Category: Missions Training

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Training has begun!

We are now a week and a half into our classes and we could not be enjoying them more!  Our school breaks up the semesters into five blocks which are three weeks in lengths.  The classes themselves vary in length with some classes lasting one block and some lasting up to three blocks.  There is plenty of homework, but, believe it or not… we are actually enjoying homework!  We usually have about two-three hours of reading each day (sometimes more), at least one paper or assignment each week, and usually has about two tests per class. Our current classes this block are Biblical Foundations, Bibliology, Evangelism in a Postmodern world, and Job.

Biblical Foundations: This class is a basic introduction to the Chronological order of the bible.  We’re learning the main events through scripture and learning about the prevailing themes.

Bibliology: This is a great class that helps us better understand the bible.  We’re currently learning about the background and contexts in which the original writings of the bible came about.  We’re covering topics and debates such as the “inspiration” of the bible, the Cannon, and the transmission of the bible.

Evangelism in a Postmodern World: This is a great class that is teaching us about the history of apologetics and the journey through history that has brought us into the current postmodern worldview of our day-in-age.  Along with reading, some of our class assignments take us downtown into the coffee shops were we have surveys to learn about the current worldviews of society today.  We are also memorizing some scriptures.  Bree and I have worked with kids and used the “hand motion” method of memorization with them, so, we decided to stick to our roots!  Check out this little video that we wanted to make for the Zone Kids who we worked with for so long!  See kids, we do MemoryMax too!!!

Job: This is an AMAZING class as our teacher is one of the most compassionate storytellers I have ever known!  To say he brings Job’s story to life is truly an understatement.  I have read Job before (which is a hard one to read as it has always seemed too depressing to me…) but WOW is there so much wisdom and meat in those passages when you stop to understand what is really happening there.  Wow!

So, that’s a glance into our current training here at NTBI!  We love our training so far, and are thankful to be here.  We thought we knew a ton about the Word and who God is… but man, we are so humbled by His Word and how little we actually know about Him.  We just can wait to learn more!

-Pete’n’Bree

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Quick Snapshot

Pete’n’Bree Update:

Whirlwind, hurricane, tornado… No, not words describing the weather here (yet…) but rather words to describe life here! It has only been a few days but things are moving so fast. Right away we had a dozen people helping us move in, half a dozen knocking on our door introducing themselves – making us feel welcome.  Half a dozen young married couples inviting us to game nights and meals, and even hosting game nights ourselves! We’ve gotten to know many MKs from mostly South America like Brazil and Columbia and a tons from PNG!

School Update:

After a few days of school orientation, we have officially started our classes. Our school splits semesters into five, three week blocks.  Our first “block” consist of Biblical Foundations, Bibliology, Evangelism in the Postmodern world, and the book of Job.  Some classes are one block while some can span up to three blocks (9 weeks).  I will go into detail in a later post about our schedule and specific classes.

Ministry Update:

Honestly, we are walking into each day saying “how is this going to work…” and then we always seem to end the day saying “wow!… how did that work out so well!?”  God is really driving this ministry and we continually realize more everyday how little Bree and I do and how much God does!  We just have to be faithful to be open and SHOW UP!  If you are like me and you want to hear about some of the details – here is a little snapshot of the current lay-of-the-land.  There are 63 MKs from about 15 different countries living all around us on campus. MKs actually make up about about 1/3 of the student body.  Not to mention most of the staff themselves are MKs!  Our ministry so far has just been focused on getting to know them as we have the opportunities to do so.

To do that, we are asking God to open the door and we are seeing that happen in the classroom, hallways, and on the sports field.  We are then opening our door to them to help however we can.  They ask for help for everything from how to buy a pillow to just needing someone to chat with.  As we rely on the Lords leading we hope to begin a regular meeting or hangout of MKs with the purpose of fellowship.  We have found that once they establish friendships with others around campus – things seem to quickly get smoother for them.  One other amazing praise report is that New Tribes heard about us and the official “MK Shepherding” ministry is coming to our campus to meet with our MK classmates and to meet up with Bree and I!  We are REALLY excited about the opportunity to meet with them and to join their efforts to reach out and shepherd MKs.  As always… more to come later!

-Pete’n’Bree

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Apartment Layout

We received the layout of our on-campus 2 bedroom apartment today!  We are REALLY excited to learn that our apartment is in the main building and will not be off campus.    While most married couples/families live in a special building, we will be in the main building with most of the single students.  This plays into two major factors. 1) we will not have to travel or go outside in the notorious midwest winter to get to class. Yahoo!!!  2) We will be much more available to the single MK students of whom we want to get to know.

Here are some shots of our place.  (Don’t mind the construction as they are working on the room to get it ready)

 In typical fashion, Bree and I have already busted out the ruler and calculator and created mini-scale furniture pieces to plan out our furnishing attack!  One room will serve as our bedroom/study/office/art room and the other will be the kitchen/hangout/TV room.  Our goal is to really open up our home and make it a readily available hang out for MKs and all our other classmates.

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Waukesha, Wi

Well, we are only one month away from our move out to Wisconsin for Missionary Training and folks have been asking recently about Waukesha!  From what we hear, Waukesha is spectacularly beautiful.  Full of trees, lakes, and rivers.  We are in walking distance to the ‘ol downtown and waterfront path that follows the gorgeous Fox River.  We will also but a 15 minute drive to downtown Milwaukee, and just under two hours from Chicago.

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The 10-acre New Tribes Bible Institute – Waukesha campus is located in the western suburbs of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, only a 15-mile drive to the downtown sector. The city of Waukesha has a population of approximately 65,000. The main campus houses the administrative and faculty offices, classrooms, library, a dining hall that seats 170, student dorms, three student lounges, laundry facilities and a bookstore.  The campus complex includes additional housing for married students and their families, a 300-seat auditorium, a children’s playground, and gymnasium, as well as garages and physical plant shops.