“Bible Disco is a group which centres around Bible storytelling,” explains Kurt Langmead, who serves at Lightning Ridge Community Church in the remote opal mining town in northern NSW, near the Queensland border.

“We set up in the church hall and sit in a circle. First, a Bible story is told and then the group retells the story. After that we play Bible Disco – it’s run like a gameshow, questions are asked, and it can get a bit competitive! What is wonderful about this format is that it’s getting God’s word into people’s lives who otherwise wouldn’t have access to it.

“‘Paul’ came to Bible Discovery Group because he heard about the free dinner. But he kept coming back because of the friendships.” – Kurt Langmead

“We’re using a model from Christine Dillon, who wrote a number of books following her work in Southeast Asia. She used Bible storytelling as a method for sharing the gospel across cultural and language boundaries. And the Ridge is a place that crosses a lot of boundaries.”

Most of the Bible Disco group are men and unbelievers who live off the grid in camps. One group member ‘Paul’ came to Bible Discovery Group because he heard about the free dinner. But he kept coming back because of the friendships he’d made and the opportunity to hear the Bible in a fresh way.

Final Bible Disco of the year

Kurt leads the group with church member Rata Jackson. Rata not only tells the story every second week, but she also cooks the meals for up to 30 people. “I had never led a group before this, and I’m still nervous every time I lead each fortnight,” says Rata. “I worry that I’m not doing a good job, but it’s not me who’s doing it; God’s doing it. The more we’ve gone on, the more I’ve been excited. People who I’ve known for years are excited to hear the stories, go home and read the Bible. Some have also ordered their own Bibles and they tell people they’re coming to church.”

“I worry that I’m not doing a good job, but it’s not me who’s doing it; God’s doing it.” – Rata Jackson

Around 10 to 15 people attend Bible Discovery Group, while between 15 and 30 come for the dinner that follows.

“Lightning Ridge is known as the place you want to go when you want to ‘get away’,” explains Kurt. “As a result, there are many who live socially isolated and disconnected lives. The aim is to use food to bring our community together for support, friendship and a doorway to a real life in community in Christ.

“There are plenty of blokes who know they could just come to the dinner, but they come to Bible Discovery Group as well.” – Kurt Langmead

“The cool thing is that there are plenty of blokes who know they could just come to the dinner, but they come to Bible Discovery Group as well. I’ve served in Gunnedah, Armidale and now the Ridge. Getting blokes to meet, especially ones who are not churchy, has been a really hard ask. We get 10-12 blokes in the group and only have two to three women, and we can really count on them coming. There is also a teenage boy who was baptised after coming along.”

Kurt Langmead leads the Bible Disco.

During Bible Disco, the group recently looked at the heroes of faith like Abraham, Jacob, Noah, Gideon, and Samson. In the lead-up to Christmas, they looked at the Advent story.

“We need to go back and pray for God’s wisdom and leading for the right way forward.” – Kurt Langmead

“These people now know that the Christian faith is not just religion but a story they are part of,” says Kurt. “We are thinking hard about the next step to see them come into a personal relationship with the Lord Jesus. We want to see them genuinely converted, discipled and built up in the faith. God answered our prayer of how to reach out to the lost, so now we are at the point where we need to go back and pray for God’s wisdom and leading for the right way forward.”

Kurt, Bec, Rata and the Lightning Ridge Community Church congregation would value your prayers as they look to see Bible Disco members take that next step.

Janine van den Tillaart is communications specialist for the Bush Church Aid Society (BCA). This article first appeared in BCA’s The Real Australian.