History and invitation to the Bible Studies at Gilead Chapel, Coity, Bridgend.

Way back in 2006 a small group of us began to meet in the vestry of our chapel. As a matter of interest the vestry was the original building where Christians began to meet in 1826 and so it experienced the Great Awakening, the 1859 and the 1904 revivals. We continue to pray that God will keep the chapel open for the true preaching of the Gospel of salvation and as a continuing witness to Coity village.

We looked at some passages in the Old Testament and brief introductions to the four Gospels. We decided that it would be good to study Acts, but without any specific timetable. As this form of study was new to us it never occurred to us that it would be a good idea to make notes. Then one day in conversation with a member, Alison, who is a General Practitioner, said she would like to join us but because of surgery times it was difficult to meet with us.

So I asked if she would like to receive notes that I could try and make. When I/we began to do that initially they were very brief as we were learning to share together. But the amazing thing was that Alison found them helpful and eventually Alison was able to join us in the vestry on the Study nights.

After the Berlin Wall was broken and the Czechoslovakia had its “Velvet Revolution” I met up with Petr Jasek in 1990 and my wife and I began transporting medical aid out to him. Petr was the director of a Town hospital and as the now Czech Republic began to stabilise itself economically he realised that new government policies would result in the centralisation of the Health Service into large hospitals with the closure of many smaller Town hospitals. After much prayer Petr resigned from the Directorship in 2000.

Tom White was aware of this and by the grace of God, offered Petr a new role; Director of the Western Region for Voice of the Martyrs, USA. This was an excellent choice as Petr is fluent in Czech, Russian, German, Swedish and English and I teamed up with him as his English speaking aid, even though we were over 1000 miles apart. His area of responsibility included all the post Russian communist countries, much of the Middle East and Africa.

In 2008 VOM thought it wise to hold a training conference in Prague to help many of Petr’s co-workers learn to use the modern computer technology. A time of devotion was set aside at the start of each morning’s session and Petr asked me to take them, so I did a short series using the first three chapters of Genesis as an introduction to the Bible coming to focus on Jesus and the New Birth.

This was well received and many of the co – workers asked if they could have my notes even though they were in English.

Subsequent to that they also asked if they could join the Bible Study at Gilead. So now six of us meet fairly regularly on a Thursday night and the notes go out to some 90 Christians in at least 20 countries, many experiencing great difficulty and persecution as they share their faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Again, the amazing thing is that they are blessed and encouraged by these notes.

This is not false modesty. They are just notes, but the Holy Spirit is using them to help other Christians. Amen. One final point.

Though we call it a Bible Study, strictly speaking I don’t think it is. A genuine Study ought to involve academic research, an analysis of the Greek text and probably reference to many other Christian authors on a given subject. We are Christians who are students, when it comes to an understanding of God’s Word. As such we learn together and pray for the blessing of the presence of our Lord and Saviour and the anointing of the Holy Spirit. Thus our Bible Study is a time of worship and it is that “feeling” of worship that we wish to share; the wonder of being in the presence of God. If you feel the same way we would love you to join us.

Here is my email address: m_johnson31@sky.com
Web site www.gileadchapel.co.uk

Keith and the Bible Study Group.