It’s Bob here….

I told you I’m an introvert.  So how do I get people to tell me what is REALLY going on in their lives?

Remember our goal in Discovery Bible Studies is to change the way people relate to each other and as well as how they relate to  God.

One of the most powerful questions to help me discover what is going on in people’s lives  is  “How is your week going?”

Saturday morning we had our DBS with David* and his family.

It was supposed to have been on Thursday night, but David had to work late and so we rescheduled.  That is one of the advantages of meeting with just one family.  You can flex the time easier.

When  I asked David, "who have you been talking with about God since our last meeting?", he immediately started telling me about the conversations that he and Samuel had at work.

I've met Samuel.  We both were at the birthday party for David's son.  I know he is a keen Christian.

At this time of year we usually focus our Discovery Bible Study on the Christmas event.  My goal is that our group members can tell the story from the time the angel came to Mary through to the time Joseph and Mary left for Egypt.  That allows them to say "from the very beginning there were some people like the wisemen who worshipped Jesus and others like King Herod who wanted to get rid of him."

I've been asking myself for a couple of weeks  whether or not Carl* and Prisha* are people of peace.  

I knew they met my first five markers.  But what about number 6?

Saturday I got my answer.

 I use six markers to  identify a person of peace.

I totally forgot about my coaching time with Doug* yesterday.  That is I forgot, until my computer beeped.  My ten minute reminder. Now why did I schedule a coaching appointment in the first week of the school holidays?  Must be important.  Oh, yes.  Doug was on holiday last week and we need to keep moving forward.  

I grabbed a blank sheet of paper and wrote down my outline: CASA.  

What did I need to do for each of these letters?

C – Caring

Wednesday night  I went to the school musical -- Yes, I can.

We've been active in this primary school for over 20 years.  Both of our children started there in KIndergarten.  Now we are continuing at Scripture teachers.  I teach Year 6/5; my wife teaches Kindergarten.  Each year we attend the school musical.

This year there was a page in the program about the Growth Mindset which caught my attention. The diagram below reminded me of the task we often face: helping a person take the next step.

Last year we started a DBS for two Indian families. It only lasted three sessions.  There were many reasons that is was so short lived.  Some of them were cultural landminds that we were not aware of.  Another was a lack of interest by the host's husband.

David Watson estimates that 85% of his groups fail. And he is the one who pioneered Discovery Bible Studies.