Author: Jacob & Samantha McRae

As of today (June 2nd), Samantha and I are officially graduates of the Emmaus School of Biblical Studies! It has been a long year with many trying circumstances that we never expected to face, but we wouldn’t trade the experience for anything.

Before coming to this school, one of our favorite Christian authors presented a question that really challenged us: If you took away everything you’ve ever learned about God or the Bible through a second hand source (sermons, speakers, topical/theological books), what would you really know? For us, the answer was very little, and that started the desire within us to go and study God’s Word for ourselves. An analogy I like to use to describe our experience is that of a “forest path.” If someone were to try and describe a forest path for me using photos and illustrations, I would get the general idea and could probably even memorize certain trees or bends of the path. But it’s a much different experience getting to walk the path yourself. Everything takes on a new light or angle, things that could never be comprehended perfectly through a second hand source. And to us, that was what this year was like as we went through the Bible. I can’t really give a better ending thought for the year other than our gratitude at being able to experience something so unusual as making the Scriptures our lives’ purpose for the past 10 months. It has truly been a blessing.

What’s Next?

As you may have read in our previous post, Samantha and I have felt the call to remain here in FL with Emmaus Ministries. As school ends, we are getting more and more excited to see how the next year will play out. That being said, God is moving in this Ministry in a way that came somewhat unexpectedly, in that, we feel He is calling us (Emmaus Ministries) to rethink our vision for the school. Our mission as a ministry is going to stay the same: “Emmaus Ministries exists to disciple and equip the body of Christ with the Word of God and the gospel of Jesus Christ through: Inductive Bible study, authentic relationships, and community life.” Currently, we feel that God is showing us that our 10 month school simply isn’t as accessible as we would like it to be. Because of this, we have entered into a season of much prayer and supplication, asking God what His heart for this ministry is and how we can expand this ministry for the greatest amount of impact. We know that He is calling us to something greater, and we are diligently seeking His guidance. During this time, we (Jacob and Samantha) are still looking to establish a support team that will enable us to take on the responsibilities of this ministry full-time. And as a ministry, we are still committed to hosting seminars for local churches and bible studies, staying involved in those same churches as we nail down details for Emmaus Ministries’ future. For this, we would love your continued prayer and support.

Samantha and I currently have plans to travel this summer for the purpose of seeing family and talking with anyone who might be interested in what this ministry is about or who might be interested in joining our support team. Our current plan is to travel to Homer, AK near the end of June for a couple weeks and shortly afterwards we will head to Virginia for a couple weeks as well.

If you are interested in meeting with us during our travel time or if you have any specific questions for us, please click on the “Contact” tab at the top of the page and send us a message, we’d love to chat.

-Jacob and Samantha

Since Samantha and I began attending our school on August 15, God has led us through all sorts of new and unexpected experiences. To begin with, neither of us have very high opinions of hot weather (yes, we realize that we did in fact move from Alaska to Florida) so dealing with the Florida heat has definitely brought some newness to our lives. But aside from the heat and humidity, we’ve been very blessed to experience many wonderful days outside in Florida, especially in our location here at Canterbury Retreat Center.

As for the school, we’ve been extremely thankful for what we’ve been able to learn and the overwhelming support and encouragement we’ve received from the staff members here at Emmaus. Going through each book of the Bible multiple times using the IBSM (Inductive Bible Study Method) led to a complete paradigm shift for what we thought we knew about the Bible! God’s story of steadfast and redemptive love for his people from Genesis, the Law, the Prophets, the New Testament Epistles, all the way through Revelation, and even up to our lives today, has been made clear in ways we had never before seen. But despite our excitement, the journey has been a tough one. Study/homework takes up most of the time we spend here, which generally looks like 5-8 hours of study time every day! This has been challenging and at many times frustrating, but the fruit of the labor has been oh, so sweet!

While staying here, the students have been encouraged to visit local churches and find one to get connected with. Samantha and I have started regularly attending a church called “Grace Oviedo,” and we’ve enjoyed it very much! We’ve also been able to get connected with a weekly small group from the same church. And on top of all this, we’re also very much enjoying getting to know our fellow students and all of those who work at Canterbury Retreat Center. Below is a picture of our class at the beginning of the school year.

A detailed account of all that we have learned from this school would be lengthy indeed. To make a long story short, we feel that our understanding of God’s Word has gone leaps and bounds beyond what it was beforehand and we are completely sold on the mission of this school! With that being said, we are extremely excited to announce that the next step in our journey will consist of joining the Emmaus Ministries Staff!

To check out Emmaus Ministries and what we do as a school, Click Here!

To learn a little about what our life as staff will look like, Click Here!