Reading the stories of God in the Old Testament for the first time with Chileans has been so fascinating and rewarding. You never know what they are going to pick up on, find interesting, question or challenge.

Probably the most challenging aspect lately has been the violence that takes place. Not only does it take place but it is commanded by God in a seemingly unmerciful way. When you've only read the peaceful, loving teachings of Jesus this can be quite a shock. I'm pretty sure this is something that most Christians have wrestled with at some point in their walk of faith and I am thrilled (and scared) to be walking along these people as they do as well and get to know God in a deeper way. There is so much richness to the Old Testament and I am loving it.

For example, this past Sunday we learned about the story of Joshua (Josue' in Spanish) which included the story of Rahab. To some this was a completely new story and to others they had heard it before but not really studied it. After reading her story I had them turn to Matthew and see that this woman, who not only was a prostitute but also was not even a Jew, was one of the few women listed in the genealogy of Jesus. Through her, our perfect savior was born.

A few points stood out to us from this story. One, that you should never limit who God can use and we also should not limit ourselves. We just need faith. Two, that Rahab is in the genealogy of Jesus but was not actually a Jew. Our Spanish study Bible said that she was adopted as a Jew and regarded as a heroin of faith, but by blood she was still not a Jew. Jesus had foreign blood in him. This really surprised them. And three, how far in advance God was working to bring us Jesus. The Old Testament and New are actually very connected if you really look close and you can see the big story of God. I never get tired of seeing these connections. They never cease to amaze me.

The Word of God is an amazing teacher, no?