The Chaplins'

The Pages of My Life

2012-01-17T07:20:00.006-07:00

" When I stand before God's throne, nothing hidden nothing unknown...When I kneel down that day, looking upon His holy face I will remember with trembling every single moment, every memory...He'll be staring at the pages of my life. Was my passion just to know him, did I really let it out and show him? "

Music artist's Leeland couldn't have said it better. These lyrics are from their song 'Pages'. The reality of the above lyrics have really hit me hard lately. As we bring in a new year I cant help but reflect on all that happened this last year. In the same way when we stand before God after our earthly body has died, He will look back at our life-much like people reflect on the past year at new years.

God will look at my life-the 'pages' of my life. I ask myself- was my passion to know Him? What kind of fruit did my passions grow? No matter what the answer is to that question, God will see them, those pages, and it will be too late to go back and edit or change them.

I have always loved music. It seems to speak to my soul. I can look back at times in my life and certain songs will take me back to those moments as if I was re-living them all over again. Some songs I can listen to with joy and happiness, others I cant listen to because of the raw emotion and challenges I was facing at that point in my life. I love that God has given us the ability to express ourselves through an enormous variety of arts. Knowing that He created man in His image, and seeing how man has the ability to express himself, I cant wait to be in glory with God to experience Him in a perfect state! He has so abundantly expressed himself on this earth with the amazing beauty of creation all around us...I cant even begin to grasp what it will be like in heaven!

This past year was a challenging one for sure. It was our 1st year back in Nova Scotia. I really love it here, but I found myself riddled with health struggles. After struggling for a couple months with a variety of concerns I found out that I had Mano. I also fought a nasty respitory infection at the same time. Right after that we experienced the immense loss of losing a baby. Those details will remain unwritten about at this point, but all I can say is God is sovereign and His timing is perfect... We had a pretty good summer. We celebrated 3 years of marriage in August, and in September moved into a bigger place with a back yard for our dog. I began having more health concerns in October, and after a series of blood work, ultrasounds, and a diet change I discovered that I have a sensitivity to gluten. We spent the holidays with Mitch's family and had an overall pretty relaxing season with them. Our car was totalled and we had to go through the fun process of finding a new one. As I look back on all of this I can say that God definitely and absolutely is faithful! In the midst of a trying year He has stayed a solid brick of strength in our lives. James 1:2-4 says "Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything." No matter what I face in this life I believe this verse to be true! I once heard someone say that without difficult times one cannot know pure joy.

So we have been in Nova Scotia for a year. As I have written before we want to go on with our schooling to serve overseas as missionaries. The question to answer is are we any closer to meeting that goal? As it would appear to us and to put it simply - no. This has been another struggle for us of late. We both really desire to go back to school. But there are several things that need to take place before that will happen, and so far many of those things have been left unchanged. We have really struggled to understand why God has not made is easier for us to get all this stuff done so we can go. I mean, after all there are unreached people groups out there that need to hear His perfect and holy word right? As true as that is, for His reasons only, He has not led us in that direction yet. Mitch and I have both reached the point that we have no choice but to take each day at a time-trusting God to lead us, praying that we will be faithful with what He has given us, and believe that when it is His time for us to go to school doors will begin to open. I can say with complete honesty, as best as we can understand, that the doors have been closed for us to go any time soon (not to say He cant and/or wont open them).

Many of our classmates have finished their training and are serving overseas right now. I love seeing all of the pictures and stories from them, hearing how God is working in amazing ways in the hearts of the people who are in remote tribes around the world! It brings such joy to my heart to see the great commission take place in such a raw manner! Both Mitch and I know that God has placed us here in Truro for a season, and we need to focus on being here 100%. As my friend Tenley recently said: "choose to bloom where you are planted"...I couldn't have said it any better my self! I desperately want this 'page' in my life to show that my passion is to truly know Him. In my weakness He is strong, by the power of the cross! I praise my Creator God that He is indeed strong when I am weak, for "I delight in weaknesses...in hardships...in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong." 2 Corinthians 12:10.

~Amanda~

Some pictures of the local scenery - SUCH beauty!

2011-10-17T18:54:00.011-06:00

My friend Brittany and I went on a walk in Victoria Park-which is just down the street from where we live. It is SO beautiful! There are several waterfalls like this one, and so many cool deeply rooted trees in the sides of the hills...what a relaxing and beautiful time it was!

These pictures were all taken out in the country a bit about a half an hour from where we live. I just love all the farm houses painted such bright colors! They have so much unique and aged characteristics to them...

A Season of Waiting...

2011-06-07T16:20:00.010-06:00

Summer has arrived! Yet again another season has passed. Winter is over, the snow and ice have melted away. Another beautiful layer of Nova Scotia has surfaced and I am in awe of God's creative beauty! I was driving to a friends house yesterday to do some baking. She lives out in the country a bit, and I couldnt believe the things I saw as I drove. Huge fields of corn just starting out, with big red barns and grazing holstine cows in the background seeming like they have been there for as long as time itself. How amazing it was! I would have tried to capture it with a photo but our camera has recently broke, so there might not be as many picture posted for the next little bit.

(I didnt take this picture, but found it and thought it captured the local scenery very well)

With the changing of the seasons has also brought the changing of our location. We found a cute 2 bedroom apartment in town and moved in the beginning of April. We are really close to everything in town, and while we miss the beautiful half our drive into the country, its quite nice living so close to everything. Mitch has been at his new job for almost 6 months now and he is really enjoying his work. He is able to commute with quite a bit of people who live close to us, and he has made some friends with the guys he works with. We are so thankful for Gods provision through his job while I have not been able to get work.
As I titled this post a Season of Waiting I chose those words becuase that is exactly what I have been doing! Waiting, waiting, and more waiting! For my work permit that is. After some miscomunication from the Canadian Immigration Services, I submitted my work permit form at the same time as my Permanent Residence form but I mailed them to the wrong places. As a result, my work permit form was rejected and I have been waiting for my Permanent Residence form to process so I can then re-apply for my work permit. The Lord has definantly been teaching us patience in all of this, as well as constantly reminding us of His amazing love in His daily provisions for our needs. He is truly a God who cares about every detail of our lives!
What are the next few months going to bring? Well, we are planning a trip to Halifax, Nova Scotia's capital, for our 3rd wedding anniversary in August. We are also working on getting things paid off and saved up so we can go back to school. We are constantly reminding ourselves to enjoy each day, but we are also so very excited to finish schooling. We are so thankful for the time we have had here so far, and we love the relationships God is building for us here. We know that God will lead us on to that next phase in our lives after He has prepared everything perfectly for us here. His will - not ours. What a re-occuring theme that is for us in our lives!
We look forward to what the Lord has instore for us this summer, and we pray that all of you, our friends and family, will be blessed and encouraged this summer.

Take care and God bless,
Mitch & Amanda

A New Job & More Time Waiting

2011-02-16T16:59:00.001-07:00

A quick update to say that Mitchell got a new job! He started his new job this week and so far so good. He is working at a big food warehouse packing up and shipping pallets of food to local grocery stores. The pay is good and it seems like it will be a good job for him. :)
We did get some news on my immigration as well, although it isnt as exciting. Its going to be an other couple months before I will be able to work. I was given wrong information on how to file for my work permit, so it was rejected and I will have to wait for the 1st stage processing of my permanent resident card before I can re-apply for the work permit. The Lord is definately providing for us and we are so very thankful for it. I am just trying to use this time in a productive way.
We were able to have a really nice Valentines weekend. Mitch worked that evening so we celebrated it the weekend before. We stayed at a hotel for the 1st time since our honeymoon, which was nice, and I cooked a nice meal for lunch on Valentines day before Mitch went to work.
Well that is all for now! Take care!
-The Chaplins'

Snow in Canada?

2011-01-09T11:38:00.011-07:00

So we finally have begun to get some snow. It has been kinda a funny winter. We have had more rain than snow, which people find ironic with this being Canada and all. We took a day to go outside and play with our pug dog Sampson and to just enjoy Gods beautiful creation. Here are some pictures from our day.

And...2011 begins!

2011-01-01T19:30:00.002-07:00

So, time has just been flying by since we arrive the end of October! Mitch has been working a lot. He was blessed with another job working at Mcdonalds. We have gotten involved in a great little church in town. Its a recent church plant and we really like the people that are attending there.
We had a great Christmas and New years. We both had colds and werent feeling great, but we had a very relaxing and nice time with our close family and friends.
I have been keeping myself busy with a handful of different things. I have been quite suprised how fast everything is going with me not working. I have been helping a Lebonease women with her English speaking a few times a week. Ive been really busy with trying to get all of my imigration paperwork in order.
I was hopeing to get it mailed in last month, but as I was going through the checkoff list, I discovered two things that I hadnt done yet that would take some time for me to do. I didnt realize I needed my medical exam and background check done before I would submit the paperwork. I thought that they would tell me when and were to get them done after I sent in my paperwork. So I did get the medical exam done, and I mailed off the the information for the background check. The results could take a while to get back though. I am going to submit my paperwork soon, and then will have to submit the background check results after I get them back. We are hoping that I will get my work permit soon so I can start working!
We will definately keep things updated as they change! Thanks so much for all your support!
Untill next time...
The Chaplins'

Our Arrival in Canada

2010-11-12T16:14:00.003-07:00

We made it to Canada without any major problems. We almost missed our connecting flight in Detroit but made it just in time! Sampson, our dog did great with the flying. Mitch is already adjusted to being back home, and I am doing well getting used to all the new things. We have already made some great friends, and have gotten plugged into a Bible Study.

Mitch has found a part time job at a Pizza shop, and is looking for another one that will give him more hours. We have almost got all of the paperwork and documents ready to send in for my immigration stuff too. We are thankful to have been able to use Mitch's grandma's car up to this point and we just found a great little car that we will be able to get within a couple days.

I was able to carve pumpkins with Mitch's brother, sister, and her boyfriend while Mitch was at work. That was a lot of fun!

We will continue to keep things updated as things change and come about. :)

What should stay? What should go?

2010-10-03T23:56:00.004-06:00

So we have been going through all of our things and we have decided, for the most part, what to keep.

This is a good part of the items here. 7 Totes to be precise. We have already mailed 3 filled with books and a couple blankets.

This is the luggage that we are taking on the plane with us, plus Sampson's travel Kennel. We have been getting him used to it. In fact, he sleeps in that by choice more than he does in his bigger kennel. Hopefully that way he wont be quite as stressed for the long flight.

We still have to sell our cars and our TV. And in just over 3 weeks we will be off!

So...We are moving again!

2010-09-27T21:23:00.008-06:00

So, some changes have come about yet again. It is so wonderful to see how God is in complete control of our lives, and He uses times like these to remind us of that. As we have posted before, we were planning on moving to Canada next year. After much prayer we decided that we would attend the Canadian Missionary Training Center in Ontario and that we would spend some time in Nova Scotia first establishing some deeper relationships with people there as we raise/save the rest of our money for school.

We realized this past summer that Mitch's green card would expire this November. We originally weren't going to renew it because we were going to abandon it anyway when we move to Canada. But November just seemed too soon to leave Idaho and to move to Canada, so we were planning on just paying the $600 to renew it and then we would leave early next summer to Canada. As we began to go through the necessary paperwork needed to renew it, we realized that we had forgotten to file a form within the required time frame. Because we failed to file this form when we were suppose to, we could get fined a bunch of money (on top of the $600 for the renewal), and his renewal could get rejected anyway. So as this big item arose we decided that we would move to Canada ahead of our schedule and move the end of October! October 26th to be precise. It has been a week and a half since we found out and we have bought airline tickets, sold most of our stuff, given our notice at our jobs, and have been able to put a good amount of money in savings. From the selling of our vehicles we should be able to pay off all of our debt, and move to Canada debt free and with money in savings! The only way this is even able to happen is because God has orchestrated it all. As crazy as this all seems, it is actually going to work out for the better. It has been a great reminder of God's sovereignty and how He really is in control and knows what is best for us.

Just a Side Note...
In case any of you that arent from Canada, and are wondering where in the world Nova Scotia is...here is a picture of . It is directly east of Maine. And in case you were wondering how far of a drive that is from Idaho Falls Idaho...3,062 Miles or a 27 hour drive non-stop.

A cool thing that we were able to do recently was to meet with our church's missions comity. That was really nice to be able to lay out our next 4 years, as much as we can know it. :) They were so encouraging to us and we are so blessed to have Christ Community Church as a great support. We know that we have a wonderful family here, and as exciting it will be to move to Canada, we will miss them greatly. We already cant wait to come back and visit.

Once we arrive in Canada, Mitch should be able to find a job right away. The job market up there is good right now. We do as for your prayers that he will find a good paying job so he will be able to sponsor me into the country. They no longer allow in-laws to co-sponsor so Mitch will need to make enough money alone to sponsor me. I will have to apply for a visa as soon as we get there, then Mitch will apply for the sponsorship, and once that is approved I will be able to apply for my permanent residency card. Once I get that I can start to work!

We would greatly appreciate all of your prayers as we get closer to this big move. We still need to sell some big items - our TV, and both vehicles. We also would be appreciative for payers for Mitch to find a good paying job, and for me to keep busy with productive things as I have a few months of no work. I also would appreciate your prayers with some dental work I have coming up. I have to get a root canal this week, and then will have to get a crown done before we go. We are so thankful that we found it now while we still have dental insurance, and that I can get it fixed before we go.

When we are in Canada at first will be living with Mitch's family. They have a studio apartment we will be able to live in while we get on our feet. We also have a car to drive once we get there. It is so cool to see how God is providing everything!

Once again, we are so thankful for all of you and hope you all are doing well. Take care and have a wonderful day!
Mitch & Amanda

The downhill side of summer

2010-08-14T23:03:00.006-06:00

So we finished up our vacation in Nova Scotia. We had such a great time there catching up with people and getting a lot of rest. We also had a great time going Tidal Bore rafting. It was raining the intire day, but we had a blast doing it! Our travels coming home went great and we soon got back into the normal routine.

Since we have returned we decided to sell our Jeep that we bought this past Januray. We realized that we could invest the money for that in better places, and we found a cheaper truck for Mitch to drive around. We are just working on now paying off the rest of our debt.

We have been praying for many months about a big decision that we have been faced with. After visiting Nova Scotia we have decided that we are going to move to Canada. We are still unsure when this will take place, but we are faithfully moving in that direction. There are many things that have factored into this decision and we are excited to see how things work out. We are trusting God to lead us in His timing.

We just had some friends from school come and stay with us while they were on their way back to Michigan to finish up their training at New Tribes. It was so great to have them here for a couple days. It was a very encouraging time and were blessed to have them with us.

I guess that would be all for now. Take care!
The Chaplins'

Vacation Time!

2010-06-27T19:36:00.002-06:00

So right now we are on vacation visiting Mitch's family and friends in Nova Scotia. We have been here for over a week, and will be heading back to Idaho in 6 days. It has been so great to spend time with everyone up here! We have been able to see many people that Amanda has never met, as well and friends and family that we havent seen in a long time. We have really been able to relax while we've been here and it has been so nice! Mitch's brother Evan is graduating from high school tomorrow. We were also able to see him off to his senior prom. Tomorrow morning we are will be going water rafting before the graduation. We wanted to do that when we were here on our honeymoon, but weren't able to, we are are pretty excited about it! We will post some pictures soon of it.
Thanks for all your love and support! Take care for now!
The Chaplins'

Spring 2010

2010-03-29T20:51:00.006-06:00

Wow! It seems like so much is going on and that time is flying by! The beginning of this year has flown by and it doesn't seem that time is going to be slowing down anytime soon.

So far this year we have bought a newer car. We got a dark blue 2001 Jeep Grand Cherokee with low miles on it. We got a great deal on it and really like it. We both have had job promotions too! Mitch was promoted to a trainer at McDonald's, and Amanda was promoted to a phlebotomist. Mitch also recently got another job as a driver for Napa Auto Parts. He started today and is really thankful for it. God really orchestrated that job for him! It turns our that not only is the manager there a believer, he came to our church this past Sunday, AND his brother in Law is the Dean of Men at the New Tribes Bible Institute in Wisconsin. He is very familiar with what it is that we want to do in the future because his brother and sister in law served in Papua New Guinea for 6 years as well. And has expressed interest in going to Bible college as well. How cool is that?! Mitch will continue to work both jobs until our jeep and a couple other things are paid off. We are so thankful for this! Amanda has picked up some odd jobs along with her job at the plasma center as well.

We were able to go to Boise to chaperone a youth trip called Acquire the Fire. That was a great time to spend with the youth, and to challenge them. It was also very encouraging for the both of us.

We have both really been challenged this spring to stay focused. We have been done with Bible school for almost a year now and have realized yet again the challenge of staying focused in a fallen world. Tough times are hard, but we are thankful for them because they are opportunities for us to grow and be challenged to live the life that we have been called to live. We are so thankful for God's grace and it is because of that that we have hope. What a miracle it is, and how easy it can be to loose sight of that! We thank God that He is always actively pursuing us!

As far as plans coming up...Amanda is getting 6 teeth pulled this week (4 wisdom, 2 molars), and then in two weeks will be getting braces put on. Amanda's job has great insurance so we figured to take care of her mouth while we will have the opportunity to do so. We do not know at this point how much time it will be before we go on to MTC, but we are trusting the Lord knowing that He has brought us here for a reason, and will lead us on when the time is right.

We will be traveling this summer as well! We have planned a trip to Nova Scotia to visit Mitch's family for two weeks. It has been almost two years since we've seen them, so it will be a very nice time to have time with them!

Its been a busy winter and spring so far, and it appears that it is not going to slow down any time soon. We will keep everything updated! Thanks so much & take care!

~The Chaplins'

So many changes!

2010-01-12T19:42:00.004-07:00

Wow! So much has changed in the past few months! The Lord has really provided for us in so many ways. Arround thanksgiving we prayerfully decided to start looking for a new place to live. We decided this because we figured we could find a cheaper place to live so that we could save more money to go back to school. Boy oh boy were we amazed at what God had in mind for us! We told some friends that we were looking for a new place. One of our friends from our church told us of a coworker of hers that wanted to rent out his house for cheap we couldnt help but be interested. To make a long amazing story shorter we are now living in a 3 bedroom house with a wonderful landscaped yard, with a fence, and even a hot tub! The really amazing thing is that we are paying $200.00 less a month for rent than we were for our tiny 1 bedroom! all we can say is Jehovah Jirah! The Lord does indeed supply!

We moved into our new house one week before Christmas. And had a very relaxing time celebrating Christs birth with our family. We got to go to Boise for new years eve to visit Amanda's brother as well as to go to a friends wedding from college. We ended up meeting up with two more friends from college and we were blessed to have them stay with us for two days. It was truly a blessing to catch up with them, AND to have a place for them to stay!

Bot of our jobs are going well. We are blessed to be establishing some new relationships with our co-workers and we are so excited to see how God is providing some great opportunities for outreach and we are so thankful for it.

We are still helping out with the youth at our church here, Christ Community Church. We are constantly challenged and encouraged by them. We have been teaching through a book called the Stranger on the Road to Emmaus, which is a chronilogical approach of teaching through the Bible. It is designed to establish a good overall understanding of Gods Word and all of the youth that have been going through it with us have really seemed to learn a lot and they all have really enjoyed it.

We added a member to our family right as we moved into our new house! His name is Sampson and he is a 1 year old Chinese pug. We were able to adopt him from a couple that could no longer have pets in their apartment and he has brought a lot of fun into our lives. It has been great having him to play with and it has also been great for us to have to learn how to work together a bit more on things. He is another great blessing to us, and we are thankful that we were able to get him.

As for right now, we are working on saving up for a newer vehicle, as well as for money to go back to school. God has been so faithful to provide our every need and we are so excited to see how He is constantly working!

We are still working for the goal of returning to school the fall of 2011. We are really loving it here, but our hearts yearn to finish our training. We are excited for so many things!

We are truly blessed by every one of you in our lives. We thank God for you and will do our best to keep you updated on things. Take care for now!

The Chaplins'

It's a great fall so far!

2009-10-04T17:21:00.003-06:00

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

2009-08-26T20:11:00.003-06:00

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...

2009-07-13T14:07:00.002-06:00

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!

2009-06-21T16:56:00.004-06:00

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

2009-05-14T15:45:00.006-06:00

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

2009-04-05T13:08:00.005-06:00

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

2009-02-22T14:35:00.006-07:00

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

Classes, Courses, & the Soft Winds of Change

2009-02-08T15:38:00.006-07:00

Over the course of Christmas break Amanda began working full time. We also finally were able to complete Mitch's green card paperwork! What a huge process that has been! Sense then, Amanda switched her work schedule from working 2-10pm, to now working 6-2pm. It is much nicer having that because she is working while Mitch is in classes.
We had to go to Detroit last week to get some fingerprinting done for Mitch's green card where we were told some great news! They told us that Mitch's work permit should be in the mail any day now! We were not expecting it to come until April. What a huge blessing it will be to get it sooner! The job market in Jackson is especially bad, and we are praying that he will find a job and find one quick. We will be thankful for anything.
We are currently taking a course with our church called Financial Peace University by Dave Ramsey. It is a great course on financial wisdom, how to get out of dept, stay out of dept, and how to be able to save money and handle it how God intended it to be handled. It has been great so far and we are looking forward to all that we will learn through it.
As we are looking ahead to the next couple months we are seeing lots of change coming our way. Right now we are working on paying off some of our debts so that we can save up money to move back to Idaho after Mitch graduates. The move is coming sooner than we know! We are beginning to sell some of our stuff that we don't want to move and to get rid of extra 'stuff'. As of right now we are not sure when we will be moving, it all depends on when we can get enough saved up to do it. It will all happen in the Lords time. :)
Well, that's all for now! We hope you all are doing great! We miss everyone so much and cannot wait to hear from you and/or see you. We are praying for you, and would appreciate your prayers as well!
thanks so much!
the Chaplin's

Amanda Graduated!

2008-12-16T07:50:00.006-07:00

Hello to all! So...Amanda graduated on the 13th. The semester ended with a bang, as we finished classes and all of Amanda's classmates were frantically trying to get packed and prepare for family memebers and friends to arrive for the graduation that was held at the school in the auditorium. The graduation went very smoothly.

Now that Amanda is all graduated she is going to begin working. She will be working at the nursing home here and also at Bath and Body Works for the holidays. She really enjoys her job and likes being able to help the people there as much as possible. She is currently working 2pm-10:30pm and she is trying to switch to the 6am-2:30pm shift so she will be home more when Mitchell will be.

Mitchell will be entering his senior semester this January. He will then graduate in May. After that we are desiring to go on with our training with New Tribes Mission to that Missionary Training Center (MTC) in Camdenton Missouri, but first we need to take some time off to get plugged into our church in Idaho-Christ Community Church. We would also love to be able to spend some time in Alaska at Wasilla Bible Church to reconnect with all of the wonderful people that Amanda knows up there, and to be able to serve there, but we are not sure when that will happen. We are just looking forward to what is going on now in our lives, and also for the things that are to come!

We got the paper from the U.S. Government telling us when Mitch's appointment to get his finger prints done (Dec. 27th). After we get those done we will just be waiting for his work permit to come in the mail. As soon as he gets that he can begin working. He is looking forward to that.

We want to thank all of you again, our dear friends and family, for all your support. It means so much! We long to see you all again, and look forward to be able to spend some time with you.

With love,

the Chaplins

wrapping things up

2008-12-01T20:31:00.005-07:00

Well!
we are just wrapping up this last part of the semester. We have two weeks left of classes and cannot believe how the time has flown by! We had a great Thanksgiving weekend. We had another couple come over for the 'feast' and got lots of work and relaxation done over the 4 day break from classes.
Amanda will be graduating the 13th of December and will begin working full time at the nursing home she works at here. Please pray that she will have the energy to work with the high demands of the job, as well for lots of great chances to be a Godly example to her co-workers. She will also be picking up some extra hours at Bath and Body Works for the holiday season...Lots to rely on the Lord for!
We got Mitch's greencard paperwork turned in and now we are just waiting! We mailed it off the middle of November and it could be as long as February before we will hear back. Please pray for some opportunities for him to work for the school. We are working and saving for the school payment that will be due the 1st of January ($1595.00).
All is well with everything else as we are working to finish off the semester! It is bittersweet graduating...but Amanda is excited to be able to let the last two year settle in some and to have some time to work with others outside the school more to live it all out!
Thanks so much for your continued prayers!

2008-11-01T16:31:00.001-06:00

Hello!
This fall has been great so far! We have really been into classes and are enjoying all the great knowledge and wisdom from the staff of excellent teachers, deans, and other support staff here at NTBI.
We had a great opportunity to serve our church for a "Trunk or Treat" party for Halloween. We decorated the trunk of our car up and handed out candy to all the little kids that came to the party at our Church here in Jackson-Rives Baptist. We are hosting some fellow New Tribes students from the other Bible School campus in Waukesha Wisconsin this weekend. 90 of the student came out for a weekend full of sports and fellowship. It is great to be able to fellowship with other NTBI students that have the same life goal in mind - to take the Word of God to those who have never heard before!
We are nearing the end of the pile of papers for Mitch's greencard paperwork and will hopefully get that sent out soon. We hope that we will both be working by Christmas time. Amanda is going to pick up a second job at Bath and Body Works for the holidays and will continue at the Nursing home she's worked at for the past 6 months.
We will be spending the holidays here in Jackson to work and save up money for this next school semester. We cannot believe how fast the time is flying by! Amanda will graduate in December and Mitch will follow in the Spring. After that, Lord willing, we will be heading to Idaho for a while before we continue on with the Missionary Training Center in Camdenton Missouri.
We long and desire to be able to be will all of you, our friends and family all over the world. We greatly look forward to the chance to visit you all, but we know that this is where the Lord has us right now. We are so excited to be here and to be receiving the amazing training that will give us the skills to work in overseas ministry. We want to thank every single one of you for your love and support! and we wish we could tell every one of your personally how much you mean to us! We are truly thankful for all of you!
Please let us know if there is any way that we can pray for you. We would love to hear from you to see how you all are doing. We hope that the Lord is challenging and growing you all, as He is us, and we look forward to what's to come!
Grace & Peace,
The Chaplins

Lots of new things :)

2008-09-15T13:49:00.001-06:00

Hello to all!

This would be our first post. We both wanted to give an update on everything that has been going on lately in our lives recently. We have had a very busy and life changing summer!

After we finished up with last semester we took a trip up to Alaska to visit Amanda's dad and her church up there (Wasilla Bible Church). After a great visit we went our seperate ways for the summer. Mitch went home to Nova Scotia, were he worked at a lead and zinc mine for the summer. Amanda went home to Idaho and worked at an assisted living home. The summer was great and went by fast and we soon found ourselves back in Michigan for our wedding!

We were married on August 6th, here in Jackson MI where we are attending New Tribes Bible Institute. We had the ceremony at our church, Rives Baptist, and then came back to the school where we had the reception. The wedding turned out perfectly. It was small and sweet. :)

After the wedding we went up to Nova Scotia for our honeymoon. We got to travel up there and see some amazing sites! We spent two days in Halifax the capital, and two days in Peggy's Cove (a very famous site to see in Canada), and then a few days back in Middle Stewiacke, Mitch's home town, where we had an awesome reception for all of Mitch's family and friends there. It was great to be able to see the sites up there and to be able to meet everyone!

We came back a week later to set up our humble home and to get all settled in before classes began. The Lord has been so faithful in providing all of our needs! Our apartment here at the school is perfect for the two of us.

Since that time, we have begun classes and they are going very well! We just finished up our first block of classes and are moving into the next one. Mitch is taking Romans (one of the most foundational classes on the Christian Life, and Amanda is taking Daniel/Revelation, among other classes.. God is really teaching us so much and it is amazing to see His Word laid out clearly!

As for the rest of the semester...We have lots to do and get done. We are working on the finishing touches on Mitch's applications for his green-card. After we get that turned in he should get his work permit and then he will begin working. Amanda will graduate in December, and then will hopefully go on working full time at the nursing home she is working part time at right now. Mitch will then graduate in the spring and we will be moving on with the training process! We are very excited for it all. We hope and pray that all of you, our friends and family, are doing well and we want to thank all of you so much for your love and support. We would love to invite you to be a part of our present and future ministry, and would love to pray for you all. Please just let us know how we can pray for you. :)

Thanks again so much for everything!

In Him,

Mitch & Amanda