Articles, news and testimonies
In celebration of Christmas–remembering the birth of our Savior, Jesus Christ–we want to share Look and Ponder, a poem written by John Cross and featured as a song in our upcoming musical, No Ordinary Story. We wish you and yours a truly blessed Christmas!
Beginning today, 160 believers from villages around the African country of Malawi will be taught how to share the Good News using the recently completed translation of the book What are Christmas and Easter all About?
The translator who did the work to translate this resource from English into Chichewa, the national language of Malawi, sent this note just yesterday.
Continue reading ““A very good Christmas gift for Malawians””
This week our USA staff are working together to remodel the GoodSeed office in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho. A little paint, new carpet, and improved display areas will go a long way to freshening up the main entrance. When completed, it will be better suited for when people from the community stop by to visit or to replenish their “Be Ready Boxes.” We are having fun working on something different from our usual jobs!
(Editor’s note: It’s Christmas! Here’s how one grandma is planning to make the most of her trip to New York City to reconnect with her family.)
Beatrice* was excited when she called the other day to tell about her upcoming trip to visit her son and grandchildren in New York for Christmas. Her son had been raised in Canada and he had gone on to become a successful business consultant to global Fortune 500 companies. He had packed up his wife and young family and swapped their rural life for a start in New York City.
Beatrice was troubled that when they left they also left behind their Christian heritage and their connection with the local church. “They seem remote and distant when topics like God and the Bible are brought up.” she went on to say, “When I go visit for Christmas I’m wondering, would it be appropriate to give a copy of the book, By This Name, to my son as a gift? I have read it myself and I think that it might be helpful. What do you think?”
One day, my wife and I were caring for a six-year-old boy in our home as a way of helping out the boy’s dad, a single parent. The boy emerged wide-eyed from our storage room where we kept our visual aids for teaching and in an excited, matter-of-fact voice declared, “You guys sure have a lot of God stuff!”
I admit, we do have quite a collection of “God stuff.” And we use our “God stuff” whenever we can to help teach the Bible’s message to friends.
I’ve become a firm believer in the teaching power of visual aids. They not only help our students grasp biblical concepts, the visual aids also help in recall as well.
Recently, a pastor sent us an encouraging review of The Stranger Leader’s Guide found in the Worldview Rethink Curriculum Box. Our curriculum team was so encouraged by it and we wanted to share it.
Our curiosity got the better of us this week when an order came into our Canada office. The man wanted 2500 copies of the book, What are Christmas and Easter All About? We discovered that big plans are in motion to share the gospel with families of First Nation communities in Northern Alberta this Christmas.
“It actually started this past summer when we used The Lamb curriculum at camp,” said Peter Fehr on the phone yesterday. Peter works with Eagle’s Nest Ministry Center, an organization that hosts 500-600 children every year from over 20 First Nation communities in Northern Alberta and Northwest Territories. Peter went on to tell how the campers were enthralled with the colourful illustrations and how each lesson’s questions helped the staff make sure each child clearly understood the gospel message.
Continue reading “Big plans for small towns in Alberta’s North”
Snowflakes in the air reminded me I needed winter tires for our car. After checking prices and availability I settled on a local vendor and arranged a time to have the new tires installed.
Arriving at the tire shop on the day of my appointment, I handed the keys to a service representative and then proceeded to the customer-waiting lounge. The room was surprisingly vacant; only one other customer was there, a well-dressed, middle-aged gentleman who seemed deep in his own thoughts. He paid me no mind as I settled into a chair a few seats away. But as I reached into my business satchel for my reading glasses, he suddenly looked in my direction. Our eyes met.
I had been looking forward to having a Bible study with this couple, yet was a bit apprehensive. Would they understand the importance of taking twelve hours to go through the 1,100 verses found in The Stranger? I knew the husband had a staunch religious background. Would we get off track on controversial issues? Then, at the Mississippi TERM* seminar, one of the GoodSeed staff introduced the wood dinosaur puzzles! What a set of tools these have been! Let me tell you how they help.
When I began our study, I held up one piece of the dinosaur puzzle and asked my students what it was. They could not tell. After a few guesses, I showed them the rest of the puzzle. I explained that just like we could not tell what one piece of the puzzle represented until we could see the rest of the puzzle, in the same way we could not understand the Bible unless we took a good look at the book as whole from beginning to end. For us to study the main theme of the Bible would require a commitment of twelve hours!
Continue reading “How do I teach about the importance of understanding Scripture using puzzles?”
Western Society demands that communication be entertaining. Style and delivery has eclipsed the importance of message content.
Even in the Christian community, it has become expected that if one is to communicate a message from the Word of God, the way in which that message be delivered must be polished, entertaining, and professional. One must undergo years of training and practice in order to learn how to deliver truth in the acceptable manner. It must be smooth, it must be captivating, and above all, it must entertain the audience.
What is so tragic about this is that the average Christian is more concerned about how a message is given, than how accurate the message itself is.
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