Luke 8: 26-39

We have a wonderful study guide that gives us discussion questions to use and that has been our source for our Friday night studies. They give multiple choice questions which help the students so that they do not have to come up with their own ideas or language. But we always branch off greatly and discuss many, many things. A 10-15 verse study with 6-8 questions usually takes us 2 or 3 one hour sessions to finish. When I looked at the source material for this week, I really questioned whether this was the right study, but I took it as His leading as we are going through chronologically. It is the story of the man possessed by a Legion of demons. The Lord drives out the demons into a herd of pigs which rush down the slope and are drowned. To introduce spiritual possession to these new babies and seekers just did not match where I would want to go. But in faith we went into the discussion tonight. Of course, we may be more prepared to realistically discuss this topic than many Western believers. I was raised on a Native reservation. They were attune to the spirit world, the good and the bad. I was raised with a deep fear of the bad aspects. Then we have lived in Africa for 10 years. Particularly the believers in Zambia were so deeply insightful to the spiritual world around them that they could manage in ways I had never seen nor thought possible before. (In fact the safest I have ever felt within the spiritual realm was when I was being protected by my friends in Zambia.) Well, the discussion was deep and satisfying to all of us. Although we certainly could not answer all the questions in any way, one of the students said at the end, that she truly had some answers. We need to continue to pry for this group. A friend and former colleague from PKU is coming to teach summer school in Beijing. She offered to take the group for the month of July when she is here. I offered this to them tonight. I was so very ecstatic at how excited they were to go on meeting while we were gone! Doing this is truly one of the most satisfying experiences I have had in my life.