Old Testament Theology - Exploring depth in familiar stories

Hey everyone!

Well if there was any doubt about it before, that doubt is now gone and replaced with an assurance that fall is officially here. The weather lately has been a mixture of eery-fog and the occasional sunny day in between. The leaves are now scattered on the ground and the surrounding trees are starting to look pretty bare. Along with the weather change there has come a shift towards some of the more challenging academic courses of the semester, and so far the students are rising to the challenge.

The course they just completed is Old Testament Literature taught by Professor Don Taylor. This course explores the whole Old Testament and seeks to help students gain a strong foundation and deeper understanding of the biblical narrative. There is a lot of material covered in this course and hearing the students talk at meal times about all they were learning was really encouraging. 

Don Taylor teaching about Old Testament architecture and the temple. 

Here are some words from Don Taylor himself about taking this course in the Kaléo Program. “Setting aside a week to focus entirely in the OT allows the students to draw near to the faithful covenant keeping God of Scripture. It provides an opportunity to explore the deep and important background for appreciating the message and themes of the NT. Studying in this community allows for a space to ask the hard questions and explore the contours of the OT that so often get passed over.” 

One of the major benefits to taking the Kaléo Program is being able to have an oceanside view as your class room. The students definitely appreciated Don's teaching style as he has frequently employed breaks and trips outside to make sure their minds were staying sharp.

One of the big projects they have been working on together as a class is called the Old Testament Video. The goal is to recreate the important highlights of the OT and capture it on video. Three directors were picked from the group and everyone had to work together to pull this project off. It was fascinating watching camp across the week turned into a movie set of all different sorts. Every minute of free time the students had they could be found in costume acting out a story or editing away on their computers. 

On the last day of classes all the staff at camp were invited to the premier and we gathered around to watch all the students hard work. This is a highlight for a lot of the staff as its always a joy to see the way students take on the creative challenge. You get to see a new side of a lot of the students and there was no shortage of laughs on this debut premiere. 

Meet your directors! Kelsey P, Chris, and Sharon!

Don Taylor was really impressed by the work put in by the students, and a comment might have been made about it being one of the best projects he has seen put together so far. 

“Being able to direct the movie was a great experience because you got to see everyones gifts come out and us all working together creatively to get the job done.” - Chris Williams one or three directors. 

Not your ordinary group of directors, but hollywood better keep an eye out for these three.

Stay tuned next week to here stories about the students experiences in retreats and our time at Wildplay! We will also hopefully be having a copy of the film on the internet for you to view soon as well. This next week we are beginning a solid period of continuous prayer for the entire week. Please keep us in your prayers as well, be asking God to be speaking individually to the students as we devote time to listening and responding to God in prayer.


Until next time,

Levi