Romans 12 - 14
This was a phenomenal class! While it was only a week long, it was certainly one of our favorites and impactful this semester. These chapters of Romans really spoke into living out the Christian life. We discussed topics such as worship, exercising spiritual gifts, generosity, preferring one another (weak and strong believers), submission to the government, loving the unlovable, judging other believers, and living in the light of the Gospel. Honestly, Cameron and I both wished this class extended through the entire semester because of how much we were learning!Semantics and Translation
This two-week class was about the translation process. We learned how to break down the form of passages in order to get to the meaning and then taking the meaning and rewriting the form in such a way that the target audience would understand. Sound complicated and time-consuming? It is. We practiced this process ourselves with Mark 2:1 - 12. Since no one in our class knows a tribal language and culture, we got to pick a narrow subculture found here in America. Therefore, our "target audience" was unchurched teens in a low economic level. Little did we realize how involved a process it was until we spent hours just trying to translate the first twelves verse of Mark 2 with a team of six! In a tribe, the translation team will just be the translator and the consultant who comes in to check the accuracy of the translation. There may be other team members who will occasionally help, but it will never be every member of the team. The only reason this practice team had six members, was to give us all some experience applying the principles. It was definitely rewarding at the end when we polished off our final draft! We can't wait one day translate the entire Bible for a people who have never read God's Word!
Christian Life
Just one week of Christian Life but what a great week it was! The tagline of this class was "Trials, Hardships, and Suffering - Instruments of Transformation" and that pretty much sums it up! Given the topic, it was a sober class but certainly an great one. We began by discussing how God never redefines evil because evil is evil and the importance of having a biblical worldview and a biblical hope. We talked about God's character and who He is as our loving and faithful Creator and Savior. Also the value in learning from one another, hope in doubt, and growing through trials rather than circumventing them by looking at examples found in the Old and New Testaments. Suffering is a part of life in this fallen world. Praise the Lord that He is good and He can bring joy and hope out of the most horrible of circumstances.
Evangelism Through Developing Church
During the last three weeks of the semester, we had this class and "Families and Education." The purpose of this class was to discuss the period in the Church Planting process when you go from evangelism, teaching through the Bible foundationally, there are believers, and a church is born. There were many different aspects that were discussed and considerations that must be made when it comes to when to introduce various Biblical truths and practices such as baptism and the Lord's supper. We eagerly await and pray that God may bless us and give us the privilege to one day see nationals come to know the Lord and become our brothers and sisters in Christ!
Families and Education
This was the other class we had during the last three weeks of the semester. Pretty self-explanatory, this class focused on exactly what it is entitled, families and education. We discussed various options when it comes to educating children. These include homeschooling, boarding schools, national schools, distance learning and others. We also were introduced to several homeschooling curriculum that are popular with New Tribes' families. There were panels featuring different couples on staff here at the Missionary Training Center where we heard about why families chose the educational options they did, what it was like to bring their children through several transitions (to the tribe, to the States, entering college and so on), and the realities of being a homeschooling mom and a church planter at the same time.
With that...
Friday was the last day of class of our THIRD semester! Classes start up again on January 18th and we are so excited to start our FOURTH semester here at the MTC! To wrap up this rather lengthy update, we wanted to share this quote from class: "We aren't just on the front lines but we are deep behind enemy lines." What a great perspective and a reminder of the reality of the world in which we live.United in Christ
Caitlin and Cameron
We invite you to prayerfully consider partnering with us through regular monthly support or a special gift, as we prepare and train to go and share the Gospel with those who have never heard. When designating which missionary you are supporting, indicate: Cameron Neace Account #900458
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