Just do it.

Just teach.

Just
do it.

God’s love and power are limitless, and in him you will find inexhaustible strength. Even in the stormiest times, he stands firmly by your side and guides your steps. Trust in his plan for you and move forward boldly, because with Jesus at your side you can move mountains.

Biblical teaching serves as a solid foundation for all our actions and thoughts. By following God’s Word, we make good decisions and take the right steps.

 

Just
teach.

Sometimes it's the little things that signal to others that we Christians are different. Just let Jesus do it through us!
Michael König; preacher, speaker and Bible school teacher
I wish my colleagues in the contact mission that they will increasingly recognize their best form of teaching and become masters at it. How and who do you actually teach? I think every Christian has a teaching mission.
Christoph Windler, Director for Austria and Italy and Bible school teacher

Just do it. Just teach.
Concretely lived.

This is what it looks like at various locations for our coworkers.

Teaching
is necessary
Biblical education in South Sudan.

Biblical teaching is very important for the church and communities in South Sudan. They absolutely need well-trained pastors who understand the biblical text and can share and apply Jesus’ teachings. After the civil wars from 1956 to 2005, there is a lack of theological leaders and therefore a lack of knowledge in South Sudan.

 

Joseph Lokudu, a Bible school teacher in South Sudan, experiences special moments when he is able to see the fruits of his service: When the daughter of a church employee who was pregnant out of wedlock aborted the child without the parents’ knowledge and was then no longer able to eat, the parents sought help from a young pastor. one of my graduates. The pastor made it clear to them that Jesus always loved her and would forgive her no matter what happened. She almost lost her life because she didn’t know that there is no sin that Jesus cannot forgive.

Teach
and help
God's work in Ukraine

More than 500 days of war have now passed. Ivan Ovcharenko has already traveled a very difficult path with his family and Bible school and does not know what lies ahead. But he knows  with certainty that God is always with him, that he is faithful and that he helps him to survive.

Thanks to generous support, he was able to continue his humanitarian service with his Bible school. They provide food aid to people, care for refugees living in their dormitories, and the students and staff regularly deliver food and clean water to frontline cities. It is a special joy for them to see the fruits of their ministry: in June they had several baptisms. Many people heard the gospel for the first time when they came to them for food.

Café
Story
A place to get practical help and hope.

“When a person begins to thirst for Jesus or is already born again and growing in Christ, it is automatic and natural that he needs spiritual food. Little and gentle at first, but as he grows he needs it more and continually. The teaching of Word of God is the essential part of spiritual nourishment in the entire growth process.

Even though it often doesn’t seem like it in our modern world, there will always be a thirst, a longing for our Creator. This is something natural and a fact. In this sense, simply teaching in our missionary service means that we share the spiritual nourishment we have received from Christ as best we can, with our strengths and limitations.”

Sergio and Melodie Patzer, Brazil

 

 

Just do it. Just teach.
An encouragement to do good things.

There is a photo from the first few months of our ministry here in Hollabrunn, Austria. It shows me in the Bible round in Hollabrunn with an open Bible in my hand. I teach the group by introducing them to the Bible using questions. In the end we arrive in life with the question: “How do I live what this text teaches me”? During my training I had already learned that teaching plays an important role in Jesus’ mission. Jesus wants life-changing and life-shaping teaching (Matthew 28:20).

 

Jesus taught constantly

Missionary work without teaching is not possible! Or can I go so far as to say that without teaching it is not missionary work? Let’s see. The matter is self-evident: Jesus, as God’s missionary, constantly taught. How else are people supposed to know who he is, what his good news is, and what claims God has on their lives? His lifestyle and his miracles, even the execution of his death sentence, would otherwise have been incomprehensible or misleading.

 

Mission work today in all its facets involves teaching. This is the essence of the Christian faith. Christian faith is not based on experiences or feelings, but on spiritual realities (about God, about man, about the path to God – all things that one needs to know something about). Believing means being convinced. Conviction requires understanding and ultimately knowledge. Christians know who they believe in and why they believe – because they are taught. Teaching means conveying the biblical content and context and thus guiding people to learn. This is how faith is established, convictions are strengthened, the determination to follow Jesus increases and skills for service are developed.

 

Communicating the gospel is teaching

Regardless of whether my task in the mission is to make Christianity credible (for example through diakonia), to give people access to the Gospel, to instruct Christians, to train employees, to train theological teachers – teaching is always in demand.

Teaching takes place in the form of a conversation, for example in a Viennese coffee house with a piece of Sachertorte. Teaching takes place through group discussions in the home group. Paul’s instruction in Colossians 3:16 “teach one another” comes into play very well. The teacher provides inspiration for the group, but is not the lecturer. Teaching happens through workshops or seminars. Preaching means (at least also) teaching. Teaching takes place in mentoring and yes, lectures and lessons are also teaching. Even the exemplary life teaches (although it needs interpretation through words).

 

Personally, I have taught in a variety of ways during my ministry: through leading group Bible discussions, through sermons, through lectures and seminars, through teaching at the academy, through writing courses, through personal conversations and discussions, through personal counseling with pastors, and Christian leaders, through articles, even through my photos. No matter what job I’ve had so far, I teach (perhaps because I can’t do anything else). In community consulting work with a core team at a church, I received the feedback (it was positive) that “You teach all the time.” Some time ago I was asked by a congregation to preach on conflict. I taught using the example of Paul and Barnabas. I am currently teaching Psalm 146 under the theme “God’s Power in Times of Powerlessness.”

 

Teaching has an impact

Teaching requires perseverance. As we all know, fruits don’t grow overnight and people don’t change overnight either. The strong global Christianity today exists because countless, mostly nameless collaborators have taught others all over the world for centuries. Teaching is not always noticeable at first glance and neither are the results; but the gospel we teach always has an impact.

I conclude: all of my colleagues in the contact mission are teachers in some way. They convey the Gospel to a wide variety of target groups (refugees, beggars, children, community members, students) through speaking, through writing, through diaconal acts, through art, through social media, through therapeutic work with animals, through action and adventure, through conversations. I wish my colleagues that they recognize more and more clearly their best form of teaching and become masters at it.

Now I dare say: without teaching it is not missionary work.

 

How and who do you actually teach?
(Every Christian has a teaching job 😉)

 

Christoph Windler
Country head of the contact mission for Austria and Italy, head of studies

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