It was quite surreal to be standing at the banquet in front of our Unlock the Bible students on 17th July, marking the end of the year of our part-time Bible course.
It felt surreal because only 12 months prior we had no idea what the coming year was going to look like. We just knew that God was speaking of a change for School of the Word and we stepped out to follow His lead. And through God’s faithfulness and some teamwork, Unlock the Bible was birthed.

Our aim for Unlock the Bible was to make the incredible full-time School of the Word course more accessible to people who would not be able to take that whole year out to study full-time. Whilst we knew we had to cut out a lot in order to condense the course into a part-time format, the key components were preserved: to help students better understand the Bible by taking them through an overview of the narrative (from Genesis to Revelation) and giving context to the different books, and by teaching the Inductive Study skills along the way.

We were so encouraged when 30 students so quickly signed up for our new part-time course! It was such a joy to see them week-in-week-out, coming along for the ride through the Biblical narrative and making fresh discoveries in God’s Word. Lectures were thought-provoking, table discussions were lively, friendships were deepening and God was at work through it all – revealing Himself to His precious children.
Lectures were thought-provoking, table discussions were lively, friendships were deepening and God was at work through it all – revealing Himself to His precious children.

At the banquet night we heard testimony after testimony of how each person had experienced the Word of God become more real and impacting in their life, and that they had come to see God more clearly through studying the scriptures. Every person’s journey was unique and individualised, but each had the thumbprint of God upon it!
Every person’s journey was unique and individualised, but each had the thumbprint of God upon it!

God showed up and He touched lives through the teaching of His Word. I’m not personally surprised by that – that’s the power of His Word and the promise of His Spirit – but I walked away from our final night feeling humbled at the opportunity to partner with Him in that precious process.

I want to give a huge thank you to Mark and Jackie Lawrence, Tony Kettle and Jaynee Tarumarajan for their investment in Unlock the Bible. And thank you to all our lecturers who put time and energy into preparing their teaching. Congratulations to our students on having completed the year and enjoy using your new skills and understanding to help you go deeper into the scriptures – a lifetime of studies and discovery lay before us.

– Mel Lewis