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“Opposites on the same page” described my relationship with one of my friends. We learned from each other about the different ways to see the world, to express ourselves, to relate to others, and so much more. When it came to how we dressed, what we enjoyed doing, even how spicy we liked our food (or not), we could not have been more dissimilar. Opposites, really.

But when it came to the important matters, the spiritual matters, the foundational truths on which we based our decisions and our lives, we agreed. The influence of having learned to see things from a different perspective remains.

Through that relationship, and countless others, I have learned about myself, about others, and about God—especially how BIG God is. Additionally, can you imagine how much I have learned about God and how He loves His people through relationships with women from other countries, backgrounds, cultures, languages, and families?

At least once a week, my dad reflects to one of the members of our family, “It’s a shame all we speak is English.” The “opposites” relationship I mentioned above was another North American, an English-speaker who grew up in the same town I did. Yet those things we had in common did not mean that we automatically understood each other. We had to learn to listen, to hear from a different perspective, to communicate... and we both spoke English!

Starting with the simplest of words, a smile, and a wave can go a long way to building a bridge and establishing a relationship.

Hello. Hola.
Love. Amor.
Jesus. Jesús.

One of Satan’s lies is that we have nothing in common with someone of a different culture or language. The accuser distorts the blessing of our uniqueness and seeks to create division.

Christ came to destroy the barriers, to unite Jews and Gentiles, Latinos and Gringos... And one opportunity to build those bridges is through small group women’s Bible studies!

I don’t have the time or space to share all of the names and faces of those who have done this and been blessed by it in places like Denver, Colorado; Tampa, Florida; Houston, Texas; Baton Rouge, Louisiana; Raleigh-Durham, North Carolina; Searcy, Arkansas; Wichita, Kansas... and many more!

Women from the specific aforementioned groups have taken advantage of the fact that all of Iron Rose Sister Ministries’ small group Bible study materials are available in both English and Spanish! Check it out! Be a bridge. Listen to another’s perspective. Learn from others’ experience and relationships with God.

If we can help you start a bilingual small group Bible study, please let us know!
And if you have been a part of one in the past, please share the blessings, challenges, and God stories from that experience!

• small groups

I don’t know what I don’t know. And if I don’t know it, then I don’t have a way to recognize what I don’t know until someone teaches me.

As a teenager, I thought I knew it all. One time, my dad responded, “Oh, that’s right. I forgot you were a teenager and so you know everything.” He was being sarcastic, but I didn’t hear his sarcasm at the time. I thought that he finally was recognizing my vast amount of knowledge. (Okay, now who is the sarcastic one?!)

As we get older, we learn that we don’t know it all and that we cannot know it all. At times, we even wish we didn’t know what we know.

However, something that we can always appreciate knowing and learning more about is the perspective of others. I don’t know what I don’t know until someone teaches me.

I like to say that there is more than one way to burn a piece of toast. No two countries nor any two families function in the same way. God’s greatness is affirmed through diversity. And we learn more about who He is when we learn and appreciate others’ perspectives.

If I ask ten women of different ages, education levels, cultures, and families to read the same Bible verse, would they all have the same observations and reactions? Of course not!

For example: Let’s consider Luke 8:22-25.
22 One day Jesus said to his disciples, “Let us go over to the other side of the lake.” So they got into a boat and set out. 23 As they sailed, he fell asleep. A squall came down on the lake, so that the boat was being swamped, and they were in great danger.
24 The disciples went and woke him, saying, “Master, Master, we’re going to drown!”
He got up and rebuked the wind and the raging waters; the storm subsided, and all was calm. 25 “Where is your faith?” he asked his disciples.
In fear and amazement they asked one another, “Who is this? He commands even the winds and the water, and they obey him.”

A woman who grew up on the coast would be able to describe the storms that can come up over the waters.
The exhausted mom of young children can appreciate Jesus’ fatigue and that He had the opportunity to take a nap.
The young woman struggling with her faith will recognize that she is not the only one who has struggled with faith.
And the woman who is facing a horrible emotional storm in her life will leave with the hope that God does have the power to calm the storm in her.

Until we listen to others and appreciate the diversity in small groups, we will not be able to recognize God’s greatness to be all things to all people at all times.

#IronRoseSister #smallgroups #diversity #Bible