It's a great fall so far!

So far this fall has been a great one. It was really warm up until last week when we had our first snow! It didn't last long. But the summer has officially left for the year.
Amanda recently got a great opportunity to switch jobs. She got a job working at a Biolife plasma donating center near by. She started last week and is very excited about it.
We are currently in the market for a second vehicle too. We will need one just to get too and from work while we are here. We live very close to both of our jobs, but it is a little too far for us to be walking in the cold Idaho winter.
We have had some amazing opportunities at our church as well. We have been helping out with the Middle school youth group. That has been a blast! This week we are helping out with a scavenger hunt that will be all throughout our town. We also are going to be starting to lead the small group for the middle schoolers on Sunday evenings. Mitch and a couple other guys will be leading the guys, and Amanda will be helping to lead the girls. We will be teaching through The Stranger on the Road to Emmaus book which is a chronological approach that teaches from Creation to Christ and establishes a clear understanding of who God is and what his plan for the world is. It is a book that we read through and actually had a class in at New Tribes. It's a very easy read, but is full of amazing truths from scripture. We are both very excited about being able to teach through it. Please pray for the kids that will be in our small groups, and that their hearts will be soft and eager to learn. Please pray for the right kids to join and have the desire to study God's word will fill their hearts.
We are constantly thankful for Gods amazing provisions! His timing is perfect and we are so thankful for all He is doing for us every day. He truly is a personal God that cares for the little things in life.

We thank God for every one of you!

A Late Summer Update

So far this summer has just been flying by! We have been busy getting into our work routine as well as doing stuff with our church here.
We made it up to Alaska for a friends wedding and to visit Amanda's parents. Despite the trip going by way too fast, we had a great time. It was wonderful seeing Amanda's parents, and we had a blast going fishing up on the Talkeetna River and catching our limit of Red Salmon. :)
After getting home from Alaska we had a wonderful opportunity to lead part of the Missions rotation at our churchs VEBS (Very Exciting Bible School). That was great. There is a small missions conference coming up too, and we might be able to have a spot in that as well. We have signed up to help out with the middle school youth group this year. We went to a meeting the other day at our youth pastors house and had a great time. We are really excited to be involved.
Mitch has been working at a McDonalds down the street. He really enjoys it and is thankful for a fellow Christian that works there. They are both excited to have another brother in a town with so few fellow believers.
As far as our future is concerned. We are starting to save as much as we can. We are not sure about how long we will be here, but we are thankful for how the Lord has provided so far and we are excited to see how He continues to work in our lives. We are looking forward to continue our training with New Tribes, but will have to wait on the Lords timing to see when it happens.
Thanks so much for reading, take care and God bless!
the Chaplins

Upon Arriving...

We’ve arrived, got moved in, and begun to work. Everything has gone very smooth and we are so thankful in how the Lord has provided for us every step of the way! As we begun our move across the country we were no more than 30 minutes outside of Jackson when our Nissan blew a tire. We are so happy that nothing bad happened and that the car wasn’t damaged at all, but after 4 hours and 4 new tires we were on the road again. We arrived at our first destination (Lincoln NE) at 12:30am. The next day went much smoother. We stayed in Colorado Springs the next night and had a great visit with a friend. We drove to Salt Lake City on our third day and stayed with Amanda’s uncle. We had a short drive to Idaho the next day and arrived around noon. We got most of our furniture right away and got everything set up in our new home. Amanda begun work and bit by bit is adjusting to working 12 hours shifts. Mitch started work today and is very excited. He is working for a close family friend who owns a building business. This will be a temporary job that will end in the fall, but Mitch will be able to learn some great things that will be helpful in overseas work.
We are leaving in one week to go up to Alaska. A friend is getting married and we will be visiting with Amanda’s parents also. We really hope to be able to live up there for some time before we go overseas. But we will just have to see how the Lord works out His timing.
Yesterday we received some news that broke our hearts. After almost a year of fighting an aggressive brain tumor and dear friend of ours, Joanna Bergman, went home to see the Lord. Her and her husband, Curtis, were Mitch’s youth group leaders when he was in high school. They went through New Tribes and they were the ones that encouraged Mitchell to go there. They were on their way to Mozambique with their 3 young children-Natalie-5, Rueben-4, & Kaylie-18mo. We are happy to know that Joanna’s suffering is no more and cant help but to be jealous that she with before the Lord and this very moment! At the same time our hearts break fo Curtis, the kids, and the rest of their family. We pray that they would be comforted now, and that they would seek God for their strength. He is the only true source of strength and only through Him will they find rest and comfort, even in the midst of the pain. We ask that you too would join with us in prayer for this family. God is bigger than anything else and he knows exactly what they need! He hears our prayers and is faithful. What an amazing God we have!
Thanks to every one of you for all you do. We will keep you updated on anything new that comes along. We are pressing forward to save as much as we can as fast as we can. We also are desiring to raise support while we are in Idaho. We do have some debt to pay off as well. Please pray that we will be wise with our finances and that we will be good stewards of what He has provided us. We thank God for every one of you.
In Him,
Mitch & Amanda

Idaho! Here We Come!

Well, the time is drawing near for us to leave our home in Michigan and relocate to Idaho! We have 5 days left here in Michigan. We cannot believe how the time has flown by. It seems like just yesterday that we were getting here. We are so thankful for all the Lord has taught us and for all the amazing things He has done while we have been here. We are very excited to see how God uses this next phase in our life.
We will be leaving MI friday morning (probably around 9 or 10) and will be gong to Lincoln NE. Saturday we will go to Colorado Springs CO, Sunday will be to Salt Lake City UT, and then Monday the short drive up to Idaho Falls. Its going to be 2,100 miles and we will each be driving a vehicle. We have arranged an appartment and are thankful for its handy location (within walking distance to both of Amanda's jobs). She will be working at Bath and Body Works, as well as an assisted living home. Mitch is currently looking for a job and we are interested in seeing what the Lord opens up him.
We will be in Idaho for only 3 weeks then we will be going up to Alaska for 5 days for a friends wedding. We cannot wait to get up there and visit everyone! Once we return from there we will just be getting settled and getting plugged in at our church, Christ Communisty Church, as best we can. We want to get to know our family of believers that we have there, and cant wait for it!
Thanks to every one of you who are part of our lives! You all are very important to us! Untill next time...
Mitch & Amanda

Jersey Shore and Permanent Residency

Hello to all!
We are very happy to announce that Mitch has officially got his permanent residency! We went to the meetiing and we were out within 15 minutes. About two weeks later he got it in the mail. Now, we wont have anymore paperwork to do for three years (then we will begin US citicenship stuff).
We got back from Jersey Shore PA a week and a half ago. There we stayed at the New Tribes campus where they teach the Intro to Tribal Missions course. It was an amazing week of study and growth for the both of us. It was really cool to go through what it takes, and the steps that one has to go through in order to be part of a tribal church plant. We learned how to even go about studying culture and language and we even touched on some stuff we will study at MTC (the Missionary Training Center) like phinetics and phonemics. Another big part of the course was going to the "village". This is something that they set up to represent what a Yanomamo village would look like. A lot of the staff there lived with the Yanomamo people of Venezuala, and after being kicked out of the country they are now working there. A couple of the staff dress up like the natives would and it is our job to go into the 'village' and to learn some of their language and also to observe various parts of their culture. It was a VERY interesting experience and it was cool to get a taste of what a real tribal church plant will be like. Another part of the class was to participate in what is called a MuMu. This is a feast that takes place in Papua New Guinea. We butchered a pig and burried it in the ground with veggies and hot rocks, let it cook all day, and then dug it up and feasted. It was pretty good!
As of right now, Mitch has finished classes and will graduate this saturday. We have sold all of the big things in our appartment, and only have a few peices of furniture left in it. We find it crazy how fast the time went by, but we are both excited to see what the Lord has for us in our future. We would appreciate your prayers as we are saving to move to Idaho the end of June. Mitch will be looking for a job, and we are excited to see how the Lord provides one. We want to thank all of you again for your prayers and support. It means more than we can say!
With love in Christ,
Mitch & Amanda

A New Job & Plans to Come

Hello Everyone!
We are very happy to say that Mitch has been blessed with a job! :D He has been working at a McDonalds located just down the road from the school for a couple weeks now. He seems to enjoy it so far and we are both so very thankful for this job.
We are just finishing up with our spring break. We spent half of it housesitting for a couple that is friends with some staff here. It was nice to get away for a while, but we were both ready to return to our humble little home here at the school. :)
Quickly coming is our senior retreat. That will be the last week of April and will be in Jersey Shore PA. While we are there we will be taking an Introduction to Tribal Missions class and will experiencing all kinds of things that one might run into while in a tribal church plant overseas. Most of the staff there have worked overseas in a church planting setting and they have created a mock church plant setting that we will be spending a lot of the time in. We will write more after we have been there and know more of the details. :)
After the senior retreat we have two short weeks of class and then Mitch will be graduating. Mitch will graduate on May 16th. After Graduation we will both be working as much as we can to save up enough money to move back to Idaho. We will be moving the end of June.
The Lord has blessed us with a nice tax return which is allowing us to go to Alaska in July! A friend is getting married and Amanda is going to be in the wedding. We are looking forward to being able to be up there for a little while, to see all of our Alaskan friends, and to see Amanda's parents too.
We just wanted to be able to share with you all and let you know how we have been, and what is to come in our near future!
Please be praying as we prepare for this rather intense class coming up, for Mitch graduating, and for our finances as we prepare to move. It is so amazing to see how the Lord provides all of our needs. We just keep reminding ourselves to trust fully in Him becuase He is the one that is really in controll of our lives.
Thanks to every one of you - we appreciate you all!
In Him,
The Chaplins

80s Party and a Work Permit

We recently had a great time with our fellow married students and staff here at the school. We were able to rent out one of the bowling allies near Jackson and we all dressed up in 80s clothes and had a great night of fun and fellowship. What a blessing it is to have so many great friends here all for the same common goal - to prepare to take God's Word to those who have never heard!

We also have a great news! Mitch got his work permit! We are just one more step closer to have the permanent resident stuff taken care of. We are praying that he will find a job for the remainder of our time here. The job market in Jackson is really bad, so would be thankful for anything.

Its crazy...we have been married almost 7 months and it has been so cool to see how God has already directed the course of our lives. Things are happening in His timing, and He has really been faithful to teach us and grow us in depending on Him for all our needs. It is cool to see how He is always working in our lives, and it's encouraging to know that He will continue to do so in our future.

Thanks so much for all your prayers! God hears them and they are impacting our lives. :)

- the Chaplin's