Friday, September 7, 2012

Instiute in India

One of the pleasures we have each week, is to teach Institute (scripture study for those 18-30 generally).  It's a welcome change from the office work we do all week long.  We teach at the church building that is down the street about 1/3 mile.  We generally walk, dodging cars, auto rickshaws, bikes and lots of other pedistrians.  By the time we get there, we are hot and sweaty and looking forward to a little A/C (that is, if we aren't the first ones there and need to turn it on ourselves). 

Half our Institue Class

We now have 42 people on the rolls, including a few non-members who show up occasionally.  We have about 25 people that attend on any given Wednesday - a combination of young adults, older members and some children.  We take the time to learn everyone's name and make them feel welcome.  Probably half do not speak sufficient English to carry on a conversation with me or Sister Stevens, but they sit and listen.  Because of the language issues, when we teach we are sensitive to "big" or unfamilar words and tend to lecture more than we like because questions are often not understood by many.  There are a few "stars" in the group that speak English well enough and are always willing to pray or read or answer questions.  Overall, everyone likes to read the scriptures.  This past Wednesday, we even had a member read in Hindi.  I didn't understand, but I'm sure the members did.   It helps me appreciate how much difficulty they have with my version of English.   We are studying the New Testament, and Angela and I spend several hours each week preparing the lesson topic.  As is always the case, we learn the most, but hopefully we are imparting some gospel knowledge to this valiant group of saints.   

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