Liberia Update 2
From the Field Nov. 17, ’15
On Oct. 16th you were sent the ‘Liberia Update’ and now part two. I was pleased to be able to help Pastor Hein and his member Alvin Jask in Monrovia, Liberia last week doing exploratory mission work. One thing we did was conduct a seminar from 9-4 for three days teaching on a variety of Bible lessons and topics. There were over 35 who attended each day. I will explain below what I taught. In teaching a segment on the Trinity I went over the special name of our God, Jehovah. Also tying in with this I went through seven passages in the Old Testament which are parallel in the New Testament which refer to Jesus as Jehovah. In teaching on Baptism and Communion the two main questions raised were mainly about baptism: 1)whether children can be baptized, which I showed from the Bible that they should be baptized, 2) what is the method of applying water, which I pointed out could be by sprinkling, pouring or immersing, all allowable according to the words used in Scripture. Incidentally, during the time in Liberia Pastor Hein baptized thirteen people by pouring water over their heads.
The topic that brought out the most discussion was on ‘Why we are not Pentecostals’. I went over this in detail. We do not believe that the power of miracles through the hands of men is available today, that it ceased with the death of the apostles and their associates. The completion of the Bible ended these miraculous gifts which were given to confirm and bear witness to the Word. Once the church had the Word, the miracles ceased. God can still do miracles and does, but not that these can be guaranteed through men. I went over what could be the reasons why some claim they can speak in tongues today, and there were those present who did claim this. I went over why God does not speak to us in dreams today, and there were those present who claimed He had done just that.
I also taught on: Law and Gospel Differentiation, the Armor of God, Key Words of our Faith, Ichthus, Creation Review, A Study of Some Aspects of John’s Gospel. In addition to the oral teaching with several of my subjects I left English copies of the material that people could read on their own. It was clear from the seminar and talks afterwards that what we taught was appreciated. There were disagreements and more teaching needs to be done. There is a yearning for the truth there, but they also have so many churches splintering off into independent ones or following a man or woman. There is so much more that needs to be gone over, such as that men are to govern in the church and be the pastors. We have no organized church in Liberia, but are only doing initial exploration. If you would like to have more information, contact Pastor Hein or Alvin Jask. Pray that we can continue to explore and determine if we can do work in Liberia.