I began my work as a tutor on the TIYB web site in 2006. As a senior sister with many years of experience teaching Sunday school, Isolation League Sunday School, and as part of the CBM Zimbabwe team, I saw tutoring on the web as an opportunity to contribute to the work of preaching. What an experience it has been!
Five years and 800 plus contacts and students since then, from up and down the east coast of the United States and across Canada, I have been humbled by the messages from those who without exception want “to know their Bible better”. These messages from a small percentage of my long list are what keep me going to my computer every day to check on new students and respond to submitted questions from established students. The Internet can be a very impersonal medium for sharing God’s Word, but once in a while there will be an emotional connection with a student who is hungry to learn. Like my student, Helen, in Minnesota, who got up at 4:30 AM every morning, before going to work, to read and submit her next lesson and then send a message — “I love you, Joy!” — when she had completed the final lesson. This student was connected with the brothers and sisters in Minnesota. Or the postal student who sent a letter and her picture with thanks for “opening the Bible” for her; and the mother who read her daughter’s postal lessons and sent a note asking for lessons, too. The eager few keep me from being discouraged by the many that register and then never continue, or the countless postal students who never respond to lessons coming to them by mail.
My routine is simple. Each student is sent a WELCOME email letter when they register on the site. The letter encourages them to explore the web site, and briefly reviews all the interesting options available to them. I conclude the letter by introducing myself as their contact and Bible study partner. For the online students, each time a lesson is submitted a personal letter is sent commenting on their answers. The Online Bible1 and my husband, Bro. Bob, have helped me handle the tricky and challenging questions. Reading the Bible daily, looking up references, and reading the chapters for each lesson are always emphasized. Postal students receive a cover letter with their first set of three lessons, again encouraging them to read their Bibles. For those few who complete the course, either online or by mail, a letter is sent outlining options for continuing their studies. Options include: contact with the nearest Christadelphians, a review of other available Christadelphian web sites, or the 40 lesson CBM postal course and a copy of Bro. Maher’s book Understand the Bible: Work it Out for Yourself.
I tell myself that in a very small way I am “sowing the seed”. I am thankful that God has given me the experience and spiritual training to do this work. I pray for His blessing.
- See www.onlinebible.net for this free Bible software program
The Origin of the Organic World – Part One