers from the Uniting Reformed Church. There were a few experienced ladies who had taught Sunday School for years, but most of them were young people very new to the job.

After a short encouragement about why we do children's ministry, we spent most of our time considering the differences between behavior modification and heart transformation. Then we went through a number of typical children's Bible stories and discussed how we could teach this story for heart transformation and not just behavior modification. It was quite a stimulating conversation which many of the teachers said they enjoyed and benefited from. I pray that the training will have positive and fruitful outcomes in their Sunday School students this year!

Photo of the Day

I found this Black-faced Weaver building his new home

and took way too many pics, but I think I like this one the best.