Friday September 4
Further Thought: A number of years ago, a small European church outside of one of the continent’s major cities decided that it had to do something significant for the Lord. The church was stagnant. No one had been baptized for years. If the present trend continued, the church had little future. The pastor and his church board earnestly prayed and carefully considered what they might do.
As they studied the New Testament, they decided to establish a small group ministry. Nine lay people in the congregation caught the vision. They committed themselves to pray together and study how to establish their small group ministry effectively. Soon they decided to make each of their homes an evangelistic center. The groups learned to exercise their gifts in various ways. They launched prayer and hospitality ministries. They developed friendships in the community. They reached out in acts of kindness to their family, friends, and to former Adventists. The small group leaders began Bible studies in nine homes with 40 guests in attendance. They were amazed at what the Holy Spirit was doing. Eventually 17 of the 40 were baptized. The testimony of that small, stagnant church is that small groups make an enormous difference. They are one of God’s means to involve multiple church members in the mission of the church.
Discussion Questions:
• In class, discuss further the essential elements in each small group as outlined in Thursday’s study. In what other kinds of activities could a small group be involved? What are ways in which a small group could help those with special gifts really be able to use those gifts as never before?
• Why is it so important that small groups keep an outward, mission focus? That is, however much a group can help nourish and support its members, why must it always keep central to its purpose the spreading of the gospel? Why, too, should a small group always keep connected with the local church body? Why is that so important?
• Have you ever been a part of or heard of small groups that did not function effectively and eventually died out? Discuss the reasons why you think this might happen."
• Think about the story above, about what happened in Europe with the small group ministry. Why do you think it worked so well? What did they do that was, in many ways, so simple and, yet, so effective? Why, too, might working from the “safer” environment of homes, as opposed to a church building, be an effective way of beginning an outreach to the neighborhood or community?
Inside Story
Forgiven in East Timor
By Andrew Mcchesney
The would-be killer of a Seventh-day Adventist store clerk won’t face punishment after East Timor authorities accepted a decision by the clerk to forgive rather than seek justice in the attack. The case has shocked the East Timor town of Lospalos, where retribution is common, and even the police have expressed disbelief that store clerk Edu Wachumura chose to forgive.
The attacker, Juvinil Ananias, thrust a spear through a store door in a drunken attempt to kill Edu in 2017. The spear only nipped the tip of Edu’s nose. Edu met Juvinil at a Lospalos police station in 2019 and signed a declaration to forgive him. Juvinil quietly expressed his remorse for his actions. “I am sorry,” he said. “Thank you.”
Juvinil offered to slaughter a pig and throw a feast in Edu’s honor, but Edu declined, explaining that he doesn’t eat pork. Police officers watched incredulously as Edu signed the paper in their presence. “You should at least give a gift or a cow to Edu,” an officer told Juvinil.
The attack, which was featured as a Sabbath School mission story in fourth quarter 2018, occurred after Juvinil drunkenly stumbled into the store and swore at 28-year-old Edu, who was working behind the counter.
Edu, who had joined the Adventist Church after taking Bible studies from the store’s owner, Zelindo João Lay, gently scolded him. Juvinil angrily threatened to kill Edu but backed off when he saw the other customers in the store. “I’m going to kill you tonight,” he snarled as he headed out the door.
That night, Edu heard a knock on the double metal doors at the back of the shop. He went over to the doors, which were locked and chained together, and looked between them to see who was outside. At that moment, a spear plunged through the doors. In a split second, Edu raised an arm, diverting the course of the spear. The tip of the spear sliced the end of his nose.
Two days later, police came to the store to ask Edu whether he wanted the attacker to go to jail. Edu shook his head. “I’ve forgiven the man,” he said. The police jailed Juvinil anyway for a week but then released him. The lengthy legal process played out until 2019, when Juvinil was officially declared forgiven by the authorities.
"Zelindo hopes that the stunned local community will understand that God wants to forgive them—just as Edu forgave Juvinil. Following the attack, Edu’s brother and sister were baptized, and Zelindo hopes many more people will follow their example."
“Everyone is talking about edu’s decision to forgive, and no one understands it,” Zelindo said. “It is the power of God.”
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