Memorizing

When my parents visited in September, we asked them to bring some Bibles.  They brought down 50 copies of the Bible Dios Habla Hoy, a version accepted by the Catholic church.

Our goal is to give them all away.  One of the ways that the kids who come on Sunday afternoons can earn a Bible is by scripture memorization. 

These Bibles aren't for keeping

At the end of December, we told the kids they could win one by memorizing 1 Corinthians 13 before Valentine´s Day.  Two girls began to regularly visit our home during the week so that we could help them memorize.  We didn´t just focus on them learning the verses, we also spent time discussing their meaning.  After a short time, one of the girls gave up memorizing, although she still continued to come.

On Valentine´s Day, Zalma successfully recited the chapter, and she won her Bible along with some other small gifts.  We took her picture and posted it in the room so that other kids could see that memorization is possible, although it requires work.

The next passages that we selected were Isaiah 42:1-9 and Jeremiah 31:31-34.  We told the kids they had until Easter to memorize.  Again, the same two girls came to our home, and we helped them memorize and understand the verses.  This time neither girl gave up.  They both practiced extensively.  Abraham suggested that Six, Ken, he, and I also commit the verses to memory during the assigned time, and I didn't have to work very hard at it, because I was the one who was with the girls most often.

Zalma and Nati recited the verses on Easter Sunday, Nati glowing from the success of having stuck with the work and seen the results of her persistance.  She was very pleased to receive her Bible, and we gave Zalma a different gift, since she had previously won a Bible.

The next passage is John 1:1-14, and the kids have until the end of May to work on those verses.  One of our neighbor girls, who frequently comes to our home during the week (along with her sisters, niece and nephews who come for reading class) already knows all the verses by heart.  She only has to continue reviewing so that she doesn't forget them before the end of May.

We hope and pray that other children will be encouraged to memorize and that the verses won't just be in their minds but will also affect their hearts.  Neither Zalma nor Nati have accepted Jesus into their hearts, and their home situation is worse than any soap opera, but they now both have Bibles, which we emphasized are for using, and they both have some scripture in their minds.

Please pray specifically for those two girls and their families.  They very recently moved to another town, where they live in dangerous and unwholesome conditions.  Other children have told us that they continue to come to Huejotzingo, but only for their catechism class.  We have not seen them since they moved.