Velcro for the brain

In our TERM seminars, we use more than 70 visual aids to explain biblical concepts. John likes to call visual aids "velcro for the brain." They help people understand, remember and teach the Bible. Whenever we teach a certain concept that appears multiple times in Scripture (such as substitution), we pull out the visual aid associated with it (in this case, a lamb on an altar) and people instantly recall what it means. They also help link themes together in the Bible (e.g. Jesus is the Lamb of God).

One of the favorite visual aids: the cloaks. John used five different colored cloaks to illustrate the concept of justification.

One participant, a school teacher, said: “Every day, people ask me questions about the Bible. One of the frequently asked questions is: 'If I sin, am I still saved? Can I still go to heaven?' Even I was confused about sin. The visual aid using the cloaks showed me that God has clothed me with his righteousness. Even though I sin, I am still accepted before God in heaven! This gives me great joy and I am very happy.”

Participants checking out visual aids after the seminar.

The president of a Bible college in Dimapur told us: “When we saw the 75 visual aids you used in your presentation, we were very impressed. We are lazy in preparing these things. If we can make all of these and teach our people, that would be very helpful. This is a great step-by-step way we can all use to being people to Christ.”

The visual aid that the man is holding is the "dead rat" (with fake maggots attached). We use this to illustrate how sin looks in God's eyes -- rotten, disgusting, grotesque.

One participant, a staff member at a local Bible school, said: “The rat illustration is excellent, especially for us in Nagaland which is full of nominal Christians. We think we are all like the white rat (pictured below), but we are actually worse than the big, black rat!”

Corrie showing the "white rat" to curious young eyes.

Corrie was our visual aid packing expert. Many of the visual aids we brought were lightweight and collapsible for travel, but they had to fit in one hard-shell suitcase and had to be packed in a specific order. That took amazing organizational power. "It's like putting together a puzzle," Corrie says.