author
After having to leave the Central Asian country where they had lived for 15 years, Tabitha and Jake connected with a large community from the same people group they had previously served. What’s more, they found that people living in this new country were even more receptive to the gospel!
Over the next 19 years, they started a church for believers and seekers, explaining that “in this country, people were more receptive to the gospel because they weren’t constrained by the cultural rules and family expectations of their home country.”
One day, a Central Asia believer told Tabitha, “You can’t go back, but we can.”
As believers began to consider returning to their Central Asian home country, Tabitha and Jake realised that they would need materials to help disciple new believers and share the good news.
One believer from their church shared that on a visit to his home country, he visited a small underground church that had been meeting for over 20 years. The visitor asked if he could share something from the Bible, and invited everyone to open their Bibles to determine if what he taught was true. This was a new concept for the church. They had been accustomed to sharing a ‘word from God’ without ever opening the Bible.
“There were virtually no materials in their language. Once we identified this gap in discipleship materials, we knew we needed to fill that hole,” Tabitha said.
Tabitha and Jake set about creating simple, biblical resources for believers and house church pastors in the region, beginning with a course on the Old Testament and its relevance and links to the New Testament.
"We believe that the Old Testament helps you to better understand the New Testament. Your understanding of the gospel is very impoverished if you don’t know the Old Testament," Tabitha noted.
As they looked to publish the course, Tabitha and Jake connected with MediaWorks, a ministry of OM. Tabitha’s team provided the content and MediaWorks handled the design and publication. "The course takes you through the books of the Bible. We contextualised it to the needs, experience and culture of the community we serve," shared Tabitha.
Designed for small groups, no background knowledge of the Bible is required. The 40-lesson course includes questions for discussion, answer keys and addresses cultural topics, such as hospitality. "Serving is a big part of the culture, and the youngest usually do most of the serving,” explained Tabitha. “We included activities that highlight the need for everyone to help and work together and not just put all the work on the youngest ones. We put this principle into practise when we prepare for our church meetings." A typical house church meeting includes eating, sharing news, studying the Bible, chatting and praying, often lasting four or five hours.
Small groups across the region are now using the Bible study course. "It was crucial for us to focus on village pastors and small group leaders who have no Bible training. Many of the believers aren’t strong readers or they don’t enjoy reading, so we needed to make things easy and enjoyable," shared Tabitha. In one area, where believers face challenges because of their faith, the gospel continues to spread, and 50 small groups have formed to study the Bible together. She recently visited one of the groups and was amazed to see their love for God. “It was encouraging and a blessing to see a local lady teach a lesson from the course as we sat in a small apartment room with eight other people,” Tabitha said.
Tabitha and her team have also developed courses for Deuteronomy and a ‘Love one another’ course. As the need for more resources continues to grow, they are currently working on courses for Revelation and Isaiah. "We love the beautiful partnership we have with MediaWorks as they support us in things like design, layout and getting it on their website so we can distribute it," Tabitha noted.
Their team is seeking more writers, those who can help with distribution and someone to help manage the project. "Our heart has always been to help believers to love reading God’s Word. We love seeing people engage with God’s Word,” she expressed. “That pushes us to keep supplying them with more materials.”
Pray for Tabitha and her team as they continue to work on courses for the books of Revelation and Isaiah. Pray for the small groups using the Bible Overview and the Deuteronomy course to study the Bible, that they will grow in their faith and share the love of Jesus with others.
*name changed
Share On Your Socials
Rebecca and Renette share what 2020 taught them in a 'thank you' letter to the year.
After experiencing God provide through prayer, Peter embarks on a global journey of praying for the nations and leading others in that process.
After Bible School David and Adèle understood God tell them to wait, and so, they actively waited as they sought His direction.
Seeing people put into practice what they’ve learnt to start their own businesses and then “at the end of the day, they’re actually able to be self-sustainable and provide for their families” is one of Jacob’s favourite aspects of the training.
In this month's Director's Update, read Lawrence Tong's article about how we must bridge the sacred-secular divide not just in our ministries but also in our minds.
Hasan's method to live out Christ’s love on the football field in southern Africa is simple: ‘pray, play and say.’
Through repeat visits to a West African port, OM’s Ship Ministry partners with a local pastor for ongoing impact and community transformation.
"In my family, traditions and cultural barriers could not keep the love of Jesus from breaking through," I'Ching Chan-Thomas shares.
"Today, it is still the ‘OM way’ to welcome people who want to love God and love others around the world, equipping them with the knowledge, skills and attitudes they need to thrive in mission," Tami says.
Paul shares what fuelled his motivation to support believers in areas of Asia where it is hard to follow Jesus. He hopes their stories will inspire someone to catch the vision for helping equip the church in this region.
John shares what it takes to disciple radically.
Ryan shares what being a Christian means as location, language and situations change.
John and Maria see how God uses little and big things in their lives to reveal truth and meet needs in their community.
While building friendships is easy, developing trust takes time. Susan's solution: sports.
El Camino de Santiago isn’t just for nature lovers, hike enthusiasts and those passionate about the historically religious pilgrimage. It's also for Jesus followers looking to share the gospel.
Doors open and doors close as Jena shares the love of Christ through her life in the Arabian Peninsula.
When Simon and his team noticed that sports naturally created spaces to share the love of Jesus, they began connecting with their neighbours on the playing field.
Despite changing plans and various challenges, Nicky is using his skills in graphic design and animation to help build the global Church.
A new Bible course is being produced in several languages for believers in hard-to-reach regions.
Groups of believers in Central Asia have seen the fruits of having relevant Christian resources in their heart language for evangelism and discipleship.
