Summer Update 2018
We spent our summer doing lots and lots of back and forth traveling. We spent time in the Dallas and Paris areas of Texas, NW Arkansas, Central Arkansas, Lake of the Ozarks area in Missouri, and Central Florida. We were able to catch up with friends and family, speak at several churches, and do some partnership development. We are praising the Lord because we are at ~75% funded for what we need to be fully sustainable at the Missionary Training Center! That might not sound ideal, but it is much more than we thought we would have. So thank YOU, our sweet supporters, for desiring to partner with us through the giving of your finances and prayers while we continue training with Ethnos360.
Baby Update
We have decided on the hospital and doctor who will deliver our baby in Springfield, MO, an hour and a half away from the training center. We feel great about this doctor since she came highly recommended by some good friends of ours, but we would still love prayer for that long drive! We have had some difficulties with our previous OBGYN and it makes us nervous to switch doctors this late in the game, but we know that the Lord loves and cares about this baby way more than we are able to and that He is 100% in control.
We have heard how hard it can be having a newborn baby while we are both students, but we are so fortunate to be able to bring our baby to class with us. Please pray for us as we navigate parenthood and a busy class schedule!
Contact Info Update
We have changed addresses and emails! Here is our updated contact info. Please feel free to reach out. We LOVE hearing from you!
Address:
Nathan and Kelsey Brendle
134 Main Dr.
Roach, MO
65787
Emails:
nathan_brendle@ntm.org
kelsey_brendle@ntm.org
Praises:
We are all moved into our new apartment at the Missionary Training Center! Praise God for providing the funds for us to get here and paving the way for us to continue training with Ethnos360.
Praise God for us finding a good doctor to deliver our baby!
Praise God for all the opportunities that He provided this summer for us to speak with various churches and individuals this summer about our ministry. He truly used this summer to bless us, encourage us, and grow our dependence on Him!
Prayers:
This is a silly, small request, but God even cares about the little things! I (Kelsey) lost my glasses during the move. I'm convinced they are somewhere at my mom's house in AR, but I can't find them anywhere! Would you pray that I would find them soon so I can see while driving and in classes?
Pray that God would take care of the remaining 25% of monthly support we need while at the training center and that He would meet our needs even without us being at 100%.
Pray for us to have deep, lasting relationships with our fellow classmates and for us to find a good church in the area.
Pray that we would be able to prepare well for the baby and that we would transition well into parenthood and stay on top of our training courses.
Pray for a good relationship with our new OBGYN, for these last 2 months of pregnancy, and for a safe and smooth delivery!
We had the opportunity to share over the THUMB model with the New Heights Children's Ministry while we were in Fayetteville. We spoke on the T--tribal people and their animistic beliefs. When we explained how so many tribal people live in fear of the spirits because they don't know of the hope we have in Christ, one little girl got so passionate that she exclaimed, "WE HAVE TO GO TELL THEM (about Jesus)!!" Yes, girl!! You got it!
While we were in Dallas, we had the chance to visit the main campus of our site church, Bent Tree Milwaukee. This is their new sanctuary where they have special events like weddings and where their Spanish service is held. Such a beautiful room! Our brothers and sisters at Bent Tree have been such a blessing to us and we are so grateful that the Lord led us to go there while we lived in Wisconsin!
Since I was 29 weeks pregnant at the time, I was a bit useless in the moving process. These two awesome guys drove an hour out of their way to help Nathan pack up a trailer and get ready to move to the MTC. They got it all packed up in 30 minutes which was super impressive! Praising the Lord for sending them to help us.
We made it to the Missionary Training Center!
Our first day of orientation! We were so encouraged by a missionary who came and spoke during our first few sessions. He had us ask ourselves the question, "Why am I here?" 2 Cor. 5:14-15 says, "For Christ's love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died. And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again." Our reason for going should not be because we are burdened for the lost, we feel obligated to be obedient to the Great Commission, or because we think we will be better Christians if we go. We ought to simply be compelled out of our love for Christ to share this message of hope with others. So convicting!
The MTC has a scrap wood/burn pile that students can grab from. Nathan has been hard at work building me stuff out of the pallet wood he found lying around! I love his ability to create just about anything. He will be serving on the carpentry team while we are here for training and we couldn't be more excited. No more sitting idle on a school bus!
Lastly, we would love to be praying for you more specifically. Please shoot us a reply and let us know of any prayer requests you might have!