Simone is a mother of four who has recently seen a Discovery Bible Study (DBS) group start amongst other young mums in Echuca (a regional town along the Murray River in Victoria, Australia). Before COVID, someone from the Regional Victoria team in Echuca suggested reading the bible with other mums. Simone wanted in! She was just starting to learn all about this way of making disciples, coming from a church upbringing.
Simone was starting to realise that she is not meant to teach as she had done so often in the past. As she gathered with some pre-school mums from the town, God really showed up. Simone was encouraged to see how the non-believers had such a profound insight into the scriptures. She was learning that the Holy Spirit alone is enough of a teacher.
Then COVID hit and everyone scattered. They tried meeting online but it wouldn’t work. But Simone was hooked on this way of making disciples. She kept praying with other like-minded disciples and exploring what it meant to disciple non-Christians. She could see the potential.
As Simone prayed, she asked God for another Discovery Group to start. Seemingly out of the blue, one of the original mums in the old group asked Simone if she was still doing the bible studies. Simone was ecstatic that this woman was initiating. She invited a mutual friend who she had previously tried to include into the old group. This second women was really keen and grateful to be included. Simone now sees these women are more ready now than they were previously. She is also encouraging these women to put the word out to some of their friends who they think might be interested in coming along. Another mum has just joined and so the group continues to grow.
This gathering could seem like it has just fallen into Simone’s lap. However upon reflection, Simone tells us that she has had to trust God’s timing and not get frustrated. In fact, she was able to turn many of her frustrations into prayers.
In the meantime, Simone continues to give God more credit for what he can say during the DBS without her needing to speak. This has been a challenge since Simone comes from a teaching background. But in her words, she can now see that “God does a lot more when I keep my mouth shut”.