Mark Betts is an NTM MK from Thailand. He is getting set to graduate this May. He recently wrote us this encouraging letter:
“I’d been having a rough week. I was wrestling in my mind a lot with future decisions and the prospects of dating a girl I really liked and just wasn’t really sure what God would think about the whole thing. I was talking some other people about it, but mostly kept to myself. Finally, one day, I’d had enough. I needed someone to talk to so I thought: “I’ll talk to one of the deans.” I’d hung out with Keith a little bit and my older sister encouraged me to talk to him, so I set up a meeting with him.
That was the first of many meetings with Keith. Ever since then I have had a weekly meeting with him and those have always been some of the most encouraging times of my life. I have truly enjoyed the opportunity to talk through things to see how much of a grasp I have on certain subjects, but also having someone to ask questions of and being able to rely on wise, Godly counsel.
As I got to know Keith more he and Jacqueline would invite me over to watch a movie or just hang out. Soon I was inviting myself over just as often as they invited me, and have been able to spend so many awesome hours just talking through life with both Keith and Jacqueline. Their willingness to talk about things I struggled through, their willingness to listen, and their willingness to not only answer questions, but to get me to think and challenge my worldview, not simply my behavior, has given me the opportunity, and sometimes forced me, to come to conclusions on my own. They have always given me an opportunity to think through things that they challenge me with, and to listen when I need someone to listen, but never leaving with an absence of truth and always calling me back to reality when I seem to be in another world.
Looking back at that day where I nervously and somewhat reluctantly went into Keith’s office to talk to him, not even knowing what I was really going to say, I thank God for that opportunity and the many opportunities He has given me to spend time with Keith and Jacqueline enabling us to establish not only a student-mentor relationship, but a true friendship. Without their ministry to me and their input in my life, my experience at NTBI would not have been as profitable in the least. Their friendship and investment in my life has been incredible, and I thank God for placing them in my life.”
Mark Betts