Senior Semester Begins!

The Final Semester Has Begun:

• Today we completed the first full week of classes. It is so wonderful to be back into the in-depth study of the Word of God. This semester started with us diving into the books of Daniel & Revelation (although we already studied through the Old Testament, we did not study Daniel because it goes along with Revelation), as well as Philippians. Today we are starting 1 Thessalonian's, and the ball keeps rolling after that. 
• Towards the end of this semester our entire senior class will be taking a trip to Jersey Shore, PA. There, we will attend Wayumi, which is a retreat that New Tribes has set up in order to get a feel for what Tribal Missions is like. We will be there for a week, and will take a class while we are there as well. We are SO excited for this, and can't wait to get a better understanding of what we might be doing in the future. 

The Camp

To see more click here!

• We are still getting about 20 hours a week of work with Andrew. This is helping in keeping up with our phone, and car insurance bills, as well as our monthly $475 school payment. It is always a real challenge to get the initial down payment for the semester, and we are still trying to play catch up. Please pray with us about the outstanding $250 we still owe by February 1st. After that we will have 3 more payments of $475 through the rest of this semester. We are so thankful for the job that we have, but it has put more of a strain on us with getting the homework done. 
• As we mentioned previously, we are student leaders this semester. Our time in training before the semester started was phenomenal! We are on the Campus Life team, which means we are involved in planning events and socials for the student body. It is a lot of fun, but it is going to consist of a good bit of time too. We never realized how much time and effort really goes into everything that the school does for us. 
• Continue to be in prayer with us about where God wants us to be next. There are many possibilities, and everyday it seems like another option would be better than the previous. We know, however, that wherever we end up, we want to serve God with our whole hearts, souls, and minds! 

Thank you friends for your prayers, support, and encouraging words!

Because He said "Go!", 

Alton & Grace Cale

What's now? What's next?

What are the Cale's doing now?
Hey Everyone!! We hope you all had a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New year. We surely did. After a wonderful week at home in NC, we returned to NTBI with a full work schedule ahead of us, in order to make our January 1st down payment for this semester. The Lord is so amazing, and He is always finding new ways to surprise us in the way that He provides. We are still a little short on our bill, but within the next couple weeks we hope to be back in the black! Nothing is on our schedule (except for working), until the 13th, which is the day we will begin our training to be student leaders. We were asked to consider being student leaders this semester, which we are so excited about. This basically means that we will have some more responsibilities on our shoulders, which we consider a great honor. Classes begin again on the 19th, and we will be into our final semester here at New Tribes Bible Institute. It is rather sad to think about at times, seeing as this is the only home we have shared together as a married couple, and considering how much the Lord has taught us within these walls. What a privilege it has been, and we couldn't have made it through without the Lord working through you all to provide financially, spiritually, and emotionally for us this past year and a half. Thank you!

Grace's family together for Christmas

Alton's family together for Christmas Eve

What's next for the Cale's?
This question is much more complicated than we would like it to be, but what fun would life be without God teaching us to be patient and trust Him? As we have shared with many of you before, our goal is to be Tribal Missionaries with New Tribes Mission. In order for this to happen we still need more training. The next step would be heading to the Missionary Training Center in Roach, Missouri. It is there that we would complete the last year and a half of what New Tribes Mission requires for us to go on. Essentially, we would love to go straight there after graduating from NTBI in May, and although we know that the Lord is more than capable to provide the finances to make this happen, we also know that there is a possibility that He wants to do something else with us first. Unlike it is here, once we start there, we are not allowed to work permanent jobs. They do allow some part time work on weekends, but essentially we will be committed to the training full time, everyday of the week. Due to this fact we would love to see more support come in from the Church body. In the event that we do not have the finances we need to carry on with the training right away, then our plan is to move back to NC, and work for a year, as well as spend as much time as we can with our home church, Grace Bible. Through working, we could hopefully save enough money for our training period, and hopefully we will gain some supporters along the way. We know that whatever path the Lord leads us down will be filled with growing, learning, leading, and trials, but we are willing to accept whatever the Lord has in store for us.

*We would truly appreciate your prayers at this time, as we know that the decisions we make are going to require absolute faith in God to lead us where He wants us to be. 
*We would also appreciate any advice you may have for us concerning these issues, or anything else you have on your heart. 

From the two of us, here at New Tribes Bible Institute

with love & appreciation,

Alton & Grace Cale

Christmas time is here!

Home for the Holidays! 

Four more days and counting! Our third semester at New Tribes Bible Institute is coming to a quick and steady ending. We will be done with classes on Thursday, and are so glad we can see the end in sight. We are currently taking Pneumatology (the study of the Holy Spirit), Ephesians, and Soteriology (the study of salvation). They have been absolutely phenomenal classes, and we are learning so much. There is a class of seniors that will be graduating this coming Saturday, and Sunday we will leave for North Carolina. This time we will only be home for one week, seeing as Grace has a job here in MI. Our plan is to stay here and work as much as possible in order to save the money we need for our final semester here. 

we have snow!

Christian Evangelism Cookie Exchange!

Yesterday, Grace hosted a cookie exchange party. Her motive in this was to give the women here a chance to invite unsaved girls into the school in order to get to know them more personally, in hopes that they will eventually get the chance to share the gospel. Please be in prayer for Grace's friend Jesse. We are not sure if she is saved, but we can tell that she is not presently walking with the Lord. She came to Grace's cookie exchange, and a great relationship is starting to form. Pray for wisdom, as Grace looks for the right words and questions to cause Jesse to question what she is putting her trust in. 

look at all those cookies! 

girls enjoying a little snack

Prayer!

It is so encouraging for us to know that there are many of you praying for us on a regular basis. We appreciate it so much, and are so thankful for our family in Christ that we have all over the world. We would like to specifically ask for prayer about some specifics. 

• Strength to finish out this last week. It will consist of lots of homework and a test for each class. 
• Provision for the $2,100 we need by January 1st in order to come back for our last semester.
• Safe travels to and from NC
• A job for Alton
• Guidance for after we graduate. We desire to carry on with our training at the Missionary Training Center, but we have no idea how we are going to pay for it. Pray for provision. 

Have a wonderful Christmas!!! We hope we get to see you :) 

               The Cales

A day in the Life of the Cale's

October:     This has been a wonderful month for us. Although, it has been one of the busiest months we have had since we have been here, it has been one of growing in God, growing in friendships, and growing in our marriage. We have been learning more than we could have ever imagined!

Special Emphasis-

Chris Lujan (second from the left) with Siar people

      This past week was special emphasis week. We have this once a semester, and it entails having a special missionary speaker leading all of our chapels for the week, and then on Friday we don't have classes and he gets the day to share some more with us. The special emphasis speaker this past week was Chris Lujan. He and his family are missionaries in Papua New Guinea, working with the Siar people in a remote tribal setting. We were able to learn so much about the work they are doing there, and also were challenged immensely in the Word of God. One of the biggest things we took from our time with him was the fact that in order to make disciples we must first be one! He took us to Luke14:25-35 which talks about the cost of being a disciple. We strongly encourage you to read this passage for yourself...TODAY! It will challenge your heart, like it did ours. One of the costs that Luke talks about in this passage is the giving up of EVERYTHING in your life. Out of all the challenges in this part of scripture, we know that this is the hardest thing for an average American to understand. The #1 reason Christians do not go to the field is because of their stuff. We have so many possessions in this culture of ours that to leave it all behind for the sake of the Gospel is just too much to handle. Be careful that this is not where you are at in your life...you will be highly disappointed when you reach Heaven and all your possessions burn, and you are left standing before the Lord of Lords and King of Kings with just a pile of ash. Let your loyalty to God reign supreme in your life!!!!
Please pray for missionaries Chris and Erin Lujan! (if you are interested in reading a wonderful story about the Siar tribe CLICK HERE)

Grace & Andrew- 
     We are so incredibly thankful to our Lord for being our provider. With every month a new school bill arrives, not to mention other financial responsibilities that come our way, and the Lord finds a way to make it possible for us to have the money every time. One of the biggest provisions for finances has been Grace's job as a caregiver for a 13 year old boy named Andrew. This job sort of just fell in her lap the first day we arrived back in Michigan, after the summer break. We had done a lot of babysitting for Andrews family last year, and so they knew we would be interested in working with Andrew more consistently. Andrew was adopted by a wonderful family that graduated from New Tribes Bible Institute 2 years ago. They have made their mission field Spring Arbor, Michigan. They serve the Lord by helping children through fostering and adoption. Currently they have 6 children. Two are their own, two are adopted (Andrew being one of them), and two are foster boys. This family has grown so dear to our hearts, and we have loved getting to know them. Andrew has a condition called Cerebral Palsy (if you do not know much about this condition I encourage you to look it up). He, as I mentioned above, is 13 years old, yet he only has a mind/physical capacity of a 9 month baby. Which essentially makes him completely dependent on others for all his needs. Grace has been working anywhere from 18-20 hours a week with him, and has been loving the experience to work with this precious child of God. There has been some changes taking place with her work hours, and she will only be getting around 8 hours a week, this will make it difficult to meet our financial needs, so please pray about that with us. Please take a moment and pray for the Fannin's, as well as all their 6 children. There are many struggles that come along with their ministry, and I know they would appreciate your prayers.

Grace & Andrew

Andrew smiling :)

Marriage-
     This past month seems to have been one of tremendous growth in our marriage. It seems like with every new principle we are learning we can practice more of it in our marriage. An example of one of these areas is the principle of having a grace perspective. We studied through the book of 2 Corinthians, and it seems like Paul's biggest emphasis in that letter to the Corinthians, was that they needed to have more of an outlook of grace toward others. Our relationships should never be based on performance. Christ did not die for us because we were worthy of it, but he died because He loved us. Therefore, we should practice this same element in our relationships. This grace perspective must be a way we govern our marriage. We are learning that we should not treat our spouse a certain way because they did something, or didn't do something. Love and respect should be constant in our marriages, as well as in our friendships. Grace is giving/treating someone in a way that they might not deserve. Christ did this for us! Grace in relation to Christ and us can also mean G-God's R-righteousness A-at C-Christ's E-expense. Start having a grace perspective towards your spouse, and I promise you that it will make a huge difference in your relationship.

Closing Remarks-
     We just want to thank you for taking the time to read this, for praying for us, the Lujan's, and the Fannin's, and for your love & support. We hope that you are seeking to know God with your whole heart by learning about Him through His Word. It has been the biggest joy in our life to get to have a living relationship, with our living Savior, through His living Word!

Because He said "Go!",

 Alton & Grace Cale

   

Semester 3 so far

WOW!! 
That is truly the word that comes to our minds when we think of what has happened in our lives and hearts so far this semester. The Lord has been revealing some wonderful things to us, and we are just soaking it all in. Thank you all for praying for us! 

Classes

• So far this semester we have taken: 2 Corinthians, Hebrews, James/Jude, Missions in Church History, Islam, Catholicism, Prayer Module.

• Currently we are taking: Romans, Angelology, Family Relations, Foundations for Learning, and we are starting Christian Apologetics this week.    

• We will be taking: Galatians, Ephesians, 1&2 Peter, Soteriology, Pneumatology, and Intro to New Tribes Missions

Michigan

We have just LOVED living in Michigan this past year. It really is a beautiful state. However, Jackson can be a little ruff around the edges, but once you drive out into the country it is just amazing to see God's beautiful creation. The sky always seems to be so robust with clouds...

The leaves are changing fast!

We got a pumpkin to carve!

Sunny cold day

We are SO thankful to be here! And we really do appreciate your prayers and support! 
Please take a look at our other pages above. Find out more about us by clicking on the"about us" section! 

Our Mission

Take a look at where we have come from, and what we are heading towards!