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All settled in and ready to dig in!

Writer's picture: scottihlescottihle

After several months of climactic build up, we finally made it to our new home in Denver, just in time for Christmas.

It was an interesting holiday, without a Christmas tree and surrounded by unpacked boxes, but the kids didn’t seem to mind. It was a beautiful and warm Christmas day, and then it snowed a few days later. We got enough snow that the kids were able to get their first true Denver sledding experience under their belt! We then spent the next few days slowly unpacking and organizing. It would truly take most of January for us to feel like we were in any sort of routine. The kids did great starting their new school, but mommy and daddy stayed on our toes for a few weeks as we were getting used to our classes and getting to meet so many wonderful people. Though, we’re at the point now where we finally feel relaxed and at home! Just don’t look in the garage.


The instruction here at Bear Valley Bible Institute has been world class so far. We just could not say enough about the staff and teachers. The collective ministry experience and character of the staff is humbling. I think we’re learning more outside of classes (in Chapel or in fellowship) than inside the classes! For example, we had a chapel series in January where we had many speakers share their experience in building up their local congregations. We heard about outreach programs, community service initiatives and mentorship as a few examples. The classes have been great too. I’ve been very pleased with the way the

instructors strive to teach the Biblical text by allowing the Word of God to speak for itself.

Textual classes have been my favorite. The reason is because we spend very little time talking about theological concepts, and instead, we focus on the meaning of the immediate text. I’m starting to realize just how easy it is to take scripture out of context when we try to teach a collection of passages on a particular topic or concept. While that leads to good study from time to time, it is easy to miss subtle meaning by taking verses out of context. So, for me personally, I’m striving to understand the original language, literary conventions, purpose, themes and context of each book to better draw out meaning from the text.


Teaching Strategies – Avoiding the Pit of Passivity…

In our updates, I’d like to give our readers a quick glimpse into one of our classes each month. One class that has particularly encouraged me but has also pricked me in the heart is Teaching Strategies. Our instructor, Michael Hite, has called out a glaring problem in our brotherhood. Our Bible classes lack energy, enthusiasm and engagement. In other words, people go to our Bible classes and enter the “pit of passivity”! Who’s fault is it and why does it happen? Well, Michael would argue it is largely the teacher who is lulling the audience into the pit of passivity when it should be the teacher who is engaging the class and helping them to understand how the text applies in their lives.


Here are a few key takeaways from the class:


1. Scriptures teach the value of experiential knowledge – not just memorization of facts, so…

2. Apply, apply, apply!

3. The teacher should engage the class with discussion and leading questions

4. Let the class teach itself. Direct but don’t lecture.

5. The teacher should accept full responsibility for the learning of each student!


現在我會說一點普通話

(This means, “Now, I can speak a little Mandarin”)

As a reminder for those who have not followed us from the beginning, our ultimate goal in leaving secular work was to enter into the mission field. Particularly a mission field that is closed to the Gospel and with few missionary workers. We’ve spent the past six months deliberating, praying and researching, and now, I’m excited to share that we have narrowed our focus to the Far East and to Chinese speakers who have not heard the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ! Our idea right now is to locate in Taiwan or Malaysia (both Chinese speaking countries) after graduation to learn the language, work with the local church, and to travel regularly into China itself.


In fact, toward this aim, we had been hopeful that the Lord would bless us with missionary partners, and we think He may have! Since coming here, we have met one Chinese family planning to return to China to work, one young American man who is also planning to work in China, and also, one other family that has expressed interest in going to work with us in Taiwan as a missionary team! (In the photo above, several BVBI students gathered around passionately discussing Far East missions!). While still a long way off, we are incredibly encouraged and hopeful for where this could be heading. We have already started learning Mandarin and planning our survey trip for the summer. So far, we plan to spend two weeks in Taiwan visiting with local congregations and two weeks in Malaysia preaching and attending the 15th Annual Chinese Bible Lectureship in Malaysia. We’re excited to share more as the time draws near. Thank you and God bless all of you who are enabling us to take the Gospel to the lost in the world!


Love,

-The Ihle Crew

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