Flies or mosques?


The Spanish for mosque sounds like the word for fly. When speaking about Islam, students love to try and trick me into saying fly, and then roar with laughter. Every day you’re reminded that you’re a foreigner.

But it’s a busy time for some of the students. As the semester closes they have to get their theses in. This year I’ve three groups to supervise. One is on how Jesus suffered in his death and what lessons there are for suffering Christians in Colombia. A second group, of Pentecostalists, is working on Calvin’s teaching on the Holy Spirit and comparing it with their own church’s doctrine. Finally one student is looking at why the oldest church in the city, the Presbyterian, has grown so little in its 125 years existence.

Although we’re foreigners we want to help Christians understand how the Bible, theology and evangelism works.

And it’s an honour even if our help is fly-sized.

Photo: Living with violence: Lima street poster showing children on a dump of arms

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