The Clackamas print., February 17, 2016, Page 6, Image 6

BROWN BAG BIBLE STUDY
INTERNATIONAL BAPTISMS
STUDENTS OPEN THE BIG BOOK IN AN INDEPENDENT GROUP ON CAMPUS
BY MERARI CALDERON RUIZ
Anyone can learn to read but not everyone
has the capacity to understand w hat they
read. The Brown Bag Bible Study is a small
group o f stu d en ts w h o get to g e th e r at
Clackamas Community College. They read
verses from the Bible, analyze them and
share their thoughts.
Before the m eetin g starts, th ey b egin
b y in troducin g th em selves so th e y can
ge t to kn o w one a n o th er, e sp e cia lly if
th ere are n ew p eo p le. I t ’ s a g rea t w ay
to g e t to k n o w p eo p le and create n ew
frie n d sh ip s, e sp e cia lly sin ce everyo n e
goes to the sam e college.
Patrick M offatt, a new attendee, said,
“ I t m akes you feel really good inside to
go and get to m eet new people and know
th eir th o u gh ts about God. It m akes you
w an t to be a b etter p erso n .”
Since fall o f 2002, the Brown Bag Bible
S tu d y h a s b e e n ru n b y B e th E n glan d,
an ad u lt v o lu n te e r. E n gland h a s b e en
doin g th ese m eetin g s fo r a w h ile now ,
but w hen asked w h y she said, “ One thing
th at I have experienced, and one o f the
iea so n s w h y I keep doing this is because
I love it w h en I see a student w ho is able
to learn som ething new or th ey’re able to
practically apply som ething, and it helps
im prove their life, or helps im prove their
life w ith G od.”
T h e y o n ly g e t th ro u g h a fe w v e rs e s
o f th e Bible at a tim e because, b esid es
h a v in g lim ite d a m o u n t o f tim e , th e y
analyze th e p assages in stead o f sim p ly
reading them .
E n gla n d said , “ M y b ig g e s t p rio rity
is th a t w e h ave o p p o rtu n ity to lo o k at
scriptures, and that w e look at scriptures
fo r w h a t it h a s to say b u t th e n h o w it
im pacts us on a practical le v e l.”
They are currently reading Romans 5:1,
w h ich states, “ T herefore, since w e have
b e e n ju s tifie d th ro u g h fa ith , w e h ave
peace w ith God throu gh our Lord Jesus
C h ris t.” A fte r reading th is verse, each
student w as able to share their thoughts
w ith th e group.
Frank George IV, another m em ber o f
the Bible study, said, “ For m e, it ’ s a real
ligh t in m y life to be able to com e here
and be w ith like-m inded people here who
are going to be p ositive w hen there’ s like
a lot o f n egative ones out there. It really
m akes m e really w ho I am and grow in
m y fa ith .”
A co u p le o f m a in q u e s tio n s b e in g
discussed in the m eeting were: W hat does
peace m ean to our culture?
A n o th e r m em b er o f th e Bible study,
Kylee Francher, said, “ It gives m e a sense
o f peace and I like to learn m ore about
the Bible and God because I w asn ’t raised
around it .”
This term , the Brown Bag Bible Study
m eets on Tuesdays at noon in Randall 221.
“ W e a ccep t everybody, and if y o u ’re
not a Christian, you can com e, and you
don ’t have to fee l like you need to know
everything about our faith ,” said George.
“ We don’t know a lot about our faith, but
w e ’ re grow ing and w e love everybody.”
On February 14, th e Light o f the World
C h u rch c e le b r a te d its In te r n a tio n a l
Baptism s in som e o f the m ajor cities o f
th e w orld fo r the public to see.
In Oregon, the Light of the World Church
congregated at the Portland C onvention
C en ter at 10 a.m . A pp roxim ately 1,800
people attended this event and it lasted
for about four hours.
A s a m em ber o f this church, I had the
opportunity to attend and be a w itn ess
to how everyone rejoiced in this event. I
saw how all the members from the church
w ore all w hite to sym bolize the purity of
o n e’ s soul after bein g baptized.
M any o f the m em bers from the church
said that they were there to celebrate the
lo ve th a t th e Lord Jesus C h rist has for
the w orld, w hich is w h y this event w en t
public, so everyone could be a w itn ess.
There w as a choir that sang a cappella
throughout the baptism s. I saw people
cry tears o f joy after seeing one o f their
fam ily m em bers subm erged in water.
There w as one elderly man, Jesus Felix,
w ho w as in a w heelchair w ho also had a
desire to be baptized and there were m en
th at carried him in and out o f the water.
In th e e n d , th e re w e r e a b o u t 50
b a p tism s in th e P o rtlan d C o n ve n tio n
C enter. On a w orldw id e lev el, in m ore
than 50 countries, there w ere m ore than
50,000 p eo p le th a t w ere b a p tized and
converted to C hristian ity in one day.
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