Photo: (From Left to Right) Piper, Julianna, Mae and Luke graduating from Ethnos360 Missionary Training Center (April 8th, 2023)
Brady Family Update:
Hello friends!
As you can see from the picture above, Luke and I (Julianna) graduated! Yay!
*Mini back-story time for those of you that aren’t aware of our journey so far*
In 2019, we attended Ethnos360 Bible Institute and graduated with our degrees in Biblical Foundations. We stayed at the Bible Institute for a year to intern in the Online Education Department. Luke did videography, filming and editing various classes, while I did a lot of administrative tasks, course building on our online format and helping with various filming projects. After our year of interning, we were accepted onto the Online Education Team as permanent staff to continue on in stateside missions for Ethnos360. However, before officially stepping into that role, we needed to complete our Missionary Training at the ETR (Ethnos360 Missionary Training Center). So we did! We packed our stuff from Wisconsin and heading to Roach, Missouri to finish our last year of training. During this past year of schooling, we still did some work remotely for the Online Education Department at the Bible Institute and took part in the Status Meetings each week. During our Spring Break, we went to Wisconsin and took part in the Online Ed. Team meetings that happen annually. So, we’ve been schooling and working and parenting and all the ministry things – and last month, we graduated and officially, finally became members of Ethnos360! (woohoo!) The last step before we can move into our positions at the Bible Institute in Wisconsin for the Online Education Department is raise the monthly support that is required of every Ethnos360 missionary.
*End of back-story!*
During our year the Training Center, we had classes Monday through Friday, we participated in a Work Detail program on campus (Luke did videography for the campus), we had mentors that we met with weekly and participated in a Training Team. What is a “Training Team” you may ask?! I’m glad you did! At the ETR, they divide all of the students in our class into smaller groups (or… teams) and that team is the group of people that you do life with, meet with weekly, have leaders walking through life with you, and learn about team conflict, how to serve each other, how to be vulnerable with each other and how to work together in a godly manner. our Training Team has become some of our best friends and we hold them in our hearts. Our classes ranged from Church Planting classes, to Body Life classes, to Foundational Bible Teaching classes to Ministry classes. We are so thankful for this past year as we learned so much. Mentoring was a time of growth and truly learning what having blindspots as a Christian can look like – we hit some really ‘rough patches’ with parenting and realized we needed some direction and help. Graciously, our loving Father provided some amazing people to support us and help us navigate the season we found ourselves in. We have seen incredible growth in our sweet girls and have realized areas that we needed to grow in too – and by the Lord’s mercy, we have had much less chaos with different things we’ve been implementing with discipline and such. This past year has been hard ya’ll – super hard… but hard doesn’t mean bad – this past year was necessary and an absolute gift from the Lord.
SO – we are graduated and members… what are we doing with our lives currently you may be asking?!
We are in the wonderful season of Ministry Partnership Development, or… raising support! I don’t say the in a cheeky tone either (I know some people loathe raising support!) and while it’s a humbling and vulnerable season of life, we have been so excited that ministry for us right now is literally building relationships with people, meeting and talking with our brothers and sisters in Christ. We are in Pennsylvania currently (until the end of June) to plug in and try to get to know all the knew people that have been attending our home church. We also get to visit family while we are here and it has already been the sweetest time! At the beginning of July, we are stopping in Wisconsin to visit our sending church – we cannot wait to see our beloved church family at Grace Church! After that visit, we will be heading back to Missouri. Luke and I will be doing some work for the Missionary Training School and continuing to live in our apartment there for the next couple months. Luke will be creating some short promotional videos, filming some teachers and other various videography-type things (I am not ashamed to say… I really have no idea how Luke does what he does but he’s a genius at it) and I will be helping in the same department a couple hours a week with some administrative tasks and potentially helping with the Training Center’s social media presence. While we are still living in Missouri, we will be continuing to serve at the church we’ve been attending there (Luke has been serving on the Worship Team and I have been serving in the Childcare). We will also continue to raise support as we need to be at least 70% supported to move back to the Bible School in Wisconsin to permanently join the Online Ed. Team. Lastly, while we are still living in Missouri for the next couple months, we will be continuing meeting with mentors to, Lord willing, keep growing in our family dynamic and in parenting. We hope and pray that the Lord will establish us as a solid and firm family before Him so that we can be effective in His hands as a unit.
With where our support level is currently, we are, as of the month of May, 22% supported! We are so excited and humbled that with having JUST graduated, we are already well on our way to being at the support level needed to return back to the Bible Institute and be established in our roles in the Online Ed. Department. Please be praying that we would be wise, diligent and effective in this season of asking partners to join in to pray and/or support us.
In the last little bit of our very first Ethnos360 Blog Post as members (it’s just so exciting to say that we are officially members!), Luke and I wanted to share with you the impact that we’ve seen first hand that the Online Education has had. When we were interning at the Bible School in this department, we head of students that were taking the Online classes we were helping create from a boat in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. Well, when we moved to the Missionary Training Center in Missouri, we were in the graduating class with those very people that took our classes online. Luke and I got to hear, from now fellow classmates, how the Online classes they took allowed them to be at the Missionary Training Center. They are now moving forward in their training and the husband will be a missionary pilot for our Mission. Another family we had the privilege of being with at the Training Center in our class had a similar story – Online classes allowed them to be at the Training Center and that husband is also now continuing training to be another pilot for our Mission. In our own training team, one of the most loving women I’ve ever known that had previously been a school teacher and served in Tanzania had taken Online classes the previous year so that she could be at the Training Center with us. She is continuing training to be a church planter for our Mission. Luke and I had the very unique opportunity to intern in Online Ed., go to ETR (Ethnos360 Training Center) and actually do life and missions training with the people that took the classes we had helped create – and that experience had lit a fire in our hearts for this work. There are many people that assume because missionaries are state-side that they aren’t really doing “missions” – let me tell you that the impact these classes have had have equipped and given students the confidence to move forward and continue their training so that they can go out into the world and make Him name known. I am so utterly humbled and in awe that the Lord has allowed us as the Brady family to take part in His work in this capacity. We are extremely passionate about giving God’s people the foundational Bible classes and see God working through His people before our very eyes.
Our Prayer Requests:
Mae & Piper with all the transitions of traveling and moving in the future
Luke & I have the wisdom, patience, love and diligence in teaching & parenting our lovely girls well
Relationships would be formed and grown during our season of Partnership Development
We would be used and grown while still living in Missouri
Our family would have patience in raising the necessary funds to move into our permeant positions
Much love in Christ – we so covet your prayers our dear friends.
-Luke, Julianna, Mae & Piper