Repetion is the mother of learning
By Lianne de Baat (field worker)
There is an old saying that “repetition is the mother of learning,” and it holds true in many situations. If we want something to stay with us, we often need to hear or experience it more than once. I see a wonderful example of this every week in Phumzile, where I have the opportunity to tell simple Bible stories to a small group of children between the ages of two and five. There is certainly no lack of enthusiasm among them! Every week, they come running to meet me as soon as I arrive at their little “classroom”. Each week, I tell a very simple Bible story using a picture book, and because of their young age -and the language barrier- I have discovered that I can quite easily tell and discuss the same story for three or four weeks in a row. Through repetition, the lesson gradually begins to sink in…
Blind Bartimaeus
The same is true of the story we have been talking about over the past few weeks: blind Bartimaeus. With words, hands, and gestures, I tried to explain how blind Bartimaeus was sitting by the roadside. And just when the Lord Jesus came by with His disciples, he began to cry out… In Sepedi, it sounds like this: “Jesu nthuše!” The children picked this up very quickly. Every time we came to this picture in the book, they would call out, “Jesu nthuše, Jesu nthuše, Jesu nthuše!”
Prayer
It was a little phrase that stayed with them. Because when they were colouring a picture of Bartimaeus, they kept softly repeating it: “Jesu, nthuše!” I wonder if they understood that they were saying a prayer. I don’t think they did. And yet, they were praying. Did the Lord hear them? Yes, I believe He did!
Preparation
At the end of the “lesson,” we put the coloured pictures up on the wall. The caregiver who looks after the children has whispered to me several times that she really wants to keep reviewing the lessons with them as well. So, when I arrived the following week with the little picture book about Bartimaeus again, I was already looking forward to seeing what would happen… Did they remember it? Oh yes, they did! Once again, I heard them say it, “Jesu, nthuše!” Bartimaeus’s short prayer has stayed with them. I hope it will become a repeated prayer that comes from their hearts! And I pray that the great Teacher will teach them, through God’s Spirit, how to pray it, so that He Himself will also answer their prayer!
