.:Encouragement from God :.

.:Encouragement from God :.
One of the issues Andrea and I have asked people to pray about is the student loan debt that we have. The debt is mostly from Andrea's degrees (we have been able to pay for my tuition through the military - they paid for 100% of my tuition while I was in and the G.I. Bill is paying for me to go to seminary). The main problem with this is that Andrea and I have been feeling more and more that God is calling us into international missions. If we are being called to international missions then we would seek to be selected by the International Mission Board (IMB) just before I finish my degree here in Louisville. The IMB has a policy that the people they select should not have large amounts of debt (for obvious reasons). This has been a big discouragement for us recently (trying to think about how we would work at paying this off when we are struggling to pay our bills right now).

Anyway, I said all of that to tell you about this encouragement that we got a couple of weeks ago. On Monday I had asked Billy to pray for us in this situation (along with others) and pray that we would stay encouraged in spite of the seemingly impossible mountain in front of us. Well, on Tuesday night, in my Missiology class, my professor just happened to mention (as if out of the blue) that he had a student at a previous seminary that felt a call to international missions yet had over $50,000 of student loan debt. He said when he checked up on the guy a couple of years later he learned that God had gotten rid of the student loan debt and that the student was now serving on the mission field in Nicaragua!

God used that story to really encourage Andrea and me to keep trusting Him - even when the road ahead appears to be blocked. We know that God is able to do the impossible; we've already seen it done by Him just getting us to where we are today.

Please continue to pray for us to stay encouraged and to remember that Jesus told us that "if you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there,' and it will move; and nothing will be impossible to you." (Matt 17:20)

Thanks again for your prayers!
ChadB

Highlights of things you can pray about (February)

Highlights of things you can pray about (February):

Selling/Refinancing of our House
We believe that we need to be moving in a direction of selling our house. To do this we will need to refinance it because the loan we have now is an interest only, adustible rate loan (ouch). If we can refinance then the payments my dad is making will start bringing the principle down so we can sell it in the future. We have tried to refinance in the past but haven't been able to find an appraiser that will appraise the house for enough to cover the current loan.

Student loans
This is something that has been a big discouragement to us as far as knowing that God has called us into missions and yet knowing that we have this giant mountain in the way. We have a large amount of student loan debt - and the International Mission Board will not select us with the amount of student loan debt that we currently have.

Our meeting with the IMB Representive.
We have a meeting scheduled with Dr. Panter from the International Mission Board on March 30th to go over some questions about selection to the IMB. Please pray for the meeting and also that God would just continue to guide us to where he would have us to be specifically. I've really been praying for this - and I hope that this meeting with Dr. Panter and my Missiology class can be used by God to give us a clearer picture.

Our "Community Group"
We have a small group from our church here in Louisville that meets in our apartment on Wednesday nights. Pray that I'll be able to do a good job leading (with all of my school work) and that we would be able to reach out to the people in our complex with the gospel. There are now a couple of guys in the same apartment building as us that I would like to be able to start a relationship with in order to witness to them. Neither is a believer and they are both at least semi-open to discussion about spiritual matters.

Financial Situation
God has been awesome to provide for us (especally through our church family) both before we left to come KY and since we have been here. We know that He will continue to provide for us but we know that doesn't mean we should stop praying for it. Money continues to be tight for (especially when I have to miss work for school from time to time). Pray that He will provide the finances and the peace that we need when it looks like we won't have enough.

Thank you guys so much for praying for us - and for reading this long message.

We love and miss you,
Chad & Andrea Bragg

FIRST UPDATE

FIRST UPDATE:

I know I said I would try to keep it short but since this is the first entry it may be a little long. Some of you may already know this stuff so you don't have to read it. :)

Crossing Church:
Since the 2nd week of being up here we have been going to a church that is a brand new church plant (meaning it is a church that has been recently "planted" or started), in the east end of Louisville. Andrea and I have been serving by helping with the children's ministry and by leading a "community group" in our own apartement. I believe this will give us practical experience for what we will be doing once we get out on the mission field. It has been great to be used by God to help this church which is seeking to meet a great need in the East end of Louisville. I'm sure you will be hearing more updates on Crossing in future blog entries. Go here for a link to the church's web-site( there's not much there yet - as the church just kicked off last fall).

School:
I started last fall taking 4 classes. Church History I, Elementary Greek, Systematic Theology I, and Written Communication. I really enjoyed my classes last semester but it was really hard to get back in the swing of going to school after so many years. I ended up doing very good in my classes and decided to take 4 classes again this semester (3 classes is considered full time). This semester I am taking Spiritual Disciplines, Introduction to Missiology, Systematic Theology II, and Greek Syntax and Exegesis. Much like last semester, I'm starting to feel overwhelmed with all of the work I have for each class - but I really do enjoy it.

Work:
I have been able to continue working for Noble Systems while I am in school. I do from home what I used to do when I was back home in Georgia. This has been a huge blessing. Andrea was able to get a job in the Security office on the seminary campus. She really likes her job and the people she works with.

Welcome

Welcome ---first entry---
I am starting this blog for those of you who have committed to praying for us - so you are always up to date with what is going on and what we need you guys to pray about. Our chruch family and friends have been great to support us with prayer, encouragement and even financially since we decided to step out on faith and go to where God is calling us (even though we are not exactly sure where we will eventually end up yet). I think this blog will be the best way to keep the most people informed about what is going on with us. We are so thankful for all of the support that you guys have given. God has truly given us a great church and great friends! I'll try to keep the entries short - I know no one has the time to just sit around and read a ginormous blog entry. Thanks for your prayers! -- Chad