God is Good (Practical Examples)

We are back from our Webfast. It was a good time- we are thankful for the internet (and other technology), but we were thankful for a break from it for a month.

Just wanted to share a little with you all about some of the ways God has blessed us lately... One thing we have been talking about in our Foundational Bible Teaching class is how God is good. We've been forced to look at stories where God's goodness is hard to see and to determine how he is still good in these situations. If we truly believe he is good, then we need to consider these things even when it's hard. I have truly enjoyed this exercise and have learned from it, and I'm challenging myself to do the same in my own life. Sometimes I wonder why God hasn't provided more supporters for us or more money for us (this is not a guilt post in any way so I hope no one will read it that way- just sharing my heart), but then he reminds me of ways that he has provided for us -ways that I would not have imagined. In special ways. And he has provided for every one of our needs and more. We have not had to go without. God is good to us.

1. We have this awesome food pantry here at school that we have gotten so much yummy food on. What a blessing for helping us keep our food bill down! One day, a TON of drinks were dropped off. Drinks are basically Ben's love language- particularly Diet Mountain Dew and Diet Coke- both of which they had! 

2. The food pantry has blessed us in another way too. I was needing baby food for Brielle, but it's so expensive. I prayed about it once, wondering if maybe someone would put some in the food pantry. Well, no one did- instead, some local farms and the local farmers market donated every now and then, and one time we got a bunch of sweet potatoes and squash. I cooked them all up and froze a bunch in ice cube trays, and waa-laa! Free baby food- and healthier than the kind from the store too! (plus, Brielle won't even eat the kind from the store anymore because it's too runny. God is good!)

3. Samaritan Ministries. Yeah, I know, I've mentioned my thankfulness for them before, but this month I'm thankful because they give referral credits... and since we referred two families in the last couple months (thanks Rimesteads and Narwolds!), we didn't have to send any money this month. HUGE. BLESSING!

4. Health. Overall, we have stayed healthy and have been able to be in classes. Let me be specific so you understand. Since we've been here, a number of viruses have gone around: Flu, hand foot and mouth disease, Roseola, strep throat (our neighbors have had several of these too)... and the only thing our family has had is the common cold. That is a praise!

5. Socks (and other goodies)! Sophie's friend Katy Armstrong sold coffee and cinnamon rolls to raise money to send Sophie a care package. SO sweet! Sophie needed socks, so she got some of those in the package- but she also got some yummy candy that she was even more excited about :)

Thank you to those who pray for us!! We know God is answering prayers!

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!

The P Update

This is an update all about the "Ps" in our lives that you may be curious about: Prayer, Praises, (Financial) Partners, and Pictures.

Prayer: 

*That we would learn a healthy balance between classes, ministry, work detail, family, and friendships.

*For God to continue burdening people's hearts for the unreached in whatever role he might have them play in that

*Childcare Need --> They struggle to have enough workers to help with childcare, so Moms have to help. This semester, there are so many kids and so few workers that Moms have to miss class once a week to help in the childcare. While being with the kids is fun, it's difficult to miss one day of classes every week and stay on top of classes. Please pray that I won't be overwhelmed by missing class, but I would also love prayer that they would be able to find more childcare workers/volunteers!

Praises:

*We arrived here safely and are unpacked

*The girls love it here, are back in their routine, and are doing well in childcare! 

*We love being around our friends from the Bible school again!

*Financially, God has been so good to us, and we're so thankful for all who have given financially to help us!

(Financial) Partners:

We are so thankful for the way God has provided for us so that we can be here! Thank you to those who have given to us financially! It was difficult, especially for Ben, to step away from a secure job and trust in God. It is so very exciting, however, to have to trust God in this new way and to see the amazing ways in which he provides.

We've had 15 individuals/couples and 2 churches give to us, either one-time gifts or monthly gifts. These gifts total $10,499, and if you remember from my Money Matters post, we estimate our semester needs to be around $11,500 for each semester. This means we already have 91% of our support for this semester. 

Pictures:

Sophie's in love with the lake...

When one sister looks...

 ...the other doesn't.

 This is how I get the girls to class in the morning! (Ben's already at class, so I have to do it by myself)

Welcome to the MTC: Our New Home

We are so thankful to be here. I was just thanking God this morning for allowing us to be here... for allowing us to be able to head down this path toward tribal missions. There are people who desire to do this who are unable to because of health or finances, and I never want to forget to praise God for allowing us to be here. Thank you to those who have supported us in any way along this journey- financially, prayerfully, giving encouragement, mentoring us, advocating for us... we praise God for you!

Thank you Dad and Mom Miller for helping us move (and wish you didn't have a meeting and could have come too, Mom Walton)!!!

Here is a little tour of our new home! They have really nice townhouses here, and then they have some really old, small housing. We weren't sure which we would get, but since we have two kids, we got the new housing. We definitely are grateful! It's the nicest place we've ever lived in (and probably ever will live in), so we're going to soak it up!

This is the townhouse unit we live in.

Looking in from our front door... living room and kitchen area are all one big space. 

Living room/kitchen space from the opposite direction. Love this kitchen! I've never had anywhere close to this much counter space!!

Both bedrooms are upstairs. This is our bedroom...

 ... and this is the girl's bedroom. They share a room, but it's a really big room. I was a little nervous how they would do with sharing, but they've done great!

Sophie LOVES this place because they have lots of playgrounds. She asks to go to the playground all the time!

We live on a beautiful campus...

These are the Child Care buildings and classroom buildings...

We have really enjoyed catching up with old friends and meeting new people while being here. We start orientation on Saturday and classes next week!

Off to the MTC We Go!

It's hard to believe it, but tomorrow is moving day! We are all packed and ready to go! Bright and early, we will begin the 8.5* hour trip to Missouri where the Missionary Training Center is! (*8.5 hours doesn't include a potty trained child and a breastfed baby... I've set my goal on 12 hours). We appreciate your prayers!

We've filled the last few weeks with lots of fun, so here are some pictures to prove it!

The girls hanging out on the bed while we pack... 

 Trying to get a cute sister picture. Instead they're showing their punk sides.

 Oh hey! I finally decided to have my mommy teach me how to sew... since I've been talking about doing so for 3 years now. I learned a little but am still far from being able to make anything wonderful.

 Then this past week we had a nice vacation with Ben's family at Gull Lake in Michigan.

Here's a picture of Daddy with his girls at the lake...

 Sophie loved the beach even though she hated being dirty from the sand.

 We had lots of time to hang out with family! Sophie loved it.

 Sophie got her face painted for the first time :)

We're thankful for the last two weeks where we've been able to spend lots of time with family! Here we goooooo!

An MK in the Making...

MK = Missionary Kid.

Since we plan to head to Papua New Guinea to be missionaries, Sophie and Brielle will be MKs. As a result, they will have different experiences than their peers in the USA, and sometimes these differences will be obvious. Sophie showed her first signs of being an MK during our time on vacation with Ben's family this past week at Gull Lake. Sophie went to a class for kids her age in the mornings, and her Aunt Becca got to be one of her teachers! One day when we picked Sophie up, Becca told us that they did a pretend ride on the wooden train. She said she had all the kids hop on the train, and then she said, "Ok we arrived! Where are we?" She said most kids would say things like, "McDonalds!" or "Chuck E Cheese!" But not Sophie. She shouted, "Papua New Guinea!" haha!

Later in the week she got on the train, so we turned the video camera on to see if we asked her again if she would say the same thing... and she did!