Revisiting CCP Lesson Writing Experience

June 14th, 2007 |By Marvia Lawes in: Ministry |

The Invitation
I currently serve as CCP Field Representative in Panama. The job description does not include writing lessons. However, there are some experiences I am willing to try - even once. Writing Sunday School Lessons was one of them. I recall being approached while I was in Seminary years ago. However, I was not available at the time.

This time when the invitation came, I accepted thinking - I write everyday anyway, I’ll just finish these quickly and that’s that.

What a laugh!

The Real Situation
In my previous post CCP Lesson Writing Experience, I mentioned a few stories to share. Well the stories surround this whole experience.

I wrote 18 lessons in all for September - October 2007 both the Teacher Lesson Guide and the Learner Lessons. What looked like fun and ‘easy stuff’ soon turned into one of the most demanding writing experiences I have had since writing my thesis.

It was physically demanding because it was not possible to write steadily with the numerous interruptions that attend a pastor’s daily life. I began to pull all-nighters in the hope of meeting the set deadline.

However, the spiritual demands really began to kick in. I soon began to notice a pattern and it soon became a concrete reality, not a flight of fancy.

The Spiritual Struggle
Some would call it ’spiritual warfare,’ since that terms means so many different things to different people I’ll work with ’spiritual struggle’. The writing experience soon turned ‘nightmarish’ to the point where I really wanted to quit writing.

I decided to share what was happening with others and we would see if there really was a pattern. And there was. Every time, I sat down in the time set aside to write I would receive a call telling me something just went wrong. The list of things included - extremely serious illness of friends and family back home, problems among the membership, and then during the last week the robbery of the office clerk in the church office ( I had previously planned to go to the office then changed my mind, deciding to stay home and write).

It reached so deep into my consciousness that each writing session began with prayer for the courage to deal with what was going to come. I began expecting something to happen. Go ahead, tell me I attracted it. And you’ll also have to tell me how so, since this began from the moment I started writing with no knowledge that anything was going to happen!

Others joined in the prayers and we really began praying for the successful completion of these lessons.

I also learnt that another writer had similar experiences when she wrote a similar series years ago. The lessons deal with God’s revelation and Satan’s opposition to God’s revelation. Now I am not the kind to go looking for ’satanic activity’ under every rock I see. Far from it! However, these lessons taught me a lot about this kind of struggle and the powerful enabling of the Holy Spirit who helps us overcome.

The Triumph
The writing is over. The editing, proof-reading and printing is on in earnest. They won’t be stopped. We continue to pray that these lessons will be used to accomplish God’s purpose. Others are now going through their own experiences but we are confident that nothing will further hinder the process.

Can I tell you that things seem so quiet since those lessons left my hands that its truly amazing.

And I not only share with you, but I also write to give God the Glory and to let my readers know that despite evidence of how much our world is in crisis, God still speaks to us and reveals Divine truth to us. We should make ourselves open to receiving this revelation in whatever form it comes.

So am I ready for the next round of lessons? Well ummmm…next year?