Discovery Bible Reading
a simple method to reach new people
hen Discovery Bible Reading was introduced to
Papua New Guinea, we did not realise how it would
impact our churches, nor how this simple process
would be used by the Holy Spirit to empower members and
pastors to share faith, help new people find the truth about
Jesus and result in the planting of many new churches. | have
seen how effective it is and continue to facilitate Discovery
Bible Reading groups—and find it is the best method for shar-
ing the Bible's message.
In the Pacific we love to witness to our friends and commu-
nities, in our language groups, villages, towns and cities. We
look for the best ways to do this—using Bible studies, cottage
meetings, visitor and welcome days in our churches, together
with evangelistic meetings. Most of these are the methods
pastors and some of the elders can use, to cover many topics
to influence people to accept our beliefs and join the Adventist
Church.
However, these methods often given little opportunity for
questions to be explored and answered, with the messages of
truth not really reaching into the hearts and minds of the peo-
ple. Sometimes preachers speak from a stage for weeks with
little or no personal interaction. In contrast, | was especially
fascinated when Discovery Bible Reading was introduced to us
in 2018.
16 Adventist Record | November 18, 2023
Discovery Bible Reading allows people to read the Bible
for themselves, ask questions, and find answers as they
read and discuss. It reminds me of the story of the Ethiopian
eunuch in Acts 8:26-40. Philip was taken by an angel to the
desert road leading from Jerusalem to Gaza. There he met
this important treasury official from Ethiopia—a eunuch. He
had been to Jerusalem to worship and on his return was
reading Isaiah's prophecy of “the suffering servant”:
"He was led like a sheep to the slaughter, and as a lamb
before the shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth.
In his humiliation he was deprived of justice. Who can speak
of his descendants? For his life was taken away from the
earth” (Acts 8:32, 33; cf. Isaiah 53:7, 8).