SOAPing Up

"Well, I packed four dictionaries. The rest of them won't fit unless I take other stuff out."

Michael and his precious wife organized 200 pounds of "stuff" including a zillion toothbrushes, cereal, Jello, Kool Aid, a library of children's books, a MEAT GRINDER!, medical supplies, contact lenses, Fingerlakes coffee, disposable communion cups, birthday candles, markers, diapers, oh my... the list goes on and on and on and on... But the one thing we REALLY wanted was dictionaries.

Sam in front of the 5 bins we were BLESSED by.

Tyler piped into the FaceTime conversation, "Nope. Four dictionaries isn't enough. Take out the M&M's. They're heavy. Load up as many dictionaries as you've got."

I have no idea how many he brought. A really big stack anyway. We are able to find Acholi Bibles for a pretty penny. English Bibles are fairly cheap. But English dictionaries are like gold here in Uganda... they cost about 35,000 Ugandan shillings, or $14.00. That is just not practical for our friends.

Tyler realized after some time of going through the Word with these beloved Ugandans, that some can barely read the words let alone comprehend what they are reading in the Bible. Imagine this: You are four years old. Your mom and dad and siblings and everyone you know speaks to you in English. Then it's time to go to school. Now, school is completely Chinese. You will learn from a Broken-Chinese speaking teacher how to speak and read in Chinese. You will never be taught how to read in English unless you teach yourself. You have no books at home to read. Your parents don't know Chinese to help you learn. And as soon as you leave school in the afternoon, all of life continues in English. How well do you think you would be able to read? This is how Uganda teaches their children in school. The children are taught English only... and the community is completely Acholi.

Tyler has been praying about teaching an Inductive Bible Study in order to teach people how to dig into the Scriptures. I began teaching our children a new way for them to study the Bible by using the S.O.A.P method. Tyler sat in on one of our homeschooling SOAP sessions, and decided he would use that for his adults since it is fairly simple to do, and really helps to understand the Scriptures. (I will explain this method at the end of the post.)

Life here is really laid-back. In some aspects, it's a nice change from fast-paced America, but it makes it difficult to gather at a set time. It's a rare thing for someone to arrive on time. We have had people arrive HOURS late for a study many times. It's called "Africa time." When someone says they are leaving right now, it means they are thinking about getting in the shower in a few minutes to start getting ready to walk over. Ha! Now, this is a generalization. There are a few diligent people we have come to know and love.

Tyler decided to include incentives for arriving on time. He was going to give away prizes! He knew in order to do this SOAP study, people would need their own Bibles and probably a dictionary. So, rather than just hand them out, if someone arrived on time, they could write their name on a piece of paper. If their name was drawn at the end of study, they could choose either an English Bible, an Acholi Bible, or an English dictionary.

At 3:30 on Wednesdays, you can here boda after boda dropping off eager Bible students at our house!!! (A boda is a motorcycle taxi... meaning it is well worth the sacrifice to pay for a ride in order to arrive on time.)

Our friend Godfrey was not one on a boda a few weeks back. His boda was stolen, and he has very little money. Maybe you remember his story? By the way... THE LORD HAS PROVIDED A NEW MOTORCYCLE FOR HIM! Woah... and just wait til you hear this next part...! Godfrey has had a pretty amazing life. He knows what suffering feels like. He doesn't ask for anything. He never owned a Bible, but he really really wanted one. Two weeks ago, just before the SOAP study was about to begin, Godfrey showed up DRIPPING... and I mean dripping... with sweat. He ran about 2 miles in the blazing 130 degree heat in order to get to the study on time, praying all the way that God would give him a Bible that day. And you know what? Tyler picked a few names out of the saucepan after the study was finished. Godfrey got a Bible. He was beaming.

Godfrey. His smile is contagious.

I don't participate in the SOAP study. I play with my squiggly toddlers and tie Ugandan babies to my back so their mommas can learn. According to Tyler, the faithful bunch of 15 or so that have been coming week after week are really doing well. As with any class, some continue to struggle, and some dig deep. Will you pray along with us for those ones struggling? That they will learn to read the Bible with meaning and comprehension? That they may hear the Lord's voice by studying His Word, and draw nearer to Him because of it?

Gabbi and I juggling the squigglers.

SOAP Study:

Read whatever passage of Scripture you happen to be in that day. Notice a Scripture or a paragraph that stands out to you.

S (Scripture) - Write out that Scripture.
O (Observe) - Underline or rewrite the words that stand out or you don't understand in that Scripture.
A (Apply) - Who are all the pronouns referring to? What does this difficult word really mean? How does this apply to my life?
P (Prayer) - Pray specifically about this verse.

Yesterday, Tyler did very little teaching,
and broke up the 18 people into three groups
 for some hands-on learning.
This helped those who are struggling
to understand even more.
It was also just a lot of fun!