We've Graduated!

This past Saturday we graduated from New Tribes Bible Institute, 2 years of intensely studying God's Word and also completing the first phase of our training to go with New Tribes Mission. We've had the privilege of studying through almost the entire Bible (there were a few electives that we we did not have the time to take).

So you may be wondering what we will be doing next? Our deans and the leadership at school have recommended that we take some time off to grow as a family before we head on to the Missions Training Institute in either Missouri or Canada. So we are going to be taking 1-2 years off from training. We are going to be moving to Grand Rapids during that time and are hoping to be able to save up some money for MTC as well as work on tracking down some health issues that could become a problem when we move overseas. We are looking forward to the time that we will have around our family and also our church in Kent City.

Right now we are staying in Indiana with Karalise's family for the week while Malachi does some work for some for some friends. Next week we will be heading for Grand Rapids, Michigan where we will be staying with Malachi's family until we can find a house. Malachi has some part-time work lined up for when we get there, but please pray that he will be able to find full-time work and an apartment.

Our baby continues to be growing and she is due in eight weeks so we are so excited to be able to meet her. She is around 3-3.5 pounds right now and continues to be very active, causing quite a bit of entertainment as we watch my belly.

Thanks for your prayers!

~the Pratts

We are graduating!

It seems that it was only just a few months ago that we arrived here at New Tribes Bible Institute to begin our two years of an in depth study of God's Word. However hard they may have been, the past two years have flown by and it seems there have also been quite a few changes along the way. We have learned so much in God's Word, yet we see we still have so much to learn. We have built some great friendships with fellow students and staff here at NTBI, and also with many people at our church in Albion. We have now been married two years (rather than just a few months), we have a baby girl on the way, and we have learned to live quite easily without running water in our little apartment. We are excited to see some of the changes that we will have in the coming years.

We graduate from NTBI this Saturday and after that we are looking to move to the Grand Rapids, MI area for the next 1-2 years as we learn how to be parents, work to save up for our next stage of training, and also hope to spend time with our family and at Kent City Baptist Church. The Leadership team here at the school thinks it would be best for us to take this time to just grow as a family before we go on with New Tribes Mission. Please pray that the Lord would provide both work and housing for us as those are still a bit up in the air.

If you would like to come to our graduation it is at 11:00am on Saturday and the address is:
Grace Church
2692 Dettman Rd
Jackson, MI 49201.
There will be a cake and punch reception for all the students back at the school after the ceremony.

Thanks so much for all your prayers and encouragement!
Malachi, Karalise, and Baby Girl Pratt

It's a girl!

Yesterday we had our ultra-sound! It was so fun to see our little baby moving around inside of me and it was super cool to find out that we are having a little girl! Everything seems to be fine with her, so we are thankful for that. Now the hard part, Malachi and I have to agree on a name (which we won't be disclosing until she is born...we have to have some sort of suspense).

Love Malachi, Karalise, and Baby Girl Pratt

happy valentines day!

SCHOOL:
Well, we just started our 2nd block here at New Tribes Bible Institute. It's been a bit of a gradual incline as things are starting to get busier and busier with our homework, especially for Malachi. We just finished studying Philippians and 1st and 2nd Thessalonians and Malachi is continuing to study Daniel and Revelation. On Thursday we started in on the Pastoral Epistles (1st and 2nd Timothy and Titus) and 1st, 2nd, and 3rd John. Malachi is starting an elective this week to study Ezra, Nehemiah, and Esther.

This semester we had an incoming class and we are enjoying getting to know some of the freshman couples and also that my brother TJ is here, though he seems to stay pretty busy with homework and with stuff going on for the singles, we enjoy seeing him every once in a while as well as pawning off leftover desserts to him and his roomies. :)

BABY AND KARA:

We are anxiously awaiting this coming Thursday as we have an ultrasound and if the baby cooperates we will be able to find out if its a boy or a girl! The baby is now 18 weeks old, around 5 inches long and weighs around 5-6 ounces. I don't think I've felt our baby moving yet, so i can't wait for that to happen!

I've been feeling quite a bit better as far as the nausea goes, most of the time i'm actually able to enjoy cooking again and poor Malachi no longer has to live off of egg sandwiches, toast, and cold cereal. I'm still having a lot of pain, but i think the majority of it is from my health issues from before.

MALACHI:

Mac is still working at Hot Topic he has anywhere from 5-15 hours a week depending on how busy they are. Though he doesn't have tons of hours we are still thankful for the work and also that when he isn't busy with work he is actually able to relax a bit instead of having to go non-stop all day long. He has been having a lot of sinus issues lately, especially sinus headaches, he's gone to the Doctor a few times but hasn't found anything that helps all that much, so this winter he has had some pretty miserable days. He has also been continuing to work on people's cars when he has extra time.

VALENTINES

Last night we got to go to a valentines banquet with some friends from church, it was so nice to get out for a while and not have any responsibilities, we were really blessed as another couple paid for our tickets. I enjoyed not having to cook or clean up as well as the laughter we enjoyed with our friends. The speaker was pretty cool too and we were challenged to really focus on our marriage and not just let things slide.

(the pictures are from last night)

Thanks for all your continued prayers! We really appreciate them!

Love, Malachi, Karalise, and Baby

latest baby update

Malachi and I just got back from seeing the doctor and found out that everything seems normal with both the baby and me. We heard the baby's heartbeat again today, and again it was cool to hear! We also found out the good news that Malachi is not a carrier of cystic fibrosis (I am) so we are very thankful that our baby does NOT have any chance of having the disease.

We were also able to set up our next appointment with the Doctor and also our ultra-sound when we will get to find out if we will be having a boy or a girl! Our ultra-sound is scheduled for February 17th.

Also we started classes up again yesterday, it was amazing to see how the Lord provided the needed funds for this semester's down payment as well as a little more covering this months's payment as well. We are very thankful for the friends, family, all three of our churches, and also some anonymous people who made it possible for us to be here this final semester.

Here at NTBI they are pretty flexible with families and married women and allow them to opt out of the 8am class if they have children or health issues. So Malachi and I decided that I would not take the 8am class until I started feeling better. Malachi is taking Daniel and Revelation and then we are both taking Philippians for the last two periods. Malachi's electives have not started yet and neither has our Monday night class, so we are thankful to have some time to get into a routine before it gets even busier.

Thanks for reading our blog...please let us know how YOU are doing!

~Karalise