Reading the Bible with the damned

In "Reading the Bible with the Damned," Bob Ekblad, executive director of Tierra Nueva and the People's Seminary in Burlington, Wash., provides insight on how to share the Bible with the unchurched. Ekblad finds that prisoners, illegal immigrants, drug dealers and the damned (which could mean all of us) connect with the Bible's stories of God's love for underdogs.

He has numerous stories of breaking through in prison small groups, such as this instance on p. 70:

Week after week I continue my studies and one-on-one visits. I keep asking the individuals who are on the journey whether they are sensing God's presence with them. In the Bible studies I regularly ask if people are hearing anything in their reading of Scripture that seems to be coming to them from God.

'Not yet. I still have not heard anything. I don't feel anything,' some keep saying. 'But it's not a problem. Who knows when it will happen?' one of them tells me with an air of confidence.

Then one day it happens. Someone tells of sensing God's presence. God has answered a prayer. This person has been touched in some way. I watch faith grow, and often get letters from people who have long since gone to prison, describing their conversion, their having been met by Jesus.

While Ekblad may be called to be part of prison ministry, others may be called to share God's Word where they are planted.