This app may make you more effective as a tentmaker

/ Steinar Opheim

Would you like to lead your co-workers into the Bible, but do not know how to do it? Or would you like to let them listen through some key passages of the Bible that you later can discuss together?

If you answer yes to any of these questions, the Discover App may be a good tool for you. Using the Discovery bible study method, the app takes its users on a journey through central passages from creation to Christ.

Discovery Bible Studies (DBS) focus on the Bible texts and trusts that all people, through the Holy Spirit, can understand what the texts say and thus get a relationship to Jesus. For a long time, this study method has been a powerful tool in bringing people from different cultural backgrounds to Christ.

Threefold solution

In an article posted at Missional Challenge’s website the developers behind the Discover App states that the main reasons for creating the app were security, literacy and access. It was not easy for them to get their hands on a printed Bible

“An app like this was requested by a group of believers in a place with restricted access. It was not easy for them to get their hands on a printed Bible.”

  1. Safety – – being caught with a printed Bible could be a death sentence. Carrying the studies on your phone was much safer.
  2. Illiteracy is another issue. Many people wanted to listen to the audio in their own language with their own accent.
  3. Cost – They also wanted to use the recordings anywhere, and they were not in a position to pay for additional services. Increasingly people had access to older smartphones.

Thus, the obvious solution to all these challenges was to put the studies on an app, writes the developers.

Several languages

The Discover App is currently available in English, Arabic, Somali, Dari, Pashto, Turkish and Indonesian. All languages have both text and audio. Currently the app includes 30 bible studies from Creation to Christ. More is under development.

The creators say the app works well also for those who want to get training in running Discovery Bible Study groups. 

It might seem odd that you need training to run DBS. However, we sometimes find that experienced bible study leaders add elements into the bible study that are not helpful. The temptation is very strong to share how one scripture relates to another, or to add what a theology book or a famous pastor have to say about a subject. 

“Unfortunately, if you do this while facilitating a Discovery bible study with seekers, it reinforces the feeling that a person has to be an expert before he or she can start a group. This stops the multiplication,” explains the people behind the Discovery App.

How to get it

You can get hold of Discover App by clicking on links below or by going to their website:

By Steinar Opheim