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Report on Messengers’ Workshop in Heppenheim/Germany August 12-15, 2015

“Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a workman who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth.” (2Tim 2:15)

We thank God for sending Dr. Mark Yang to Germany and blessing our messengers’ workshop from August 12-15, 2015. The workshop took place in a youth hostel in the old “Starkenburg” Castle on top of a mountain near Heppenheim. Four messengers from Heidelberg (Enoch Hong, Andreas Hassani, Toni Demir and Reiner Schauwienold) participated along with Rene Richelshagen from Koeln 1 and Samuel Ju from Frankfurt. (Other invited messengers unfortunately could not come due to their work or other obligations.) 

On Thursday morning M. Mark Yang gave his presentation about independent Bible study from reading the passage to questionnaire preparation. He taught us the importance of putting aside our own ideas and understanding and reading the passage with a fresh outlook. He encouraged us to listen to God’s voice and to read the Bible passage again and again many times, humbly asking God for the help of the Holy Spirit until the morning star rises in our hearts and unfolds the meaning of the passage to us. He thoroughly explained the three steps of observation, interpretation and application and encouraged us to take enough time for each of them. Then we had a practice exercise on Paul’s letter to Titus in groups. In the afternoon each group shared what they prepared followed by Bible study on the letter to Titus. In the evening of that day the books The Gospel-centered Life (presented by Reiner Schauwienold) and The Gospel-centered Community by Robert Thune and Will Walker were presented followed by a discussion about the contents. 

On Friday morning two messengers shared one of their recent messages in English and received comments and suggestions for improvement by Dr. Mark and the other attendants. After lunch the book “Expositional Preaching”) from David Helm was presented by Enoch Hong, which unfolded the principles of good Bible study and message preparation with a bit more theological terminology. Then Dr. Mark Yang gave his second very useful presentation entitled, “How to Write a Message” followed by some time for question and discussion. In the evening the remaining four messengers shared their messages and received feedback on what they can improve. After finishing our program we closed our workshop on Saturday morning and each messenger returned to his respective mission field. 

Personally, I am very thankful for this workshop and for M. Mark Yang, who not only shared with us his deep understanding and experience but served us with all his heart. Under his guidance we could openly talk about our experience and questions and exchange ideas. We agreed to have more time during our Bible studies in Heidelberg for aspects of exegesis, theological discussion and appropriate application to have a better basis for our message preparations. We also agreed to have Bible studies one week earlier in order to prepare our messages one week ahead of time and have enough time to improve. I personally learnt much through the books about Gospel-centered life and Gospel-centered community and how much I need grow in this respect. Through the presentations and discussions the big need for a more thorough deeper Bible study as well as more open exchange among the messengers became obvious so that we can all grow in our understanding and faith and grow as messengers of his precious gospel for the glory of God and the benefit of his children. May God help us. Written by Reiner Schauwienold