And… we’re back at NTBI! After a busy-busy summer, we are back in the saddle in Wisconsin and ready for our last year of training here. One of the most exciting parts of this year is that we have been invited to be a part of this year’s NTBI Student Leadership Team. Our leadership “role” will be Sports Department and Campus Life Events Team. Additionally, we were able to go through the Leadership Training Program they have for student leaders.
For the first 6 days of training we took classes on leadership such as Identity, Ministry, Vibrancy, Ownership, Body Life, and Leadership vs. Management.
Along with the classes we worked through a great book called “Leadership as an Identity”. One of the themes that we took away was from the book was that a lot of the major milestones in our growth as spiritual leaders tend to steamed from times when we realize our personal brokenness and turned to God for strength and leadership.
We also did team building exercises. For one we had to work as teams to build a platform out of a certain amount of string and three 2x4s and transport a teammate across a field without them touching the ground. Also, there could not be any more than two points touching the ground at one time.
During another we had to build a floating raft in which we had to get all of the team around a cone in a lake and back without getting wet except two people who could pull the raft in the water. The materials were 10 Trash bags, 1 tarp, and two rolls of duct tape.
As a group we also went down to the lake front in Milwaukee for a social during sunset.
For the last 4 days we all went camping together at a lake in east Wisconsin. This gave us a chance to get to know the other leaders and staff in a relaxed fun setting. The lake was beautiful and the weather was perfect.
What was also fun was seeing the influence of the MKs who setup hammocks all around instead of the traditional “tents” that I’m used to. I have to say… it was awesome and I think I may just take a hammock setup next time I go camping.
We are so thankful and blessed to be a part of the team this year. What a great opportunity it is to be poured into by the staff and other students.
In Late March we had the chance to host the other New Tribes Bible Institute campus from Jackson, MI for the annual spring NTBI Tribal Cup! Tribal Cup is a friendly sports tournament in which we meet up twice a year and compete. In the fall we have outdoor sports such as soccer, football, ultimate Frisbee, disc golf, and track. In the spring we square off in indoor sports such as arena soccer, basketball, volleyball, and Ping-Pong. 
Things been going great and we just finished a little over half of our sophomore semester here at NTBI. I would be lying if I didn’t mention that it has been a bit crazy (dare I say overwhelming) with our current homework/study load. I mean it has been busy but it has been an extremely fruitful and rewarding time. This is a notoriously heavy semester of reading as it is but then we had the opportunity to take an additional course called “Perspectives”. Perspectives is a missions focused course that is available all over the country and even internationally now. If you ever have the chance to take Perspectives in your local area, I HIGHLY recommend it. (
So when you add all that homework, plus a few electives classes and modules, you end up with 5-7 hours of homework most every single night! Yikes! Thought we are definitely looking forward to a nice summer break… we really are truly enjoying and growing tremendously in these awesome studies. You just can’t ask for more!
This semester has been quite a different one compared to last semester due to homework and studying, but it still has been great. I love taking guys out to coffee and hearing about their childhoods and how life has been going lately in the states and Bree has been having girls’ nights in which they bake goodies or watch movies! (or both!!!) One thing we are particularly excited about right now is the launch of a campaign through Barnabas International call “Buck and a Stamp!” This is an awesome and EASY opportunity to get involved in ministry to Missionary Kids and families by sending in $1 to help fund this summers MK re-entry retreats across the country. This is a simple campaign and easy to pass around! So, let’s make these retreats available to as many MKs as possible! (Check out the 
I am so happy to announce that the snow is finally melting away and we can see the ground! The temperature as of late has been in the 30’s-40’s range but this week we had temps soar to high 50’s! Let me tell you… it is HEAVENLY! In California I would still be in a heavy jacket when it was in the 50s… but now with this thick blood… we’re in t-shirts! I know we still have a little bit of weather funks left where we will see temps fall back down to the 30’s and possible snow… but we are making progress and I can see the light at the end of the tunnel! Praise God!
The NTBI Tribal Cup is but a week away! The Tribal Cup is a tournament held once a semester where the two NTBI campuses square off on the sports field. Last semester we traveled to the Jackson, MI campus and this semester they are coming here. The sports being played this time around is indoor soccer, volleyball, football, and Basketball. I have the awesome opportunity to play for our indoor soccer team and Bree is on the Volleyball team! We have a great teams this semester and I really think we’re going to bring it to Jackson! Go Waukesha!
pete'n'bree 