It is happening again! The new semester is only 5 days away! 173 new faces will join our returning students at the Michigan and Wisconsin campuses of New Tribes Bible Institute. We praise the Lord for each one, and for the work He will accomplish in and through each of their lives. The majority of our graduates head for missionary service overseas, but a few come back to serve here.
Nathan is one of those graduates. He already had chef’s training before coming here as a student. After Bible college, he served as a cook in a mission facility overseas while another missionary was on home assignment. When that need was over, he raised his own support to return to Jackson NTBI as an associate missionary. He is now taking over as head cook and foodservice manager, working with three part-time interns and another full-time missionary staff member.
Guess who the other full-time foodservice person is? Ken! Did you know that he used to work restaurant jobs when construction jobs were slow? And as God would have it, the maintenance department had some new people coming in to help just when the kitchen was looking short-staffed. The personnel changes came up quite quickly after Nathan arrived, and someone remembered that Ken had listed foodservice experience on his resume when we transferred from Papua New Guinea.
[Look for more updates on PNG, where we used to serve, in our next update. Also, we plan to include updates on recent graduates who are heading overseas.]
Andrea will be working in preschool again four mornings a week; we are trying out a new curriculum. We were blessed to have a local church team repaint the entire childcare facility this summer.
Thanks so much for your prayers for our family. The children are doing well. We thank the Lord for good health, especially after all the sickness last fall.
Thanks again for your prayers. Please especially remember the following:
1. Jobs for the new students who are working their way through school.
2. Ken and Nathan and the others on the kitchen team to work well together; for most, this is their first year in the foodservice ministry at New Tribes Bible Institute.
3. A good start for the childcare semester so that parents can focus on classes or ministry, knowing their little ones are safe, happy and learning new things.
[URGENT, 8/19: Two little girls starting in childcare do not know a word of English. Please pray for them, and for we who are teaching to help them transition.]