Tenth Alpha Course

Tonight at The Bridge, we started our tenth Alpha Course since April 2004. The meal was delicious, and the talk was on "Who Is Jesus?" My small discussion group was one of three and made up of a full conference table of Malaysians (3), Filipinos (3), an Aussie, a Nigerian, and me. (Actually, I'm just there as a helper or coach to the Malaysian and Filipino co-leaders.) There are several on the course who are seekers, some Catholics who have been "lapsed" for some time, and as usual, some new converts through Alpha who are now helping on the course. I can see that we have opportunities for God to work some healing miracles. There are two cases of cancer in our midst, and some other health issues. No doubt, there will be needs for inner healing as well, and there are needs for growth toward spiritual maturity.

At the Intro Dinner last week, I met a Yemeni man whose father was a Sunni and his mother a Shiite. He described himself as a "free-thinker" who believes in God but not in any particular religion. ("They're all just different ways to 'market' God," he said.) I hope and pray he comes back. He's a PhD student in computational linguistics -- just the kind of guy that Alpha is good for. :-) We'd appreciate prayers for him and for all of us as we seek to bear lasting fruit using the Alpha Course for evangelism and discipleship.