Greg and Wendy Mann: October 2007
Dear Family and Friends,
Last week I held another two day session of our Bible school. The men enjoyed spending alot of time on sermon preparation. I had the men work together in gathering useful information for a sermon series in the book of Philippians. They used Bible encyclopedias, dictionaries, and commentaries. Once they had gathered these things together, I had them write an introduction to the book. Next we worked together on word studies. They all found it interesting that the Greek word diakonos (deacon) is also translated "minister" or "servant" in other locations. In fact, in Romans, the word is used in reference to a woman...I challenged them to think about what issues that might raise. It is fun to watch them learn to think for themselves, and think Biblically. These men are learning the value of study. I find it ironic that people in North America that speak out against the KJV Bible do so because they say that it is to difficult...these men are basically uneducated, and many of them have learned to read using only the KJV. I think sometimes people just don't want to study, or at least open a dictionary.
It was my privilege to travel with my family to White Creek yesterday to preach for Pastor Norbert at Faith Baptist Church. I enjoyed preaching to a good crowd, including the Captain of the village. I had been working over the past few weeks on an "exegetical paper" for my seminary class...yesterday I put the information to good use as I preached from 1 John 5:13-20. Take a look at the passage...there are some interesting things...like, "the sin unto death," and "whosoever is born of God sinneth not..."
On a personal note...I would appreciate your prayers for my mother. She will be going in for heart bypass surgery on the 18th of this month. I will be leaving the jungle next Sunday morning and heading back to the States on Monday. I am planning on being with her at least through the surgery and a few days after. Wendy and the boys will remain in Guyana. I am grateful that my mother knows the Lord, and she knows that God is in charge...however, our faith does not eliminate the various feelings you face going into something like this. Thank you in advance for caring and praying...you have always been abundantly good in that area toward my family and I!
God's blessing to each of you this week,
Greg, Wendy, Joshua, Josiah, and John Mann