Praises and Prayers

We haven't posted praises and prayer requests, but we know that many of you reading this are praying for us. We wanted to help you have a better idea of how you can pray for us.

Praises:

Alisha got a job! She is working at Family Video 20 hours a week.

We are doing well in classes and enjoying them.

We are making friends :)

Prayer Requests:

It's scary being in a position where neither of us have full-time jobs. Pray that we would trust God to provide for us in this time and that we would be wise with our money.

We desire to learn from and be mentored by those who are older and wiser than us here. Pray that God would allow this to happen.

That ourBaby would continue to grow healthy and that God would prepare Ben and I to be good parents.

That we would have good time management.

Our future and the decisions we have to make missions-wise (where we will go, with whom, when, etc...)

A more specific prayer request... Many of the apartments at the school do not have running water because it is an old schoolhouse building. For years this has been fine, but the town is now pressing that apartments with stoves have running water. Pray that the town would give the school an extension (as it would take a good amount of time to put the plumbing in), and that the school would be able to get water in. The other option is that we would have to eat in the cafeteria which would cost us more money and would not allow us to cook on our own.

New Tribes Classes

Above is a picture of our classroom at New Tribes. We take all of our classes in the same classroom, but luckily we get a little bit of a break between classes.

Ben is taking an 8:00 class that I'm not taking - Biblical Foundations. This is a class that does a quick overview of the Bible. Then we both have chapel at 9:00. At 10:00 we both have Bibliology which is a study of how the Bible came from God to us and how it has been preserved through the generations. We have enjoyed what we have learned in this class. At 11:00 we have Pentateuch where we are currently studying Genesis. This class will go almost all semester. We're on a block schedule, so we take classes everyday until we finish them. We are almost finished with Bibliology, and Ben is almost finished with Biblical Foundations which are both just 1 credit classes. Ben will then started Hermeneutics at 8:00, and we will have Evangelism at 10:00. Ben is also taking a Financial Management elective class right now.

We have enjoyed our time here so far and are making friends. Ben has joined a volleyball and basketball team that play other teams in the school, and so it's really nice he can do that. Thank you for your prayers, and we continue to ask for them. We're learning how to trust God in times that are different from our first two years of marriage. It's very different to have neither of us working full time.

Baby Miller is doing well, and we got to hear his/her heartbeat for the first time today! I'm 12 weeks, so for those wondering, we'll find out the baby's gender in about 8 weeks. :)

1 +1 = 3

We are the Millers. We were just Ben Miller and Alisha Miller. Now we are Ben, Alisha, and Baby Miller!!! Today I am 10.5 weeks pregnant, and while I have made this announcement on facebook, I thought it was time to announce it on our blog as well!

We are very excited to have a little one even though it means many unknowns! NTBI is a kid-friendly place as there are many staff as well as several student married couples here who have kids, so our little one will have plenty of playmates, and I (Alisha) will have other mothers to learn from.

Please pray for us that in the remaining 30 weeks that God would prepare us to be good and Godly parents.

We're Here :)

We're at New Tribes Bible Institute (NTBI)! We are all settled in, and we're had a chance to meet some people here and explore the town. We signed up for classes today (Ben will take a full load and I will take 11 credits... it costs us the same whether just he takes classes or whether we both do, so we're excited for the opportunity to learn together!)

On Monday and Tuesday we have orientation, and then on Wednesday we will start our first day of classes. At this point we are ready to be on a schedule, but I'm sure once we're into classes full-swing, we'll be wishing for a break again!

We're moving!!

Everything is packed, and we're heading out tomorrow morning! It's actually here! We're really going to Bible School and changing everything about our lives. As I was packing tonight, I pulled out the packet with our house blueprints, and I realized if God hadn't drastically changed the path our life was going, we could be in that house right now. While it was beautiful, and I was a teensy bit sad I wasn't sitting in that house as I looked at the blueprints, it's amazing the joy God puts in your heart and life when you know you're following his plan. I know telling others about Jesus will be far more fulfilling than living in a nice house in a nice neighborhood with a nice bathtub. Once we arrive at New Tribes Bible Institute, I will take pictures and post! I had the opportunity to go to NTBI the other week and see our apartment... it's little, but it'll be fun! {alisha}

Less Than a Month Away!

Well... I know I said "it's official" before, but now it's really official that we're going. We have money sent in, we've put in notices at our jobs (well, Ben didn't really have to), we have our move date planned (August 18), and I've been working on prayer cards! As we begin this stage of our lives, we'd appreciate lots of prayer as we consider our options for mission organizations/fields/opportunities. We really want to be open to God and what he wants for us. New Tribes is a great organization so we're excited to learn the Bible from them and to see if they're an organization we might want to serve with.

Ben and I have been talking to leaders of our church about our interest in missions and appreciate their prayers and wisdom as they help us consider our options. We are becoming members of our church next Sunday!

So prayer cards... Ben and I are different in our tastes, and I'm indecisive, so I posted three of the ones I made. We'll try to narrow it down to one ;) Feel free to print one of these off though!

We've Been Accepted!

We are now officially accepted to New Tribes Bible Institute and will be attending at their Jackson, MI campus starting in August. We are looking forward to going even though we are also nervous and anxious.

Now we just have paperwork and money to send in before we go. This summer will just be working relaxing and enjoying family and friends before we leave.