Slowly, 12 Mozambicans funneled into the room. Among them were Keith and Youngson from Mascarenha. They were the only BIC pastors present. Normally there are two others who come, Lazaro from Mascarenha and Raimundo Simango from the other BIC church in Beira. Also in attendance were two other Westerners, Melanie and Lisa. Melanie is the head of operations for MCC in Mozambique. Lisa runs a programs where orphans are housed together with house parents.
This week's study was a continuation of the previous week's lesson. The theme was "What can we learn from Jesus's last week of ministry?" Steve began by asking the question, "What are the things we can do while we're on earth, but not in eternity." Some of the answers were evangelismo (evangelism), being able to have relationships with other people (it was decided that this was unknown in eternity), viver pela fé (pron. "vee-ver pay-la fay". To live by faith.), and to suffer for our faith. This segued into talking about what Christ did during his la semana antes (pron. "la say-mon-ah an-tesh". Last week before.) being crucified.
Steve started with Jesus being anointed at Bethany in Simon’s house by Mary. He contrasted this story with the story of Jesus being anointed in Luke 7:36-50. The point he wanted the pastors to learn was that when studying the Bible we need to be careful to check the details of similar sounding stories closely to find the differences instead of assuming they are the same story.
The next day, none of the Gospels mention anything, so we assume that Jesus observed the Sabbath. Even though Jesus knew it that his time on earth was limited, he still showed the importance of resting and worshiping. Steve then talked about Jesus entering Jerusalem and cleansed the temple. He explained the layout of the temple and why Jesus did what he did and why his anger was righteous.
We were running low on time so Steve skipped ahead to the Last Supper. He explained the ordinances of feet washing and communion. He finished the lesson with the three trials of Jesus before the Sadducees, Pilate, and King Herod. Steve emphasized Jesus's non-resistance during the trials and how he didn't try to defend himself. Steve also talked about the crowd's change in attitude from Palm Sunday and why it's so important we only worry about pleasing God and not people.
One of the last principles Steve explained was pacifism. This was a new concept for many of the pastors in the group. He explained it in the following way. If I am a Christian fighting a non-Christian and I kill him, I essentially have condemned him to hell. If I am a Christian fighting a Christian and I kill him, I have killed my brother. One of the pastors asked what he should do if chosen to serve in the army. Steve explained that in the United States we have a thing called conscientious objection, but that in the history of the BIC, people have chosen imprisonment over fighting. Steve said it was a hard choice for someone to make. I was really impressed by this logical explanation of pacifism. As someone who is not a pacifist, Steve's explanation has caused me to reconsider my beliefs on the issue.
Chris closed with prayer and everyone was dismissed. Back at the vehicle, I noticed some birds flying around in the tree in front of the car. This seemed strange to me because of the time of night and how they were flying. Then it hit me, these weren't birds at all. They were giant fruit bats!
We gave Youngson and a few others a ride to their homes. Driving at night in Africa should be avoided when possible. People drive the same as they do during the daytime, but at night there are more people in the streets and many cars have at least one headlight out. Steve almost hit one boy who was walking down the middle of the road and didn't see him until we were only 10 feet away from him. By the grace of God, he looked up and saw us at the last moment and was able to jump to safety.
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| Youngson |
We made it home safely and had a late dinner of steak, potatoes, and green beans. After a long day, I was ready for bed at 9:30 pm.
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