Numidia Mennonite Bible School - Reflector Yearbook (Numidia, PA)

Page 34 text:

PERSONAL EVANGELISM As we view the many people around us groping in darkness and despair, one is moved with compassion for their souls. We are all to be involved in winning souls to the Kingdom of Heaven. Evangelism means the winning of person- al commitments to Christ. Personal Evange- lism means one or more persons carrying the gospel to other persons. Some of the advantages of personal evan- gelism over mass evangelism cited in this class were: ill It is the most direct method. In preaching, the message can be shifted to the other person, Q23 It shows a personal interest. The individual may respond more readily when approached by one person, 135 It can be done by all Christians, not just the ministry, and C45 It can be done most anywhere and at all times. In order for our witness to be effective, we must possess these qualities: Q11 A new birth experience, 123 A knowledge ofthe Scriptures, Q35 A life of prayer, C45 A con- sistent Christian testimony, and C55 Ability to understand the need of the person. Finally, how can we lead a soul to Christ? First of all, we seek the blessing of God as we approach the individual. Secondly, we help him realize his lost condition. Thirdly, point him to Jesus who is able to forgive his sins and cleanse his heart. And lastly, we should encourage him to yield his whole life to God. Go ye therefore and teach all nations. -Marvin Weaver CHRISTIAN STEWARDSHIP To be good stewards, we must first of all realize that God is the owner and crea- tor of everything. God has entrusted each of us with the care of His creation. We are each given some talents, and an alloted amount of time to use those talents for our Master. 30 God has given us our possessions that we might use them to His honor and glory. In the parable of the talents, we see that God's blessing was only on those who used that which was placed into their trust. The more we are given, the more responsible we be- come. ' The tithe was required in the Old Testa- ment, but today we are asked to give as the Lord has prospered us. As we give our- selves ttime, talent, and moneyl for the kingdom, we will be laying up treasures where corruption nor decay can mar or spoil. -Joseph Charles PRAYER LIFE 6'What is prayer? Do you know what it is to pray? Yes, but it seems God doesn't hear or answer my prayerslw How often we hear this answer! But God does answer our prayers if we follow the guidelines that He has given. We must: 1. feel our helplessness. John 15:5 2. have faith. Mark 11:24 3. express submission. Mat- thew 6:10 4. have a forgiving attitude. Mark 11:25, 26 5. live an acceptable life. I John 3:22 Prayer must be more than an attitude or activity, it must be a way of life. Unless our prayers express a total dependence upon God for all things, we have not experienced what real prayer is. God has designed prayer to supply man's great and continuous need with His match- less grace and love. Real prayer fills manls emptiness with C1od's fulness, his poverty with God's riches, and his weakness with God's strength. May we accept the challenge to have a meaningful prayer life in praying for the needs about us! - Vernon Kurtz

Page 33 text:

SECTION IV - PRACTICAL STUDIES METHODS OF BIBLE STUDY In this class we studied how to study We must learn how to effectively get the deep truths out of Gods Word Studying is the pathway to great depths of know ledge The Bible contains Splfltual nourish ment for any hungry person who is will ing to dig it out Many new truths and chal when we avail ourselves of the God given armor described in Ephesians 6 14 17 Jesus is a good example of victorious l1v ing When He was tempted in the wilder ness Jesus used the Word of God for a weapon against Satan May we follow this example in each temptation we face My testimony is that Christian victory is . . . . , O . . . Q . - ' 1 O - 0 I . . U I ' a O ' . O 0 Q 0 I I , - lenges can be found, giving us a desire for further study. We learned that the only way to get the correct interpretation is to know the Au- thor, and depend on the Holy Spirit to guide us. Comparing scripture with scrip- ture will help us to understand it better. Studying the verses in their context will prevent us from picking out one here and there and putting them together to prove our own ideas. A concordance and a dictionary are two very valuable resources of help for effec- tive studying. Commentaries are also help- ful, yet their interpretations must line up with the inspired Word of God. We learned that there are different types of approaches we can take to study. We can make book, chapter, verse, paragraph, character, or topical studies. In our study we need to master the truths that we find there and also make application for our lives today. In this way we can live a more perfect life for the Lord. -Mark K. Siegrist ' -1 1-llulin VICTORIOUS CHRISTIAN LIVING Victorious Christian living is something that is attainable. The way to live victor- iously is to let God work through you in every way of life. The spirit of truth will guide us in the way of truth. fJohn 16:13J Victory is possible in every temptation possible only through Jesus' work on the cross for each one of us. Victory is attained by giving up self, and taking up our cross which we must bear till death to win the crown. May each of us take the cross He has for us to bear. - Jerry Neuenschwander Natural abz'lz'tz'es are like natural plants,- they need pruning by study. . YOUTH PROBLEMS I Youth is a time in life when there are many difficult decisions to make. Only with God's help can we make the right de- cisions. The purpose of this class was to lead us in finding Godis will for our lives. How do I know where to work, where to live, and who God might have to be my life com- panion? How do I know if it is God's will for me to get married? One thing that was stressed in this class was that it is most important for me to be the best person I can be, then only will I be worthy of the best companion for life. If we are in God's will, we can go to Him in prayer and know He will reveal His plan to use as He sees fit. We wish at times that God would tell us just exactly what would be the best thing to do or say, but if this was the case, we would not learn to wait pa- tiently on the Lord. We must be in God's will before we can hope to get His blessings. -Julia S. Risser 29

Page 35 text:

PRINCIPLES GF TEACHING What is teaching? Teaching is simply helping others to learn, it's taking some- one from where he is in his thinking to where he should be. Nehemiah 8:8 describes teaching as reading distinctly, telling the meaning, and showing how to apply to daily living. Teaching is a great responsibility, but also a glorious opportunity to mold lives. HAS a man thinketh in his heart so is he. Itls very important to get good thought patterns established early, because they con- trol the individuals conduct. The Christian teaches of things of here and now as they relate to eternity. The spiritual part of man is stressed, the Bible is given supreme place, thereby making room for the supernatural. The non-Chris- tian teacher educates only the soul and body, leaving out the most important part of man, the spirit. We looked at the learning process, the teacher's task, techniques of teaching, problems encountered, and mistakes made in teaching. Over all we recognized the need of the Spirit illuminating our mind and heart, so that we can teach effectively. -Esther Yoder TYPING I Our class met every day of the week ex- cept Monday. We met in the dining room from 11:15 to 12:00. We followed the rules from Typing Made Simple. Typing is very interesting, yet it takes practice and effort to learn where all the keys are located. The first couple of days we learned the different keys, then we were timed to see how many words we could type a minute. As we heard the office secretary typing, it made us ,wonder if we could ever type that fast. It takes a lot of determination to stick with the lessons, but it is well worth it. Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy mightf' Ecclesiastes 9:10. -Barbara Kurtz CHRISTIAN WRITING Conviction + Ability + Humility : The Christian Writer. Developing conviction and the burden to write was the main pur- pose of our class. This is accomplished as we sense the importance of the ministry of writing and its far reaching influence, along with the great need for sound Chris- tian literature. g We further developed our ability by look- ing at some basics of grammar and steps in building a good story. We learned that every good story contains a conflict, cli- max, and conclusion. We must recognize that we cannot depend on our own ability but rather through prayer and persever- ance write for the honor and glory of God. Humility came as we submitted our writ- ing to the constructive criticism of our class- mates. We found that writing stories, arti- cles, or poems is not an easy task, but it is certainly a worthwhile and rewarding area of service for our Lord. - Patricia Reed THE CHRISTIAN HOME The home was ordained by God in the beginning as the institution by which man- kind should replenish the earth in a pure and honorable way, and by which the com- mands of the Lord would be passed on from one generation to the next. In our day the concept and place of the home has been greatly perverted in view of Godls original plan. As God's people we need to be firmly established in the truth to proper- ly be able to stand the tests we face in life. A home established on Christian prin- ciples is very important in the establishing of individual stability, and is at the very core of any enduring society. How thankful we should be for the blessing of faithful parents in providing a home life that is conducive to sound Christian living! With this in mind, may we ask God to help, us be a blessing to the church and future generations, by being faithful to Him where we are now, and in the future establishment of our own homes. -Daniel G. Weaver 31