Article November 15, 2010 Issue

Bible-based community in church

BY BLAKE SCHMIDT

I GREW UP HEARING BIBLE STORIES at home and in Sunday School, and loved the practical lessons and spiritual nourishment contained in them. But I didn't really begin to understand the challenges faced and the triumphs accomplished by those extraordinary characters until I took two classes on the Bible in college. The more I learned about the culture, geography, religion, and politics of those times, the more I appreciated the stories behind the stories that I'd heard and read since I was a child.

My religion courses, coupled with majors in world perspectives and mass communication, helped open my eyes to the impact of the Bible in today's world. In the ten years since college, I have traveled, studied, worked, and lived in nearly 20 countries. These experiences have been unique, challenging, and rewarding. While I have yet to visit Israel or Egypt or Iraq or other Biblical lands, my overseas experiences have given me a broader perspective on the diversity of people, environments, and opportunities in the world.

Sixteen months after graduating from college, I went to Mozambique to serve as a Peace Corps Volunteer. When I arrived in October 2001, I was immediately impressed with the sense of community that made me feel welcomed and appreciated, and was so different from what I was accustomed to. Throughout the more than two and a half years I spent in Mozambique, I enjoyed meals with hospitable strangers in their homes, participated in all sorts of fun occasions with neighbors, and made great friends. I didn't have to travel to the other side of town or call across the country for help, a conversation, or entertainment, but just step out my door, and people were happy to set aside what they were doing to spend time with me. I felt echoes of that well-loved Bible passage, "For I was an hungered, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gaveme drink: I was stranger, and ye took me in" (Matt. 25:35).

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