Second Semester, Here We Go

Our second semester begins this week, on wednesday! Deep down we know we're excited to be in such enriching, wonderful classes, but it sure has been nice to have a break where we can work, sleep, play games, sleep (yes, we love sleep), watch movies, and take a few short trips. We love going to bed late and waking up late, so we will have to get used to the schedule of going to bed early and waking up early again.

Thanks to the money we had saved up, we have been able to make our initial payment for this semester which we are grateful for as some of our friends are still struggling to make this payment. The generous anonymous donation we received will cover some of our February payment, and it also covered our stay here over Christmas break (we have to pay a minimal rent in order to stay, but the amount we could make while working made it worth it). Thanks to getting hours at work, we just paid our car off! We are so thankful we will no longer have that bill. And most of all, we are thankful to God who continues to provide in ways we don't expect. First, the anonymous donation, and second, hours at work. Ben mentioned to his managers that if they ever need him to pick up hours that he is willing, and he has been able to pick up hours for others every week since then. I (Alisha) was able to work 32 hours this past week, and I'm so thankful that at 29 weeks I was able to be on my feet for that many hours. The Lord has provided us with good health and common sense in order to do the jobs we have, and even though they can be mundane, we know this is something to be thankful for.

I will be 30 weeks tomorrow! Which means only 10 to go! It's hard to believe that in just a little over 2 months, we will have a new little one in our lives :) We started birthing classes last week, and I have started my every-other- week appointments now.

We do have one new prayer request. We ask that you pray for our insurance. We're going through somewhat of a mess with it right now, and we really need it figured out quickly as we have many appointments and such right now with the baby. Please pray that things will get figured out asap!

Happy New Year!

This won't be very long year, but just wanted to fill you in quickly on the last few weeks:

1. Went home for Christmas for 5 days and really enjoyed our time with family and friends

2. Worked

3. Worked until 11 on New Years eve, and both got home in time to see the ball drop, hear some fireworks out our window, and watch a movie

4. Read and watched movies

5. Went on a Babymoon this past weekend :) We went to Hocking Hills for a couple of days and stayed in a beautiful cabin and enjoyed our last "hoo-rah" event without kids (picture above)

We also had a generous, anonymous donation given to us to help with school which we appreciated SO much. We've been working hard and taking extra hours when we can, but without working full time, extra money toward our school bill is so helpful. We are so thankful to God and to the generous donator... we thank you, whoever you are.

Semester's End

Tomorrow is our last day of classes for the semester which is hard to believe. We just have one final left and then Christmas break. While we really love the learning we are obtaining, it'll be nice to have a break from all the reading and busywork and hopefully have a chance to do some of our own reading and study in the Bible. After a semester of study in the Old Testament, you begin getting excited about the things to come in the Bible. I'm so thankful for the chronological study we've been able to have here. Ben and I both see the benefit of studying the Bible in this way. I feel like there's a lot to update on this time (i.e. this is going to be a monster update), so I'll try to categorize to make the reading easier.

School: Like I said, this has been such a good semester. Ben and I have both enjoyed everything we have learned, but most of this update will be from my viewpoint because he doesn't like to write, unfortunately. If you want to hear his viewpoint, you'll have to call him :) Our favorite class this semester is one we just had: Old Testament History. We have really loved the teacher, Rich Bruce. We have also really loved the content. One of our assignments was to write 15 write-ups. We had to choose a topic we saw in the Old Testament (Man's sinfulness, Man's pride, God's mercy, God's justice, etc) and make an outline of where we see it in the OT plus apply it to our lives. This was a great assignment to help us think about how the Bible applies to our lives and why God puts certain things in the Bible. It also allowed us to dwell on the big ideas in the OT. I really enjoyed this class after taking Prophecy at Grace College. Prophecy class helped me to see what the prophet books are really for and to understand that God took Israel and Judah into captivity because of their sinfulness. Going through the OT chronologically has helped to truly grasp how big of a deal it is that God took them away. He LOVED these people so much, and he warned them so many times. He had mercy on them and turned his wrath away many times. But finally, after years and years of disobedience and idolatry, God followed through on his promise to destroy them (because they did not stay faithful to him). When I got to the end of 2 Kings, I was devastated because I finally grasped the frustration and heartbrokenness of God.... he warned them so many times. He desperately wanted them to choose him so he wouldn't have to send them into captivity. But they just wouldn't listen. I know from reading thing that I must look at my own sinful heart though. There are many times that I choose to continue in my sin... sins like being selfish and prideful... rather than trusting God and being 100% faithful to him. All in all, this class has been a blessing, and we look forward to studying the prophets when we come back after Christmas break.

Christmas Break: We will get to spend some time with our families which we are looking forward to. We also will get to go on a short "Babymoon" (last "hoo-rah" alone before Baby comes) to a cute cabin in Ohio for a couple of days. The rest of the month-long break we will be here in Jackson working.

Work/Provision: Speaking of work, God has been teaching me. I know when I first came to Bible school that we would have to pay for school somehow and that we wouldn't have much. I might have mentioned some of this in a previous post, so sorry if I repeat at all. After hearing so many stories about God's amazing provision for people in situations like ours, I know there was something in the back of my head that kept thinking/hoping God would provide anonymous donations. I've been learning that God IS a provider, but he's provided in different ways than what I thought at first. He's provided through jobs. Jobs might not be the most fun way to make money. Especially ones that are part-time and not in our "specialty" fields. But they're jobs, and they provide money, and God has been gracious to us through them. I have been getting decent hours week after week, and often, I've been getting more hours than what I expected. I requested around 20 when I interviewed because of school. I've been getting closer to 25-30 hours most week, and God has been good to make it completely possible for me to handle all of those hours. The extra money has been very helpful. Certainly my paycheck is small compared to most that normal, functioning, American families make, but it's been enough for us to live off of so far which we are glad. We almost have our car paid off too which is very exciting! Ben has also been getting some hours at Red Lobster. He doesn't work a lot right now, but the extra hours he gets on top of mine are helpful, and hopefully by time our baby comes and I have to stop working, he will be serving and having more hours. Sometimes when we think about a baby coming and our school bills, we get anxious, still. Please pray that God will continue providing for us and that we will continue to trust his provision.

Baby: We're so excited about having a little girl. We're thankful to still have time to prepare though as we know she will make many changes to life as we know it. I am 25 weeks now, and so far everything has been looking good. Please pray that both her health and my health will continue to be good throughout the pregnancy.

And we do have fun sometimes, so we'll finish out with some pictures :)

1. This is Hae-Jung and I. I had the privilege of being one of her language helpers this semester. She is from Korea and is a student here at NTBI. She does really well with English, but listening and comprehending is still difficult for her. Her kids have also been getting sick a lot lately which takes away from her time to study. Please pray for her as she gets frustrated at times and desires to understand English. She's a hard worker.

2. This is at one of our friends, Beth's, surprise birthday party. Laken is on my side, and Payton, our neighbor, is on Ben's side (Laken is married to Jason, and Payton is married to Grace).

3. My friend Grace Cale had a cookie party... with the purpose of evangelism. We got to make cookies and some people invited friends that they have been witnessing to (I wasn't able to invite anyone as I could only stay a short time because of work). It was fun! And yumm cookies!

4. This is my friend Jessica. She is one of the single girls here at school, and I love spending time with her. She's from Canada. She watches Survivor with me on Wednesday nights when I don't have to work. She also helped me make the yummy cookies that I took to the cookie party.

Here Come the Holidays!

It's already the end of November, and time has flown by. It's been over a month since I've updated. It's been a good month though!

We had Chris and Evie stay with us for a week! They are the missionary couple who told us about New Tribes, and they are getting ready to head out to Papua New Gunea in the next year. We're excited for them and thankful for the time we could spend with them.

I attended my friend Kellie's baby shower. She is due 2 months before I am, and she has the cutest little ball belly :) It was good to see all of my high school church friends again :) We even included Katie on skype!

This past weekend we celebrated thanksgiving with my (Alisha's) family. It was nice to see some of my family that I don't see often and it was yummy food! I wish we could have spent more time with them, but alas, we had to be back for school and work.
Ben is now working at Red Lobster, and we're so glad he has a job! Our baby continues to grow. I am now 22 weeks! Over half-way to meeting our baby girl! That's right, we found out that we will be having a girl!!

We are now in our final classes (Proverbs and Old Testament History) and have just three weeks left of school. It's hard to believe our first semester is already coming to a close. We look forward to the holidays, though, and to a little break from school.

Things Alisha has been Learning...

I've been meaning to write one of these posts forever, but kept procrastinating. I will try to get Ben to write one sometime soon too, but he doesn't love to write, so we'll see :)

1. In chapel a couple of weeks ago, one of the professors I really like and admire (Scot Keen) who has a fun, hillbilly, Kentucky accent (but who surprised me with his intelligence), said, "Many Christians think that if they don't go, God will send someone else. But where does it say that in the Bible? Maybe he won't. I truly believe there are people groups that don't have the Bible right now because someone didn't go when God wanted them to." Of course, God says he won't return until every nation and tongue has heard. So they will eventually hear. But are we okay with the fact that there will be hundreds who will die before God may send someone else? Hundreds who have never heard the gospel message. We shouldn't be okay with this. I don't believe God calls everyone to overseas missions... it wouldn't even make sense for God to do such a thing because the sending church is such an important part of missions. But I am positive that God has called people into missions who never ended up going. I know this because I know people like this. I know this because Ben and I almost ended up being like these people. It's so easy to get sucked into the American Christian dream and to think, "Well, I can just support missionaries. God can use me here in America too." And he can. But don't doubt a call in your life to go overseas. Also, I'm a firm believer that you don't have to "feel or hear" a special call in order to decide to go overseas. The Lord wants more laborers! There are never enough. The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few.

2. In class the other day, a professor (Gutwein) said, "It's intolerable and unacceptable that there are people on this earth who have never heard the gospel." It was a pretty strong statement and made me sit back for a second. But really... Christ came 2000 years ago. Why are there still people who haven't heard... ever? Even here at New Tribes Bible Institute, it's so easy for me to forget the need out there. It's easy to get sucked into current music and clothing trends and even into the latest Biblical debate or theological discussion. None of these are bad in and of themselves, but I must remember there's a greater need out there, and I must do something about it.

3. Ben and I are currently studying Exodus, and I was really struck by something our Pentateuch book said. In talking about the tabernacle, it says, "The inner curtain separated the Most Holy Place, traditionally known as the Holy of Holies, from the Holy Place. This arrangement was later duplicated in Israel's temple, and it was apparently this curtain (veil) that tore when Christ died. The writer to Hebrews declared, 'We have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, his body' (Heb. 10:19-20). Through the shed blood of the incarnate Christ, the believer now has access to God and as it were, the separating curtain has been torn in two." (The Pentateuch- L. Thomas Holdcroft- pg 163). This is one of those things that I think I have always known, but I just never let it sink in. How amazing that we can enter the Holy of Holies at any point to speak to a personal God. We no longer need to sacrifice and be cleansed... Jesus has already done this, once and for all. I'm so thankful that the Old Testament can remind me of how grateful I am for Jesus' sacrifice for me.

I'm sure there's more I'm learning, but these are the three biggest things that stick out to me right now. Please continue to pray that God will open our minds and hearts to learn new things.

The Latest Happenins'

(So these first two pictures will be explained later.)

Time for an update again! I always thought I would be so much better about updating this than I am. I (Alisha) started my job at Family Video 2 weeks ago. I had been working 20 hours, but this week I am working 30-some hours because the new girl they were going to hire never showed up! While I won't be able to keep up working that much, I am ahead in my homework right now and am thankful for the extra hours while I can manage them. Perhaps this is one of the ways God is providing for us. I am now 15 weeks in my pregnancy! Out of the first trimester- yay! Here is the latest picture I have (below the bball picture). You can see a little belly.

Ben has been playing basketball! He is on an intramural team and enjoys playing once a week (bball pic above). He also plays volleyball and is on a football team that will play this weekend against our sister school, Waukesha. So he's been busy with sports. After this weekend he won't have football anymore. He's also going to run in a 10k against Waukesha. I thought I was always the runner? Apparently now he is!!

So the pictures at the top. First let me tell you how much it annoys me that blogger posts the last picture that you add at the top and makes it a big pain to move it. I forget this everytime and always have my pictures posting out of order of what I really want. Anyway, we went mini golfing with new friends Jason and Laken. They didn't tell us they were pros. Jason won, and Laken came in second. We didn't think to take a picture of all four of us, but you can see them in the background of the pictures of us!

Tomorrow is our second Day of Prayer, and we're looking forward to it. Ben is in Hermeneutics, Evangelism, Exodus, and Foundations for Learning right now (and I'm taking Evangelism and Exodus). We're enjoying these classes a lot so far!! We just finished Genesis and are grateful that God had a plan from the beginning for salvation. He didn't just decide to send us a way to be saved in the New Testament when Jesus came. His plan began all the way back in Genesis when he began setting apart his people (the Israelites) through Abraham.

I know there's more I could share, but I have to eat before work! Thanks for keeping up on our lives here at NTBI :)

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.