New Tribes Update!
Hey! Just wanted to give you another update on life out here at Bible College! First, I want to say that I hope those of you affected by the hurricane and snow storm are doing well and do not have much damage if any to tend to. You have all certainly been in my prayers as regards to the storms!
Well, school has been quite busy, more so than usual the past few weeks and there's only 5 weeks left to the semester! Time seems to be going by so fast. I recently finished studying the Pentateuch and started Old Testament History. In my last update I was in Exodus but since then I studied through Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. These classes were not very long, about 10 hours a week for each of them but they are an essential foundation as far as understanding the rest of the Bible goes. Understanding the laws laid out and the different feasts that pointed out Christ's work that was to come shows just how much higher God's ways are than our own. Also just seeing the Israelites constantly turn from God and to the gods of other nations and their own selves and the way that God, though he punished them, loved them enough to punish them and point them back in the right direction. It just depicts the current life of so many individuals even in the church. How often we leave God out of the picture and how often we turn to other 'gods' whether they be our own selves, our sleep, the internet, television, et cetera. It's convicting to see the same things in my own life that we would normally read through in the Pentateuch and think, "Oh, I'd never do THAT." and realize that we do it daily.
I've got a little over one more week of Hermeneutics to go, it's been an incredible class which I already covered in my last update but I'll try to go into more detail on it in my next update when I finish it! I get to start Proverbs after it ends so while I'm sad to be done with hermeneutics, I'm also excited to start Proverbs! So far I've read through and studied from Genesis to Ruth, and then Job, Ecclesiastes, Song of Songs, and Philippians. Looking back and realizing that I've gone through that much scripture in just a few months is incredible. I've learned so much and am continuing to learn so much more. I started Old Testament History which will be going from Judges all the way through Esther. This class definitely has the heaviest homework load of the semester, at least two hours worth a day, but I'm more than happy to get into it. It's going to be a hard class but it's going to be incredibly worth it!
Moving on from school, I've been going to a church called Community Bible of Manchester. It's a very small church and I'm currently helping out with Awana there on Wednesday evenings. I've got 3-6th grade boys. Depending on what other helpers show up sometimes it's just me and a younger guy, Sam, working with them and then on other nights, we have an older guy who helps out. It's been going well so far even though it just started and I'm getting used to how it all works because it's been so long since I went through it and it's incredibly different than when I went through it as well! I'm really glad I can help serve the church though, and I look forward to getting to know the people at the church better and develop relationships there.
Overall life here has been going so well. Classes are great, relationship building is going great, and life outside of school at church is great as well. I really cannot believe how smoothly everything is going here and I could not have expected it to be nearly this great, not my first semester especially. I really expected a much rougher transition and I'm so thankful that it's been so much easier to adjust than I expected.
Thank you so much for your prayer and support!
God bless,
Daniel Moniz