The Web and my Worldview

The most fascinating class we’ve been taking so far here at New Tribe’s MTC is called “Worldview Analysis.” I learned about worldview at Grace College, and I remember appreciating what I learned there, but we went even deeper here. I thought we would just learn about how to decipher the worldview of a tribal person… and while we did do that, that part of the class wasn’t what fascinated me most. What shocked me was learning about my own worldview. God has really opened my eyes to just how deeply the world around me affects my worldview.

One of the big things we talked about is how technology has affected our worldview. Of course, there are good things about technology, but there are many ways that the internet and other social media negatively influences me without me even realizing it. It’s hard for me to realize it’s full impact when I’m stuck inside my own worldview.

I SO wish that I could fill your minds and hearts with all we’ve been learning, but since we’ve had many hours of this class already, that would be impossible. I will suffice it to leave you a favorite quote from the class.

“To be unaware that a technology comes equipped with a program for social change, to maintain that technology is neutral, to make the assumption that technology is always a friend to culture is, at this late hour, stupidity plain and simple” Neil S.

The practical application of this class is that all 45 students in our class along with our class mentors will be taking the next month (Sept 9-Oct 4) away from all social media. We call it a Webfast. This means no texting, facebook, blogging, pinterest, google, television, Netflix…. You know, the things that we don’t even know how to live without anymore. Please pray that we will use this time away from so many things that usually distract us to draw closer to the Lord and build deeper relationships with people. Our teacher reminded us that we are so used to facebook relationships but in a tribe we will be forced to build face-to-face relationships and this will be good practice for us. The level of deepness that facebook requires of us won’t cut it when we’re dealing with the reality of tribal life- poverty, death, and suffering like we’ve never seen before. 

(If you do need us during this time, you can still CALL us or you can email us at ben_miller@ntm.org or alisha_miller@ntm.org.) 

A Day in the Life [of an MTC Student]...

Here at the Missionary Training Center, our family is beginning to feel more settled and get into a routine. Here is a little post to give you a general idea of what our days look like:

8am - Ben heads to class (he often wakes up to run or sometimes to pray with others before this). I listen online to this class while getting the girls ready.

8:40am- I head to class with the girls. Usually I take them in the double stroller, but we're going to start trying the wagon, and usually I take them all the way on my own, but this day Ben was able to help me some.

We drop the girls off in their childcare classes. Sophie goes to toddlers, where she's the oldest in the classroom (and there are only 4-5 other kids, so it's small), and Brielle goes to the nursery where there are 9-10 other babies, and most of them were born around the same time as her (so by the end of the semester, there are going to be lots of moving babies)!! Both girls have adjusted well, and Sophie is usually excited about "going to her class."

8:55am- Our classes start and go until 12am. So far the classes we have taken are Learning Styles, Worldview Analysis, CLA (Culture Language Acquisition) Intro, and NTM History. We also have something each day called HTR (Hold the Ropes) where we get to pray for missionaries all around the world. We have 45 students in our class, and we are called CP1 (Church Planting 1).

From 12pm-5pm, we do a lot of things. Ben has to do 8 hours of work detail each week (he is working on plumbing with another guy in a new building here on campus) and also 8 hours of ministry. So he will do this during some of this time. One afternoon we also meet with our elinc group (small group) that we were placed in with two staff couples and some other students in our class. Mostly, I stay home with the girls while they take naps, and I do mom and wife duties. I do have to help cut cleaning rags for my work detail and do some ministry hours as well but as a mom, my hours are much less.

5:30pm- We eat dinner! We've been having lots of people over, and we've also been invited over to others' houses, so dinner time has been fun!

6pm-8pm- This is our fun hang-out time! We usually hang out with friends or go to the park (as Sophie insists we do), and occasionally we go to the lake since we can walk to it. Sometimes we just take walks. We love that we can walk so many places!

8pm- Brielle goes to bed, and Sophie follows shortly after. Then Ben and I do homework, enjoy some kid-free quietness, and sometimes hang out with friends.

We are praising God as he continues to be good to us!