Day 20: SOAPS. I am writing this just before bed and I just finished my SOAPS bible study on Luke 6. I like this way of devotion because it provides a structure to think about what you are reading. Sometimes when I read the bible I find myself reading the words on the page but they maybe don’t stick with me, or quite frankly, there have been times when I will be reading the words but thinking of something else and then I have to go back and re-read what I was reading when I was distracted. Providing this kind of structure to my study of the bible would help me to be intentional about what I am reading and how I plan to apply that knowledge. The main thing that I want to start doing different is the time of day that I study. I usually study at night, but I like the idea of doing it in the morning (at least attempting to…I treasure my sleep :)). If I would spend time doing a SOAPS study in the morning that would give me the opportunity to think throughout the day about how to apply it and share it with others. I could say that I will study at night and then implement the next day, but I know how life gets busy and I get forgetful. I think it would be good to have that morning reminder.
In other news, since you are my captive audience right now, let me tell you about this incredible event that I went to at our church tonight! Each quarter a team from our church puts together a night to learn about, pray for, and support our missionaries. We call it Global Outreach Night and tonight was the North Africa Edition. The workers that we support who are working in northern Africa were actually there and spoke about what God is doing where they work. The focus of their work is starting a disciple making movement, which is exactly what we are learning to do through this 30 day training. It was AMAZING to hear about the work that God is doing through them and the team they work with. They spoke of making disciples through a lot of the things we are being challenged to do and how those disciples are now making disciples. Please take a moment to pray for these workers in Africa and the discipleship groups that they are beginning.
That’s so great — that you were able to hear about people doing DMM in North Africa! Awesome, Nicole!