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SESSION 3: EVANGELISTIC BIBLE STUDIES

INTRODUCTION

When your international friend will be around longer and is willing to spend some more time with you talking and thinking about the claims of the Gospel, the best thing to do will be to open the Bible together. The Word of God is “living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.” (Hebr 4:12). Also “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.” (2 Tim 3:16-17). And “consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word of Christ.” (Romans 10:17).

Every Christian student that has been studying the Bible with fellow students or in the church is able to prepare a Bible study he or she can do with their international friend. It is a very valuable skill and never a waste of time trying to develop it! Studying the Bible with an international will open up the Word of God for you as well. It can give a lot of joy when you yourself are challenged about the things you read and your friend comes up with questions you’ve never thought of yourself. Don’t be intimidated or afraid for questions. You are a learner yourself. And besides, the Word of God is capable of dealing with questions. God can handle the questions, so you don’t have to worry. Sometimes going through the hard questions with the other person will only show that person how serious you are about it and how you care for both him/her as a friend and about your God. So let the experience be an adventure, travelling the roads of God’s Word together.

In this session we want to give you a few ideas on how to present the Gospel in an easy way to international students. Secondly, we’ll give you a very practical guide to preparing a Bible study for international students who are interested in studying the Bible. We’ll explain how you can prepare a study and lead an evening. Furthermore this session will go into a few cultural issues you’ll be facing. This session is meant to be put in practice. After going through it we hope you’ll be going out there, opening the Bible and showing your international friends its richness.

No one lights a lamp and hides it in a jar or puts it under a bed. Instead, he puts it on a stand, so that those who come in can see the light.(Luke 8:16)

Open God’s Word, so it can shine in the lives of your international friends.

GET YOUR MIND WORKING

When you deal with different cultures you will encounter that people communicate differently. Especially in a setting where giving your opinion or having a discussion is central, these cultural differences will become very clear. And not just the way you have a discussion is different, but also what you talk about. When you have a Bible study with international students, it is very likely that they do not know anything about the Bible or the Christian worldview. They come from a different setting with a different worldview and religion. How they interpret the Bible will depend on this worldview. Can you work with that? Can you also find the most important things to tell your friend, when you yourself have all this information about the Bible and Christianity and they know nothing? What is it really about?

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1. What is your way of communicating? What are the unwritten rules when you are having a discussion with another person or in a group? What do you perceive as impolite, rude or unhelpful?

2. Have you ever had a group discussion with people from different cultures? If so, share some of the things you noticed that were different from your own way of communicating or discussing.

3. A small case study: Imagine you are on the bus with your international friend. You know he will have to get off the bus at the next stop. Then he suddenly asks you: “So, what’s the deal with this Jesus?” What do you tell him, knowing you have about two minutes to share something?

DIGGING IN

In this section we will look at the following subjects:

1. Ways to present the Gospel in a simple way2. How to prepare a Bible study following the OIA-method3. How to lead a Bible study in a multi-cultural setting

1. Ways to present the Gospel in a simple way

Most of the Christian Dutch students are very at home with the Bible and Christianity. We know so much as we have done so many Bible studies and read interesting books about a multitude of topics. But how do we get this knowledge across to an international student who knows nothing about the Bible, Jesus or Christianity? This student may have never even looked into a Bible before and has no clue who Jesus is. How can we present the Gospel clearly and in a way that is understandable without forcing him to study theology for the next four years?

There are several short Gospel presentations that can be helpful to learn and use.

Two ways to liveA very well known Gospel presentation is the ‘two-ways-to-live’. Here it is in short, but you can f ind more extens i ve ver s ions on the in ternet ( fo r example www.matthiasmedia.com.au/2wtl or www.peacewithgod.co.uk/two-ways-to-live):

1. God is the loving ruler of the world. He made the world. He made us rulers of the world under him.

You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honour and power, for you created all things, and by your will they were created and have their being.(Revelation 4: 11)

2. We all reject the ruler – God – by trying to run life our own way without him. But we fail to rule ourselves or society or the world.

There is no-one righteous, not even one; there is no-one who understands, no-one who seeks God. All have turned away. (Romans 3: 10-12)

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3. God won’t let us rebel forever. God’s punishment for rebellion is death and judgement.

Man is destined to die once, and after that to face judgement. (Hebrews 9:27)

4. Because of his love, God send his Son into the wo r l d : t he man Jesus Christ. Jesus always lived under God’s rule. Yet, by dy ing in our place he took our punishment and brought forgiveness.

Christ died for sins once for all, the righteous for the u n r i g h t e o u s , t o bring you to God.(1 Peter 3:18)

5. God raised Jesus to life again as the ruler of the world. Jesus has conquered death and now gives new life and will return to judge.

In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.(1 Peter 1:3)

6. The two ways to live:

A) Our way: rejecting the ruler – God, trying to run life our own way. Result: Being apart from God, facing death and judgement.

B) God’s new way: Submit to Jesus as ruler and relying on his death and resurrection. Result: Forgiven by God and given eternal life with God.

Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God’s wrath remains on him.(John 3:36)

Another very short Gospel presentation I found on a little flyer, which was meant for Chinese students:

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Bible verses used: Romans 5:8, Isaiah 29:2, Ephesians 2:8-9, 1 Peter 3:18

Discussion Question: The two-way-to-live Gospel presentation focuses on our rebellion against God and the punishment that is a result of this rebellion.What does this Chinese flyer focus on? Can you think of a reason why this Gospel presentation is used for Chinese people and the ‘two-way-to-live’ presentation for (mostly) West-Europeans?

Here is another very common Gospel presentation:

Exercise:Put wordings with the pictures, using it to make a Gospel presentation.

• Where do you put the focus on? • How do you explain the expressions ‘Blood of Jesus’, ‘Gift of righteousness’?

‘The bridge’ Gospel presentation The navigators have developed the bridge presentation (www.navigator.org). It is an easy tool to help your international friend understand more about Christianity and also open up an opportunity for him/her to express what they think/feel about it.

It goes like this:

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Step 1 - God's Love and His PlanGod created us in His own image to be His friend and to experience a full life assured of his love, abundant and eternal. Jesus said, "...I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full." (John 10:10b)"...we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ." (Romans 5:1)

Since God planned for us to have peace and abundant life right now, why are most people not having this experience?

Step 2 - Our Problem: Separation from God God created us in His own image to have abundant (meaningful) life. He did not make us robots to automatically love and obey him, but he gave us a will and freedom of choice.We chose to disobey God and go our own wilful way. We still make this choice today. This results in separation from God."For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." (Romans 3:23)"...your iniquities have separated you from your God; your sins have hidden his face from you so that he will not hear." (Isaiah 59:2)On our own, there's no way we can attain the perfection needed to bridge the gap to God. Through the ages, individuals have tried many ways...without success. Good works won't do it...or religion...or money...or morality...or philosophy..."There is a way that seems right to a man, but in the end it leads to death." (Proverbs 14:12)

Step 3 - God's Remedy: The CrossJesus Christ is the only answer to this problem. He died on the cross and rose from the grave, paying the penalty for our sin and bridging the gap between God and people."For Christ died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God..." (1 Peter 3:18)"For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Jesus Christ." (1 Timothy 2:5)"But God demonstrates His own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us." (Romans 5:8)

Step 4 - Our Response

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Believing means trust and commitment - acknowledging our sinfulness, trusting Christ's forgiveness and letting Him control our life. Eternal, abundant life is a gift for us to receive."For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life." (John 3:16)"I tell you the truth; whoever hears my word and believes Him who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned; he has crossed over from death to life." (John 5:24)

At the end of the Gospel presentation you can ask your international friend: “Is there any reason why you shouldn't cross over to God's side and be certain of eternal life?” or “Where do you feel you are at the moment in this picture? And where would you want to be?” This will open up the opportunity for your friend to express how he is feeling about what you have just told him. From there you can talk further.

Discussion questionThe shortest way of presenting the Gospel is saying that most religions are spelled ‘D-O, do’, whilst Christianity is spelled ‘D-O-N-E, done’…Can you explain what this means?

Creation – Fall – Redemption - RestorationA final Gospel presentation I want to mention, which is getting more popular is focussing on the line Creation-Fall-Redemption-Restoration. This chooses to focus on an ideal world instead on focussing on sin and judgement, as it may be more appealing to people.

We can all point to others that the world is not perfect. Yet, we long for a perfect world. And longing usually points to something that is real. When we are thirsty, there is something like drink. When we are hungry, there is something like food. When we long for a perfect world, there should be or should have been something like that. But we all can see our world is not perfect.

Christians however believe there used to be this perfect world, where people were connected to God, each other and the world. But when people decided to break with God, this affected their relationships with each other and also with the earth. Now it’s all messed up. But God didn’t want to leave it this way, so He sent to the earth a perfect man, Jesus Christ. He died and with his dying everything that was wrong died with him. When he rose to life again he showed us what it means to have perfect relationships with God, the world and others. And he wants us to follow him to learn to do this as well and to be his co-workers in making the world a better place. Through Jesus the world can be restored again.

Why does it have to go through Jesus? Because we can’t do it on our own. The world’s problems are just too big for us to handle, so we’ll need Jesus’ resources to finish the job with Him.

You can see the whole video (with drawings) on You Tube. It has the name ‘The big story, part 1’: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kCVcSiUUMhY Discussion question:What would you say are the basic things about the Gospel that you would want to tell your international friend? What Bible passages would you use for this?

Besides knowing what to say, it is important how you say it. When you are told that the blood of Jesus cleanses you of all sin, YOU may understand what is being said, but your international friend may hear it and run away! Some things are so easy for us to say, as we understand Christian jargon. We know the symbolism, the culture of the Jews and all these things from the Bible. But your friend doesn’t.

Exercise: Christian jargon

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Tell the person next to you in five minutes what Jesus means to you and why you have decided to follow him. Do this as if the other person is new to Christianity and Western culture, so avoid Christian jargon. The other person should listen as if he/she is an international student new to Christianity and try to see if no jargon is used. Swap roles after this and at the end give feedback to one another.

2. How to prepare a Bible study following the OIA-method

When you get a chance to do a Bible study with your international friends, you might wonder how to do this. There are several good resources which have ready-to-go Bible studies prepared. One of them is Passport to the Bible by Intervarsity. But why not learn to make your own Bible studies? You know your international friends best. You know what their questions might be, what their background is. And making your own Bible studies will also really help you to go deeper into the Bible and be renewed by it.

In this section we’d like to present you with an easy and straightforward way to make your own Bible study. It is called the IOA-method4.

What is the IOA-method?IOA stands for Interpretation – Observation – Application. It is a simple way in which you can go deeper into a Bible passage by asking questions.

Observation: What does the text say? Truth for the mindInterpretation: What does the text mean? Impact on the heartApplication: How do I respond to the text? Direction for your will

This method really helps people who have little experience with the Bible. It is also easy to prepare and every Christian student will be able to do it. Therefore it is a great method to use with your international friends. Through questions that you prepare in advance you look into a Bible passage in different ways. What does it say? What is the context? What does it mean? How does this translate to everyday life in this time and age? How does it affect my life?

Because you are asking questions about the text, everyone in your group is able to have a say on the matter. Everyone can participate. You as a Bible study leader have prepared the questions in advance, which helps you to keep the conversation going and create space for everyone to join in.How do you pick a good passage to study?As Jesus is the central figure in Christianity, it is a good idea to take passages from the Gospels. Choose one of the Gospels and pick the passages from that one. Try to find stories that speak to the imagination and say something central about God, Jesus or the cross. Jesus healing the sick or raising the dead, Jesus versus demons, the passion story, parables etc. Most passages will provide you with something to think and talk about. Going through a whole book together is certainly a good thing to consider, as it will provide a bigger picture.

When you want to give your friends the Big Picture of the Bible, why not take passages from different parts of the Bible, such as Creation (which was good), the Fall (what went wrong), stories of Israel (God starting his plan), the prophets (prophesying about Jesus), Jesus (the central point), Acts (the start of the church), Revelation (the ending)?

How do you prepare a Bible study using the OIA-method?1. Start with prayer

4 In part 1 of the ‘IFES handboeken serie’ on ‘Open Kringen’ you can find more information on this in Dutch.

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The aim of your Bible study is to let people encounter the Living Word of God. And it’s not just you who wants this. God wants this! He wants your international friends to learn about Him. So He will also want to help you prepare and lead this Bible study. Ask Him to help you understand what his Word says, so you may learn from it and will be able to share it.

2. Read the passage several timesThink about what the text says and means and what effect it has on you personally. Let the text speak for itself. Also have a look at the context of the passage. There are different kinds of contexts:

- In the Bible book itself: What happens before and after this passage? What are the themes that are dealt with?

- In the Bible: Where is your passage in Gods plan for the world? What does that say?- Cultural/Social: What time and culture does the passage speak of and how is this

important for interpretation?

3. Summarize the passage in one sentenceThis is very important! Ask yourself: “If I want my friend(s) to remember ONE thing from this Bible passage, what should that be?” Don’t assume that people will remember all the information you give in a Bible study. So, make sure you have one key point. Try to repeat this key point several times in your study. You can choose to let your questions lead to this point or have more questions about the point with some application questions about how this key point affects your life. Be sure that the key point/ key sentence comes clearly from the passage.

4. Celebrate the textYou are reading the word of God. If the passage means nothing to you, it will be very hard to get it across to your international friends. Enthusiasm and passion for the text is very catching for your friends. If you are passionate about it, they will wonder why.Ask yourself these questions: What does this passage mean to me? What does it tell me about God? What surprises me or what do I find difficult? Has this passage had some special meaning in my life at one time? If you can tell a story on how a passage has had a role in your life, that will be a great witness to your friends.

5. Try to recognise the words or practises that will be unclear to your friendsNon-Christians don’t know Christian jargon or have wrong ideas about them. They also are not aware of the Jewish culture in the time of the Bible. Look at the passage again and try to identify which things will be hard to understand for your friends and think about how you can explain it to them. For instance words like: Sin, grace, Pharisee, disciple, Lamb of God or Sabbath.

6. Think of questionsUsually you start with the observation questions, like “where does this story take place?”, “Who is Jesus talking to?”. You can add interpretation questions to these observation questions, as usually an observation you make means something. For instance, about John 4 (woman at the well) you can ask “What do we read in the text about the person Jesus is talking to?”. Answers can include: she is a woman, she is Samaritan, she was married five times and now living with a man without being married, she came to the well alone … Your next questions will then automatically go into these observations and try to get to the meaning: “Why were the disciples surprised that Jesus talked to this person?”, “Why was this woman alone at the well in the middle of the day, when usually people didn’t collect water when the sun was so high?”, “What does it say about Jesus that he talked with her?” etc.By alternating O- and I- questions you help your friends get deeper into the text. Application questions are saved for last. Dependent on what you are used to discussing with your friends you can choose to talk about the A- questions or just leave them for your friends to think about for themselves. A possible A- question for the above mentioned passage could be: “If you were the person Jesus talked to at the well, what would you say to him?”

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Usually a study will contain between 10-15 questions, with an even mix of O- and I-questions and one or two A- questions.

Some more remarks on the kind of questions: ! Optional: an introduction question

Sometimes it can be useful to open with a question even before you read the passage. This can introduce the theme of the study and get people thinking about a certain subject. In the end you can come back to this question if it is applicable.For instance for John 4: “Are there in your culture rules about who you can speak to and how you speak to certain people? What happens if you break these rules?”

! Observation questionsWhat happens? Who are the characters in the story? Where does it happen?These questions analyse the story. All the answers should be in the text itself. It helps your friends to get the story clear. Some facts can be surprising; Try to pinpoint these facts and let your friends think about them.

! Interpretation questions What does it mean? Why does he/she say this? What are the cultural/theological implications of what is being done?These questions are about the deeper layers in the story. It can give rise to different opinions and explanations. Multiple answers can be true. Try to let the explanation be found inside the passage. Sometimes you will have to give your friends background information on culture and tradition, to help them understand things.

! Application questionsWhat does the message of this text mean for me? How do I respond to this message? What do I want to say to Jesus/God about this? You can either discuss these questions or let your friends write something down for themselves or just give them the questions to take home.

Criteria for good questions:Open – Ask open questions. These are questions that cannot be answered

with yes or no. Through open questions you encourage your friends to speak and think about the passage. (Observation questions can be questions with short answers, but then use your interpretation questions to dig deeper)

Clear – Make sure your questions are clear and direct. Don’t ask vague questions or questions that are very long.

Objective – Don’t ask questions in a leading way, but stay objective to the text. Your friend needs to feel free to have their own opinion about the passage. For instance. don’t ask: “Why was it wrong of the man to respond to Jesus this way”, but instead ask “Why do you think the man responded to Jesus that way? What do you think of that?”

Not to simple – Try to avoid the very simple, obvious questions. Your friends are mostly university students. They may not know that much about the Bible and Christianity yet, but they are not stupid.

Relevant – Avoid questions that are not relevant to your main point and only distract your friends from the message. Try to work towards your main point through your questions.

A good preparation is vital to a good Bible study!Just before you start your Bible study, take time to read through your questions again, so you remember the line you wanted to follow. Good preparation will help the study to go very smoothly and in a relaxed manner!

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Exercise: preparing questions(You can do this exercise in small groups or in couples, depending on how many people you are.)

Read Marc 5: 1-20 (Jesus healing the Demon-possessed man) twice.

• Try to summarise the main point you would want to get across in one sentence• Think of one irrelevant, one leading and one vague interpretation question• Think of two good observation questions• Think of two good interpretation question connected to your observation questions• Think of one application question that follows from your O- and I- questions• Think of one opening question

Share your answers with other groups/couples.

3. How to lead a Bible study in a multi-cultural setting

Leading a Bible study using the OIA-method

An open, relaxed and friendly environment1. A good atmosphere is important. If you don’t know each other very well yet try to

make everyone feel comfortable. Introduce people to one another, so at least you know each others names and home countries. Write down names that are difficult to remember or pronounce. Having some food and drinks is a must, as it shows good hospitality!

2. When it is the first time to study the Bible together explain what you will be doing, so people know what to expect. Invite people to feel free to ask questions and say what they think. Some of your international friends may not be used to giving their opinions, so you may need to help them along a bit.

3. You can open the study with prayer if you want to. A simple prayer to ask God to help you to understand the passage is usually ok, especially when you explain that you usually do this before reading the Bible. When you are not used to doing this or you feel it might be too awkward for people, then you can decide not to pray.

Reading the passage and going through the questions

4. Read the text out loud (you can take turns if people are comfortable doing so). After reading out loud, let them read the passage again for them selves. Give them plenty of time to do so. Ask if there are any words or concepts that they don’t know or understand. When you think they may be too shy to say they don’t know something, you can decide to explain a few concepts yourself, when you think it is important in order to understanding the passage.

5. Go through your questions one by one. Don’t be afraid of periods of silence. Especially in the beginning it can take a while before someone answers, especially when they are from an Asian culture. Be sure not to answer your own questions! When you get no reply, you can rephrase your question or give a clue about where the answer can be found in the text or ask someone specifically what they think.

6. Be flexible in your questions. You can leave out questions or change the order of the questions if the flow of the conversation requires it, or due to time. Flexibility comes with good preparation and also will get easier after you’ve done several studies.

7. When given short answers, ask them to elaborate on their answer. When given apparent wrong answers, ask them how they got to that answer or where they found that in the text. You can also ask what others think about it. Don’t say they are wrong, as it is not a test, but a study.

8. When someone in the group is dominant, try to involve others in the conversation for instance by asking: “What do others think about this?” You can also mention to

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the person that his/her opinion is clear and you would like to allow others to give their opinion as well.

9. When someone in the group is very quiet, you can consider asking this person a direct question, especially when others have given their say about a subject (“What do you think about this?”). Try to encourage the person when they have said something by thanking him/her or another way of showing appreciation.

Dealing with questions from your international friends

10. When one of your friends has a question, try to answer it honestly. When you feel the question leads away from the subject you were talking about, you can choose to write the question down and come back to it later.

11. When you get a question you don’t know the answer to, be honest about that too. Again, write the question down and say you’ll get back to it next time. This gives you time to look into it. Don’t forget to actually come back to it later.

Having a co-leader12. If it is possible, it can be helpful to have another Christian friend help you in the

study by being a co-leader. The co-leader can keep an eye on everyone during the Bible study and see how group dynamics are (who is saying a lot, who needs more encouragement etc.) The co-leader can also help the conversation along when there is little response. Also, he/she can pray silently during the study.

13. Better not place the co-leader next to or opposite the leader as this may appear dominant towards the group.

Finishing the study14. End with the application questions in a way you find suiting.15. Try to keep to the appointed time.16. If there were people with questions you want to get back to, you can do that

straight after the study, when you are having a drink. Or you can make a separate appointment with someone, who wants to talk further.

17. When people have left, pray (with the co-leader when present) for the people and the Bible study. Pray for the seed that is planted to reach good soil and grow.

If you feel it could help you and your international friends in the Bible study, you could give them these guidelines in advance:

1. The leader is the facilitator of the discussion, but not the teacher. Look to the Bible text itself and respond to the questions.

2. Stay focussed on the passage being discussed. Help the leader keep the discussion on track.

3. Be willing to share your ideas, observations and questions.4. Keep in mind that some people speak up readily, while others prefer to think

quietly in the group.5. Remember that no question is stupid, too simple or too difficult. Direct your

questions to the passage being discussed.6. Treat everyone in the group on an equal basis – everyone’s views are important.7. Group discussion will be easier if everyone reads from the same translation.

Cultural issues in studying the BibleThere are a lot of things to say about cultural differences that occur in Bible studies. But even knowing everything in advance won’t help you to really learn. You’ll just have to go out there and do it. “You live, you learn”.

Exercise: a role play – Having an international Bible studyInstructionThis role play is meant to give you an idea what it is like to do a Bible study with people from different cultures. It can help you see how cultural differences can be expressed

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when doing a group discussion. And it might give you some idea of how to handle these differences.

This role play can be done with 4-7 people (beside at least two observers). One will be the Bible study leader. The Bible study leader always plays him- or her self. 3-6 people will participate in the Bible study and will play the role of international students. The rest of the group (at least two) will observe and make notes.

You can find the cards necessary at the end of this session. You will need to copy or print the three pages with cards and cut them out. It might be helpful to stick the cards on coloured paper, so you do not get them mixed up. Make sure everyone gets their appropriate card.

* Pick who will be the Bible Study Leader and give him the Bible Study Leader Card. On it are his/her instructions (both sides).* Give to each of the other participants one Participant Card. It will give instructions on who you are, where you come from, how you interact and what your religious background is.Make sure that the Bible study leader does not read your Participant Card before you start!* Give an Observer Card to those who are observing.* Give everyone some time to read their card and think about their role.* Have the Bible study for about 15-20 minutes after which you can evaluate by using the debriefing questions.

DebriefingFirst let the observers and Bible study group leader try to guess where the internationals were from and what their background was (if it hasn’t come up during the Bible study). Then let the participant read out their Participants Cards.

Questions:To the Bible study leader:

1. How did you feel during the Bible study? What emotions were triggered?2. What did you try to do to make people feel at ease? Were you successful?3. Were there people in the study you could communicate easily with? With whom

was it harder to communicate? What made it hard? To the group participants:

4. Who in the group did you relate to easily and who provoked a more negative emotion? Why was that?

5. Did you understand why your character behaved the way they did?6. How did it feel to have to behave in a way that was different from your own

culture?To the observers:

7. You had a few things you had to watch for. Go through them and share what you observed in the group.

8. What tips would you have for any future international Bible Study Group Leader? (Others can give tips as well.)

To everyone:9. Which cultural things made it hard to have this study? How could you deal with

this?10. How would these international students have felt about this study? Have they felt

welcome? Will they come again?

Some things to keep in mind in intercultural Bible studies• Expect longer silences when studying with students from Asia. Asian students are

not used to express their opinions and will need time and some encouragement to say what they think.

• As the Jewish culture in the time of the Bible is an unknown culture to most of them, you’ll need to explain things. Don’t assume they’ll know something just

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because they don’t ask. In some cultures not knowing something brings shame, so they won’t admit it. Feel free to share your knowledge, even if you’re worried they might already know it and get bored.

• Especially because this way of study might be new to some students, make sure they feel that there are no wrong answers! Let them feel free to express their thoughts and opinions and be gracious towards them.

• Because Dutch people are task-oriented, we want to get the task done and the task is to explain the Gospel to our international friends. But don’t forget that relationships come first! Try to make space for socialising and personal stories. Be aware of the emotional state of your friend (maybe he just had an exam that went badly?) and be a friend.

• Don’t try to tell them everything in one sitting. Have patience and give the information in small quantities. You can always come back to it next time.

• One of the most fun things about studying the Bible with non-Christians is that you can expect questions you’ve never thought of before. They look at things from a different angle. This is fun, so don’t worry about it! Ask questions back to learn about how they think, so you understand better where they are coming from.

• Remember that you cannot give faith to your friends… It is the Holy Spirit that works faith in the heart of people. So don’t get disappointed or discouraged. Pray, have faith and love.

• The last important thing: Have fun! Don’t let it be a task you have to do. Let is be an activity shared with friends, discovering more of the richness of God and being open yourself to the working of the Spirit.

APPLICATION – HOW DO YOU DEAL WITH THIS?

Exercise: Making a Bible studyAt the end of this session, why not try to make one or two Bible studies together, which you can use with your international friends in your own city? Do this exercise in groups of (at least) four. You can help each other and learn from each other.

• Pick a passage which you want to discuss with your friends• Follow the steps to make a Bible study• Do the study when you get home• When appropriate: share with others in your group how it went. What went well,

what went less well? How did people from different cultures react? How might you do it differently next time?

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Appendix 2: material for ‘International Bible study’ role play (session 3)

Participant Card 1

You are an international student from South-Korea. Your name is Suh Young-cho and you are 21 years old. You are studying Physics for one year in the Netherlands. You are used to showing great respect to people older than you. If you do not know the age of the people you are speaking with, this makes you really uncomfortable as you don’t know how to communicate

with them. Therefore, you will try to show respect to all by staying quiet and not speaking unless asked. In school you learned things by repeating what

the teacher has said. You are not used having to form your own opinion. You are afraid to give the wrong answer to a question as that would bring

shame to you. You are very interested in Western Culture and therefore want to study the Bible. You have no idea who Jesus was, but would like to learn more. The leader of the discussion is to be considered as the teacher

and therefore higher in hierarchy. You must show respect.

Participant Card 2 – male!

You are an international student from Libya. Your name is Mohammed Zumbawi and you are 25 years old. You are a Muslim. You have lived in

Libya all your life in a Muslim society. You just moved to the Netherlands to do a PhD in economics. You are confident and ready to give your opinion. You were told that Christianity is an immoral religion and you have seen many immoral things already in the Netherlands, which you believe is a

Christian country. You were also told that the Bible has been corrupted, but you are willing to look into it to learn more. You are not used to women being equal to you and will try not to direct your answers to a woman or

start discussing something with a woman. You think that the Trinity is God, Jesus and Mary and for Jesus to be the Son of God, God must have had sex

with a human being. This is blasphemy for you and you are ready to condemn this in public.

Participant Card 3

You are an international student from Spain. You’re name is Enrico/Enrica Santiago and you are 22 years old. You are doing a one year English course

in the Netherlands. You miss your family and friends, as you are a very extraverted and social person. You long to make friends and be with people.

Relationships always come first. You talk loudly and a lot, to express that you are happy to be there. For you this is a way to show your appreciation. You really don’t like silences. You were baptised in the Catholic Church, but

you hardly know anything about who Jesus was. You are interested to know more, but especially you want to be in touch with people. You like it

when everyone is included in the conversation and you feel bad when someone is not participating in the discussion. You don’t get angry but try to

make the atmosphere fun and happy. You try to include people.

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Participant Card 4

You are an international student from China. Your name is Yan Peng (m)/ Yan Meng (f) (Yan being your family name) and you are 20 years old. You are

an only child from a wealthy family. Your parents sent you to the Netherlands to study Psychology in the hope you’ll find a good job when

you get back. You were raised atheistic, but your grandmother was an animistic Buddhist. She used to tell you many stories about your forefathers

and other spirits. Your parents would say that there is no God. You think there might be more than the natural world and so you wish to learn more about Christianity. You are very pragmatic and want to learn what religion

can do for you. Whether or not it is true is less important to you, as long as it can help you in your life, give you benefits, like the good job your parents

want you to get. You like to discuss things and will easily give your opinion when the people in the group are the same age. You respect older people.

Participant Card 5

You are an international student from the USA. Your name is Andy/Annette Thompson and you are 22 years old. You are in the Netherlands for an

exchange programme, studying International development. You were raised in a Christian family, but this was mainly cultural. You don’t really know who

Jesus was, besides him being born in a manger and dying on a cross. You mainly believe in logic and science. Your grandmother died when you were ten and ever since this happened you can’t believe in a good God that loves people. So you choose not to believe in God. Your friend asked you to come

along to the Bible study, so you said yes. You expect that it will be mainly social. If it gets personal, you would feel uncomfortable. You are used to

form an opinion on matters and will use your discussion techniques to avoid the personal stuff, as this brings up old hurt. You would rather discuss the

details or bring up irrelevant issues.

Participant Card 6

You are an international student from Finland. Your name is Leo/Lea Kontinen and you are 20 years old. You study art history and are in the

Netherlands for an internship in a museum. It is your first visit to the Netherlands and you love it. You find that most Dutch people are quite like

you. You are very open and straightforward about your thoughts and opinions. You think every topic is open for discussion. You are used to very

liturgical religion, which mainly happens on a Sunday. You are interested to learn more about how religion influences the Dutch people you meet. In a group you have a direct conversation style. You give your opinion and you ask questions. You would also like to know how people from other culture

experience religion. When there is someone from another faith present, you would want to know more about that.

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Bible study leader Card

This is your first Bible study with these international students. You don’t know them very well yet, but they have all indicated that they are interested in studying the Bible. You have chosen to study the passage of Jesus healing a leper (Luke 5: 12-16). The questions you have prepared are on the back of this card. You can use these questions. How you do the Bible study is up to

you. To save time, only read the passage once and then start with the questions.

Your goal is to let everyone participate in the Bible study and feel at ease. You wish to build friendships with these people as they will stay in your city

for at least the coming year. You also want them to build friendships with each other, as that would promote the openness in the group. You want

them to continue studying the Bible to learn more about Jesus!

Bible study leader Card

These are the questions you have prepared for this Bible study on Luke 5:12-16

O: What does the leper do when he comes to Jesus?I: The leper’s actions are unusual for lepers in Israel. Why is that? (You will need to

explain some of the Jewish customs on impurity and leprosy)

O: How does Jesus respond to the leper? What does he do?I: What would it mean for the leper that Jesus touches him?

I: What does it say about Jesus that he can heal the sick?

A: Who do you think Jesus was?A: What would you want Jesus to heal you from? Would you want to ask him to do

this for you?

Observation Card

When you are observing the Bible study try to work through these things:- Does the leader ask for names and introductions?- Does the leader explain how the study works?- Does the leader notice group dynamics?- Who in the group are ready to speak up and who are not? How does the

leader respond to this?- Does the leader make people feel at ease? (Making people speak up who

wish not to is not making them feel at ease…)- What cultural things do you see happening?

Write down some tips for the leader. Also, when you see cultural differences and misunderstanding, try to think of ways you could resolve them. Share this

with the group.