Thursday Evening Practical Christianity Class

We returned yesterday evening for the second week to Kamyanitza to teach an eager class of youth and adults. We are very encouraged by the willingness of these youth to come to an evening class for one and one-half hours to study with little more motivation than to advance in Christian experience. Because the class is very informal and the students get no credit or grade, it is refreshingly encouraging that they come to learn more about God and themselves as they live the life of faith. The theme we are teaching is Practical Christianity, a class we taught in Kiev, but we are adapting it to the needs of the students in this class. We have begun with a definition of spirituality and what qualifications there are concerning Christian spirituality. We have considered the various perspectives and traditions in spirituality in the main streams of Christian heritage. Later, we will advance into development of spirituality, prayer, Bible study, and then progress into some issues in practical Christian life. Last evening we had fourteen in the class, but some of those there are just curious visitors. But that is okay if they are gleaning something which will help them. Some of the older folk in the back are visiting, but some are just as serious about studying as the youth. In the photo below you can see most attending the class, but some are clustered together so closely you cannot see them. I asked them why they were all sitting so far in the back and knotted together. I asked, "Are you afraid of the teacher?" Or, "Do you think I will spit on you?" Instead, I suggested that their love for each other was so great they just wanted to be together. Maybe a more practical reason is that because it is so cold they wished to commune their body heat together!!

The Thursday Evening Practical Christianity class at Kamyanitza