Letting God's Word Speak

I’m learning just how powerful God’s Word can be when you let it speak for itself. This is especially true with children. I have to admit that I’m more nervous speaking to the small, but growing group of children at church than I am when speaking to the adults. Children tend to ask a lot more questions and for right now, I’m not using an interpreter. I hope to someday not need an interpreter, but I’ll be the first to admit that at the moment my Ukrainian is somewhat lacking. I discovered that by using some Ukrainian Bible exercises with questions and group discussion, I can have the children take turns reading as I lead them through it. We then read the actual corresponding verses in Ukrainian (as well as in English) and do some activities and crafts. Today, I decided to do some review before we started a new lesson. I was happy at how eager the children were to answer the questions and read through the exercises.

I was a little worried that I wouldn't be able to help them understand the parables or concepts properly until Maxime asked me something that I couldn’t answer in my own words. He pointed to the bread and the wine set out for communion and said, “What’s that?” I explained that it was bread and wine. He said, “I know, but what’s it for?” Maxime is learning, but still knows very little about the Bible. I started thinking of ways I could explain it to him. Then I started thinking of ways I could explain it to him in Ukrainian. I realized pretty quickly that I wasn’t going to be able to explain and have any confidence that he really understood. I decided to let God’s Word speak for me. I found all the relevant verses in Ukrainian and had Maxime read them. Finally, he understood and realized that we do this to remember Christ as he instructed us to do. This of course has prompted him to ask more questions like, “What was his body given up for and what is the new covenant?” The beauty of this is that God’s Word has not only brought understanding to Maxime, but also more interest in His Word. All I did was point Maxime in the right direction and let God’s Word speak. This isn’t a substitute for good solid Bible teaching, but it was the only tool I had at the time. It turned out to be a surprisingly sharp tool as well.