Sep10 Written by:Kayle
9/10/2009 11:14 PM
I am SO enjoying my discipleship group that I have at the college this term and through the next year. For the first time in our 3 years here, I feel like this discipleship group will “work”. In the past years, I’ve had older ladies in my group—ladies with grown children and years of marriage under their belt. How can I disciple these women when I’m younger than them in years and life experience, especially in a culture like this where the elderly are looked up to and have authority. If you are a younger person telling an older person what to do, it just doesn’t “fly” in this culture. Also, in the past, I discipled women who were my current students so of course they are careful in what they share and don’t want to disagree with me in the fear that I may not like them or I may give them a lower grade in the classroom. One term, because there were so many men at the college, I had a group of guys to lead! So in the past, the discipleship groups I’ve had never really went deep into the heart issues.
But this year, I have two ladies who are both younger than me and I don’t have them in class! They have just started being students at the college. This term in discipleship group, we are getting to know each other and talk about our lives, as well as talk about our testimonies and about the gospel—to help clarify the gospel to the students, how to share the gospel and how to share their testimonies. In getting to know the students, Siphilisewe (pronounced see-pill-ee-see-way) shared openly about her past and how she came to know Christ. She shared about how her parents divorced (an odd thing here) and she lived with her dad, how her uncle sexually abused her, how her dad was a drunkard and how her mother rejected her after the divorce. Right away I knew that this girl is different! She has looked at her hurts and has brought them to the Lord to be healed. She has received counseling in the past and is now able to talk about what happened to her without feeling ashamed or embarrassed. Because she is so willing to be open to me, I know that this discipleship relationship is going to work! The other girl I have, Noma, is extroverted, outgoing and an intelligent girl—very fun to be around! She too is very willing to share openly about her life and seeing how God really protected her as she was growing up from getting involved in witchcraft practices and avoiding other dangers.
I admit that in the past years, I would not always be thrilled about leading discipleship groups, but this year is different! I am SO enjoying these women and look forward to seeing them each week!
Tags: