"My husband Steve and I wanted to give Bible studies in our home, but we lived in a really tiny mobile home with a leaky roof and were embarrassed to invite people over." Dee Dee and Steve Green felt there was no way they could afford to buy a home, but they prayed and asked God to open the way for them if that was His will—and they got approved! "We told God from the get-go it was His house," says Dee Dee, a kindergarten teacher at Kelso-Longview (Washington) Adventist School.
Immediately after moving into their new home, they teamed up with Steve Rogers, Kelso-Longview's Bible worker, and began inviting people to small-group Bible studies in their home. That was seven years ago, and ever since, they have had one or two Bible studies every week in their home.
Dee Dee invited her parents to their small group studies, and they were the first of nearly a dozen people who have joined the church through the Green's ministry. On July 14, Bill McCulley was baptized. Dee Dee had Bill's granddaughter in her classroom, but at first was afraid to approach Bill about studying the Bible. Partway through the year Bill expressed a desire to know more about the Bible. Dee Dee immediately asked him if he would like to come to their Bible study, and he responded, "I'd love to!"
"There are nights we come home from work dragging, and realize it is Bible study night and are tempted to call it off. But our son, who's 17, says, ‘You can't cancel these Bible studies.' After the study, we feel revived."
When asked how she finds people to invite, Dee Dee says, "I'm not good at just going up to people, but God impresses me, ‘Ask that one,' and I find He's already prepared them."
From left: Rick Casebier, Kelso-Longview pastor (who baptized Bill McCulley), Steve Rogers, Bible worker, and Bill McCulley with Dee Dee and Steve Green, who host small groups in their home.
Someone invites Luke Warm to a small-group Bible study. "I already know all that," he says.
Victor N. Christ and Brand New continue their weekly Bible study group. Whenever they can, they invite other friends to join them. They ask Luke Warm if he is interested.
