Last week in Kibera!

Last week we continued our amazing study on the Holy Spirit.  Our topic was the Fruit of the Holy Spirit. "The fruit of the Spirit is the character of Christ produced in us, so that we might show the world what He is like."

Susan opened our time of praise and worship by reading Psalm 121:1-2 reminding us that indeed our help comes from the Lord!

Susan is a natural leading our prayer time!

The ladies opened their Bibles to read along with Susan...

Christine is emerging as a leader

I was especially encouraged by the "seed principle" - the idea that, like fruit, we are a product of seed, in the natural as well as the spiritual.  In both the natural and spiritual we are designed to be instruments of reproduction.

Linet signing in as she arrives

So - just as fruit, in the natural, comes from a seed it also produces seed which then becomes more fruit...our spiritual birth was the result of spiritual seed and we, in turn, produce spiritual seed which produces fruit.

Being refreshed by the Lord

The spiritual fruit evidenced in the life of a believer is: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control (see Gal 5:22-23)

But - before the teaching began, Rose led us in a discussion based on the homework from the previous week...

Rose and Susan preparing to begin the teaching

...the ladies asked provocative questions and shared deep insights gained from reviewing the teaching from the previous week which was about the spiritual gifts...

Monica (in the black) sharing an insight from the previous week's lesson

There was lively discussion around the gift of tongues...one lady shared that she was gratified to see in God's word that the gift of prophecy is 'better than tongues' because many times when people around her are speaking in tongues she can feel left out since she does not know what is being said.

Someone else asked if two people are inspired by the Holy Spirit to speak in tongues, how is it that they cannot understand each other?

Another lady asked how a person who is obviously using his spiritual gifts in the church can be living a life outside of church that is definitely not spirit-filled.  That was a perfect lead-in to the current teaching on the fruit of the Holy Spirit!

Even though my part was very short; the introduction, many photos were taken by Denise!

The main point I wanted to highlight was; "as Jesus took a human body to reveal the Father to the world, so the eternal Spirit dwells within the believer to reveal Christ to the world.

I will be taking on more of the teaching and leading in the coming weeks

Susan taught on the Seed Principle as well as the Purpose of Spiritual Fruit-Bearing. We learned that the purpose of spiritual fruit-bearing is fourfold; it is an expression of the life of Christ, it is evidence of discipleship, it blesses other people and it brings glory to God!

Rose helped us see the Conditions for Fruit Bearing.  We learned that the following are necessary in order for us to bear fruit; pruning by the Father, remaining in Christ and Christ remaining in us.

Rose also taught about a Plentiful Harvest Objective.  Just as fruit-bearing plants must be properly cared for if we want them to produce a good yield of fruit, there are principles we must follow to realize a plentiful harvest of spiritual fruit in our lives.

We must; cultivate fellowship with God, seek to have fellowship with other Christians, accept the ministry of godly leaders, exercise watchfulness and protection.

Monica and Rachel

Denise taught about the Distinction of Spiritual Fruit.  It separates the genuine from the counterfeit (gifts can be counterfeited, fruit cannot!).  We learned that the 'more excellent way' is the way of Love.  1Cor 13:8 shows us that gifts will cease some day, but love will remain and never fail.

During our time of prayer at the end of our meetings we see evidence of fruit in the lives of the ladies as they use the gifts God has given; leading praise and worship, praying fervently and just loving each other...

As always, we meet for a time to debrief about the meeting.  I usually take the lead to walk us through what worked and what needs improvement in the area of the physical set up of the room, the teaching sessions, the sharing and keeping time.

Our goal is excellence so that we can benefit powerfully from our time together...

Rose and Susan are excellent partners in ministry.  We are daily blessed by their commitment, loyalty and especially the obvious fruit demonstrated in their lives.

For the next two weeks, we are changing the format from one of teaching/learning to more of a time of discussion and questions.  We gave out the next lesson for the ladies to read, do the work and come next week prepared to share insights and questions.