Hello Friends-
Apologies for the lack of posts recently! We've been having such a great time with our Free English Class students and other new friends here in London who we are pointing to Jesus I'm afraid we often get swept up in the moment and either forget to take pictures completely or it would just be awkward to do so.
Just two nights ago, I think we may have set a new record for the number of students attending our Tuesday evening Free English Classes, Ealing, but we were all having such a good time, none of us thought to stop and count. If I had to hazard a guess, I think we had about 40-45 students, exceeding our previous attendance record of 36 from the week before. The Wednesday morning women's class also set a new record as well of 44 attendees this past week.
For the past three weeks after our Tuesday evening Free English Class ends, we've held a Christianity Explored Bible study, which is a 7 week study looking at the life of Jesus from the Gospel of Mark, and have had several English students stay on to participate including students from Japan, Ukraine, Russia, Poland, China, and Iran.
We've made the Christianity Explored study completely optional and separate from the English Class as a low pressure opportunity for students who the Holy Spirit may be at work in to further explore the Gospel and to take another step toward knowing Jesus. We plan to run these a few times a year in conjunction with Free English Classes on Tuesday nights, and the Wednesday morning women's class has an optional Bible study after class ends as well.
Ultimately, this is what Free English Classes is meant to be about. We are trusting the Lord to create a "funnel" of sorts to draw as many non-christians as possible into closer contact with the Church and God's people, in hopes that as we build relationships with them, practice hospitality, and share the Gospel with them, that some of them may come to trust Jesus and "get stuck-in"* to Church life for a lifetime of deepening faithfulness to Jesus and His Church.
Thank you so much for all of your prayers and support as we trust Jesus together to build His Church in London.
*to "get stuck-in" is a "British-ism" that means "to start doing something with enthusiasm or determination".