Katrina and Caleb in Wisconsin

Four of us set out on Tuesday afternoon, around 3:00, on a 24 hour journey to the New Tribes Bible Institute in Waukesha, Wisconsin. We arrived at the Bible School on Wednesday around 4:00. We were very happy to see everybody and everybody was very happy to see us. We hung out with people until dinner that night and played some volleyball and card games afterwards.

I woke up on Thursday morning at 7:30 and showed up about 20 minutes late for breakfast, but still found something to eat. After breakfast I went back up to my room and got ready. At 8:30, we met at the chapel for Missions Emphasis to listen to Rich Brown speak about his discipling in the Moi tribe in Indonesia. I personally found this very helpful because it gave me a good first-hand view of tribal missions and what it’s like.

At 12:30 we went to lunch. My sister is a volleyball-adict, so she organizes a game just about every day. We played volleyball that afternoon. I also played some fuzeball and a game of pool with Luke. That night we went to a Green Letters study at one of the teacher’s homes.

On Friday, I woke up 15 minutes before classes started. I rushed to get ready and met Katrina outside the classrooms just before classes started. The classes Katrina has are Ephesians, Hebrews, and Galatians. They were all excellent classes and I enjoyed all of them. I especially liked listening to Katrina’s teacher Dave Field teach. The classes were very well taught and very deep.

Saturday was mostly a “sleep-in/lounge around” day. Brunch was at 10:30. The food was very good, concidering how many people had to be fed every day. Katrina and I wen’t out to eat at Chili’s for supper. We had a great time talking and being with each other. On Saturday night, we went to a birthday party.

On Sunday, we got up at 6:30 to go to Katrina’s church, which is an hour away. The sermon was very good and the people were very kind. When we got back to the school, we spent the rest of the day hanging out with friends.

We left the school at 5:00 p.m. We made it back to my house at 8:30 p.m. It was a great trip and I had a great time visiting everybody and getting to know the school better. I had an awesome trip and would do it all over again.

Katrina and a friend from Florida who is also an NTBI student

The last few weeks have been a really dry time of learning for me. I sit in classes and want to learn and understand what the teachers are saying, but it seems no matter how hard I try and concentrate nothing is going in. I have been reading on my own in the mornings and as I read I see the truth of God’s Word, but thinking deeply about what its saying is hard to do.

Through this hard time I have seen God teaching me and working in me. Our God is so good and faithful no matter if we are faithful or not. God has been teaching me that it doesn’t matter how I feel because feelings don’t always match up with truth. What God says in His Word is true whether I can see it or feel it.

Jeremiah had one of the hardest ministries ever. He was persecuted, ignored and exhausted in every way possible. The book of Lamentations may seem depressing, but it shows how Jeremiah was feeling and what he was going through. Lamentations 3:22-24 says, “Through the Lord’s mercies we are not consumed, because His compassions fail not. They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness. “The Lord is my portion,” says my soul, “Therefore I hope in Him!”

I have learned that even if I can’t feel God’s love, mercy, grace or nearness, it doesn’t mean that it isn’t real. Because whether I feel that God is good doesn’t change the fact that He is good. Just because I don’t feel God right beside me through the hard times doesn’t mean that He isn’t right here with me. God’s truth is the solid rock on which we stand. There is nothing else we could possibly lean on because only God is faithful and consistent.

Romans 8:28 says, “And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.” Our lives don’t need to be based around our circumstances. We can look at the circumstances around us to decide if we are going to be happy or not, but if we do that then we will go up and down so much. But if we base our attitudes off of God’s Word and the truth we find in it then we will remain consistent. Our day can be good simply because God is good and we know that He will work all things out for good as we follow His perfect will and plan for our lives.

God has been faithful to teach me even though I feel so empty and dry right now. I am tired, depressed and so busy, but I know that God has me here for a reason and He will be faithful to work in and through me as I keep depending on Him.

You could be praying with me as I continue to juggle classes, homework and jobs. I want to get the most out of my time here as I possibly can.

You could also be praying for the whole student body. There are huge waves of sickness, exhaustion and depression going through the school right now. Satan is real and certainly doesn’t want us spending so much time in God’s Word, serving each other and learning how to love those around us.

God is a good God and He is working! If He is for us who could possibly stand against us?!

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Katrina’s Birthday is November 15.  If you’d like to send her a card or care package, you can mail it to:

Katrina Abbott
915 North Hartwell Ave
Waukesha, WI  53186-5099

Katrina is a Junior at New Tribes Bible Institute.

We have been going through some amazing classes at New Tribes Bible Institute this semester. I have gotten to take 2 Corinthians, Romans, Missions in Church History, James and Angelology.

Right now in Romans class we are going through verse by verse and learning about man’s desperate need for God, about how God provided the only way for man to be cleansed, and about our new life in Christ- our justification, sanctification and glorification.

I had always loved reading the Old Testament. I loved seeing how God showed Himself faithful to individual people, fulfilled His promises and did signs and wonders that could have been done by no other than the Creator of the world. But this semester I have seen something else. I have seen how God shows Himself in the New Testament.

As I read through the testimonies of believers and how God worked with the early church it just amazes me. Our God never changes. He is always consistently working with people, staying faithful to His word and His great love is constantly being poured out on us!

We deserve nothing that He has given us, and yet He loved us enough to not only provide the only way to be saved, but that He completely finished the work on the cross. John 19:30 …He said, “It is finished!” There is nothing more we can add to the already finished work of Christ. All we can do is accept the gift by believing in what God says He has already done!

I was so worried before I left home that my focus would get off of God and on other things around me. Last year I really struggled with finding balance in friendships, homework and my personal time with God. God has been so good and faithful to me though.

The more I study His Word and learn about who He is and the personal relationship He wants with me the more I desire to get to know Him more. My focus has remained on God so far and I pray it continues to stay there …because all else apart from God and His will for my life is completely meaningless and unsatisfying.

Thank you so much for praying for a job for me. God is so good and faithful to provide us with exactly what we need. God has provided a few different jobs for me.

I work on Wednesdays nights at a church babysitting. I clean at another church on Tuesday and Sunday nights. On Sundays I have a seasonal job at a farmer’s market.

Please be praying that I can keep up with homework, continue to build relationships with the girls in my room, and that my focus will remain on God and what He has in me. I know that God will remain faithful as I look to Him.

Romans 4:21 “And being fully convinced that what He had promised He was also able to perform.”

(Leave a Reply below if you are praying for Katrina or found her update encouraging.)

Katrina and Caleb on a family hike in North Carolina.

When it was time to leave New Tribes Bible Institute and come back home for summer break I was really struggling with leaving friends, leaving classes and fearing that I would loose my desire to study God’s Word and that my relationship with God would fall apart.

This summer has honestly been one of the best things God has done for me. Being home with my family, getting to reconnect with friends, not having a schedule, and just having time to think through all the classes and what God’s taught me over this past year has been so helpful.

I’ve been able to study so many things out this summer! I read through Ephesians and learned so much about this new life that we have in Christ. Ephesians 2:8-10 says, “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.”

We were saved by the grace of God. We did nothing to save ourselves! We could do nothing but accept the free gift of salvation that God gave us. We have been given this new life with good works that we were called in advance to do. Ephesians 3:12 says, “In him and through faith in him we may approach God with freedom and confidence.”

We can approach God with freedom and confidence through Christ as our mediator. We can come to God with any struggles, fears or desires. He wants us to talk to Him and share things with Him. We weren’t saved just so we could go to heaven when we die. God wants a relationship with us now!

As I study out God’s Word more and more I realize how much I don’t know and it makes me want to study and learn so much more. Our lives are not about ourselves, but about Christ and being His ambassadors here on earth. 2 Corinthians 5:20 tells us that we are ambassadors to make an appeal for Christ on this earth. We cannot live out this new life on our own. We need the guidance and wisdom of the Holy Spirit to guide us daily!

I have been working hard this summer to save up for initial payments for this next semester and I’m looking for a job for this next year. It was great having a year off of work to be able to spend my time studying and building up relationships, but I’m going to have to work hard and trust God to provide for me this next year.

I have just a few days until I head back up to the NTBI campus in Waukesha, Wisconsin. I am really looking forward to getting back into classes again, but I am really going to miss my family. I could use prayer in saying good-byes, trusting God with finances and getting back into a crazy schedule.

Katrina with one of her friends on Spring Break

Classes have finished, but the fun certainly hasn’t! For two days after classes end New Tribes Bible Institute has work days.

We all get divided up into groups inside and outside to clean, do yard work and fix things. My job is washing, vacuuming and waxing the school vehicles. I get to work with one of my friends and we are having a great time together.

One thing that is great about finishing something up is looking back on all you learned. I have certainly learned a lot this past semester … this past year. I have learned to trust God with so much more while I’ve been away from home. I have seen God work in some amazing ways in both my life and the lives of other students around me.

I have really enjoyed the deep, Christ-centered relationships that are built here at school. It’s been so amazing to learn, grow and encourage brothers and sisters throughout the year. God’s taught me so much about keeping my focus on Him.

I know that I’m going to struggle my whole life with focusing on Him instead of on my wants and desires, but I know as I continue to learn God’s Word and ground myself in Him I will begin to trust Him more with my life. As my relationship with Him grows, my life will begin to show more of His love, desires, thoughts and actions.

John 15:5 says, “I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.” We can do nothing to glorify God unless it is done through the strength of Christ! He wants us ‘abiding’ in Him alone for all our strength, wisdom, joy, peace and love.

We often think that only work done ‘for God’ is when we ask for His help, but really, what are we supposed to do that is NOT for God? Everything we do should be done for the glory of God!

You could be praying that it won’t be too difficult to say good-bye to friends I’ve made and seniors that are graduating. I know that there are several seniors that don’t know where God is leading them yet. I head for home on the May 23rd and am excited about seeing friends and family again!

Kristia and Katrina in Wisconsin during Spring Break.

This past semester has been super busy with reading and homework. As the time grew closer for Spring Break I started to feel like an over soaked sponge. It’s not that I didn’t want to focus on classes and continue learning. I just couldn’t retain any more information.

Spring Break ended up being such a great week! My mom came to visit me and we had a great time reconnecting, telling each other what God had been teaching us, and just hanging out. We even got to go to a cabin for a few days! It was so cool to get to know some of my friends even better and to spend Easter reading God’s Word, enjoying His creation and enjoying awesome fellowship.

Classes have been so good this semester. We’ve been building on the foundation of the Old Testament and we have finally started into the New Testament. Right now I’m taking 1 Corinthians, Acts and the Bible Basis for Missions.

I’ve grown up in New Tribes Mission, but I certainly have started seeing how much I didn’t know about God’s plan to reach the world.

God’s plan started before the creation of the world. After Adam and Eve sinned, the first promise of the Deliverer was given in Genesis 3:15. From there God started working through the nation of Israel to be a magnet to all the nations around them. Instead of being a light Israel tried to hide the hope God wanted to give to all people.

John 3:16 says that God loved the WHOLE world. Jesus came to die for every single person on this earth. God grafted the church into His plan to now go out and share the good news of Christ’s death, burial, resurrection and ascension with all peoples everywhere. The “Great Commission” given by Jesus in Matthew 28:18-20 wasn’t an afterthought. It was God’s plan all along and it was the last thing Jesus wanted to leave the disciples with!

For the last few days I have been studying through Romans. I’ve been in the Old Testament for about a year and have thoroughly enjoyed it, but it’s cool to be heading into the New Testament and to be able to see all that we have been given in Christ!

I have decided to take my time in Romans and to study it out as much as possible. Why speed through such a deep book? I have all the time I could ever ask for to study the Bible. I don’t need to rush! God’s Word isn’t an all-day-sucker that you have to take small licks of. You can dive as deep in as you want, and the good news is you’ll NEVER reach the bottom!

Through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit we have been given the ability to know the deep things of God as talked about in 1 Corinthians 2:10. I love Romans 1:16,17! We need to have the attitude of Paul. We need to never be ashamed of the gospel! It’s easy to say that, but really — how much are we willing to share the good news with people around us? We have been given righteousness through our faith in Christ, not by works, but by simply accepting God’s free gift to us. God is so good!

I have really enjoyed this semester. God has taught me so much! I just want to soak it all in.

Please be praying that I can get as much out of these last two weeks as possible! I don’t want to miss any teaching or learning that I can get out of these last few weeks! Pray that I can be an encouragement to everyone around me. I have been able to see the Body of Christ work in some awesome ways here! Thank you for your prayers and support. It means so much to me.

Katrina standing on a frozen lake at the winter retreat in Indiana.

I’m back in the snow again and it is still beautiful! It’s been in the teens the last few days, but I’m still wearing skirts to class a few times a week. It’s been pretty easy to get back into the swing of things here at Bible School. I’ve been able to catch up with friends, get enough sleep and get back into homework in the afternoons.

We started new classes when I got back from Christmas break. I am now a sophomore! I am now taking Hermeneutics 2, Theology and Prophets. They are all so amazing.  I just love the Theology class!

Theology is the study of God and we are certainly studying God!  We have been learning all the different names of God given throughout the Bible. They all give such an amazing description of who our God is! There are names for God that I didn’t even know were in the Bible.

One thing that really stands out to me is the different languages throughout the Bible that have a name for God defined as ‘the Supreme One’. God is above all and He deserves ALL glory and honor. He is eternal and He transcends time. There are SO many characteristics of God just in the names He uses for Himself. Our God is so much bigger than we ever could have imagined!

This last weekend there was a Winter Retreat for MKs (Missionary Kids) in Indiana. Several people from my school traveled together to this retreat. It was a very relaxing weekend full of teaching sessions, worship and fun.

My favorite part was Saturday night. After the speaker, Steven Swope, taught he asked if anyone wanted to share what they had been learning since coming back to the USA. It was so cool to see how God has been working in each of their lives and what He has been teaching them. Our God will teach us if we are willing to learn and some of the hardest times in our lives are the best times for Him to teach us because we realize just how weak we are.

Please be praying that my focus will remain on my classes and what God has to teach me. I have been so tired since being back, but I know that God will be faithful to give me just enough energy to do what He has for me.

Thank you so much for your prayers and support!

*** Letters, postcards and hot chocolate can be mailed to Katrina at: ***

915 N. Hartwell Ave.
Waukesha, WI  53186-5099

Dressed for winter weather in Wisconsin.

It has been wonderful to be home this past month. I have really enjoyed all the time I’ve gotten to spend with my family and it has been great to work so that I can start saving up money for my next year at New Tribes Bible Institute.

I have enjoyed most everything about this last semester. The classes were so good and I learned so much. I started building great relationships as well.

I didn’t understand why I had such mixed feelings about being home. The short version I usually give people is, “The classes are great and I’m really enjoying school.”

Even though those things are true, this past semester has also been filled with many trials and deep struggles. I thought that once I went off to Bible School my relationship with God would continue to deepen and I would become stronger in my faith. Those things certainly happened, but not in the ways I expected them to.

The more I learned in my classes the more I started to see my weaknesses and struggles. I grew so much weaker and more dependent on God as the months past. I couldn’t do anything without praying to Him to give me the strength. God wants us to be utterly dependent on Him, but it was so much harder to do than I thought. We cannot do anything without God’s strength or wisdom.

One of my favorite verses is 2 Peter 1:3-4 which says, “By his divine power, God has given us everything we need for living a godly life. We have received all of this by coming to know him, the one who called us to himself by means of his marvelous glory and excellence. And because of his glory and excellence, he has given us great and precious promises. These are the promises that enable you to share his divine nature and escape the world’s corruption caused by human desires.”

I need God in every area of my life every day! God made me promises as His child and He made them knowing what I have already done and what I will do in the future. God’s love is never ending and He is faithful to keep His many wonderful promises. It is so wonderful to know that He has already given us EVERYTHING we need to live a godly life through the knowledge of Himself.

I liked who I was before I left for school better than who I am now. The more I have learned, the more I see my sin and my desperate need for Christ and His sacrifice for me. It’s hard, but God is good and faithful to stay with me and to keep pouring His wisdom, strength and love into me as I continue to learn and grow in Him.

I will never overcome my sin and struggles, but its OK because Christ already has and I am cleansed by His perfect, blameless sacrifice and that is what God sees when He looks at me!

I also love 2 Corinthians 5: 15, 17 & 21 which says, “He died for everyone so that those who receive his new life will no longer live for themselves. Instead, they will live for Christ, who died and was raised for them. This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun! For God made Christ, who never sinned, to be the offering for our sin, so that we could be made right with God through Christ.”

I still need lots of prayer. It is so good to be at a wonderful school learning more about God, but as I continue to learn there will be more struggles and trials to try to turn me away from God. I need prayer that I will stay focused on what God is trying to teach me and how He wants to use me as I am at school.

Thank you so much for all of your love, prayer and support. It means so much to me.

*** Letters, postcards and hot chocolate can be mailed to Katrina at: ***

915 N. Hartwell Ave.
Waukesha, WI  53186-5099

Katrina making a "snow angel."

I looked outside this morning and the first thing I saw were tiny white flakes floating down. It is the first snow of the season and it’s absolutely beautiful! I felt like a little kid as I flew down the stairs in my winter jacket to play in the snow for a few minutes before running to class.

Several of us stood outside, tried to build a snow man, and threw snowballs in between classes all day. The ground looks like someone has lightly sprinkled it with powdered sugar. God’s creation shows his delicate work and beautiful creativity. Our God is so good to us!

Well for Thanksgiving I was able to go home to visit my family. It had been 12 weeks since I’d seen them and that was way too long! I’ve been away from them on mission trips and other things I’ve done, but I certainly don’t enjoy leaving them behind. It was wonderful to spend time with them, play games, hear all that they are doing and all that they are learning. I realize how lucky I am that God gave me a wonderful Christian family to share and grow in Christ with.

I thought it might be overwhelming getting back to classes, but I really enjoy every minute of them. We have Proverbs, Pentateuch and Old Testament History. All the classes are very good and I know that the teachers are very passionate about helping us grow and learn more about the Bible.

I’ve really enjoyed going through Leviticus recently in Pentateuch. Leviticus isn’t the dry book that everyone says it is. Yes, it’s full of laws, commands, and punishments for sin, but it also shows God’s holy character and the full extent of what God called the Israelites to be.

He gave the Israelites the Law to show them that they could not be holy on their own. He told them “Be holy because I am holy”. Our God is very holy and cannot live with sin. I am so, so glad that He sent His Son that He might take away and pay our sin debt so that we don’t have to.

We can’t keep all of God’s commands and laws, but Jesus did it all for us! He even now works through us to do the good works that God has prepared for us, His children, to do. What a wonderful, merciful and loving God we are serving!

Thanksgiving Photos …and a couple of Katrina at New Tribes Bible Institute

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Katrina cooking breakfast on Thanksgiving morning.