NTM

It’s crazy to believe that we are almost done here with our time in Roach, Missouri. It’s been a great year and we have truly come away with a lot of knowledge from the Missionary Training Center. We don’t feel like we are completely prepared to head off overseas but we feel confident that the things we have learned this year will help us to adjust faster and to be more effective overseas. It will be sad to say goodbye to many of the new friends (middle picture) that we have gotten to know this year but we are hoping that we will run into them in the future as we may be co-workers together overseas.

Our last class that we finish up on Tuesday is called Culture and Language Acquisition. In the left and right photo above we are learning Portuguese, which is used in Brazil. We have been learning how to learn a language and some of the techniques on how best to comprehend a new language. We have spent 8 hours learning Portuguese this past week and we have already learned a mix of over 80 nouns, verbs, adjectives, and possessive pronouns. This is really encouraging to us and makes us excited and confident that we will be able to learn a new language.

Kelli’s parents are coming down to help us move next week and Mike’s parents are letting us borrow their car to tow our trailer. So thanks parents for your help in moving us back to Illinois. We’ll be living in the Quad Cities from May 22-Aug. 5, and plan to make a few trips to the Gurnee/Zion area as well as a few other places in the general area. We hope that we will be able to get together with many of you while we are home for the summer before we take our next step, which is aviation training for Mike in August in AZ.

"Team Bicket"

At our 20 week prenatal visit and ultrasound, it was confirmed (and I mean very confirmed by the ultrasound) that we are adding a little boy to our family! We couldn’t be more excited and we are especially thankful that he is very healthy and growing at the proper rate. We received our first little boy outfit from a friend sporting the words “Little Builder” and if he’s anything like his dad, that will be true!
“Kelli…what did you do?” were the words of our friend Mio who stepped into the room only to see blood trickling down Mike’s arm. So, what was I doing? I had actually just finished administering my first ever injection. And who was the victim? Mike! But don’t feel too bad for him, because he got his revenge on me just a few minutes later when he performed his very first shot.
Since we have been back at the training, we have been taking a variety of classes specifically dealing with practical skills for life overseas. One of our favorites was “International Health & Wellness” where we learned all about how to care for ourselves and others in an overseas environment. We learned about diseases, worms, viruses, wound care, proper medication, and how to deal with many things that we would never face in the U.S. The other classes include: Child Protection, Missionary Technology (solar electricity systems & water purification), and Effective Parenting (how appropriate, right?). We continue to be so thankful for all the practical things we are learning here.

Thanks for your continued support and care for us (all three of us!) during this training!
Love,
Mike & Kelli Bicket (aka: “Team Bicket”)

P.S. Check out our newest video featuring our first administration of injections. http://gallery.me.com/mikeandkelli

Round Two!
After 30 days for semester break, over 1,400 miles of driving, approximately 10 lbs. of Christmas cookie weight (possible exaggeration), and dozens of wonderful visits with family and friends back home, we have now begun round two of our training here in Roach, MO.
We are thankful to have returned to a place we can call home for these next several months due to the great friendships we have been developing with our fellow students and staff. We have been learning that relationships are always what makes a place feel like home, and we’re sure that will be true in each new place we find ourselves in.
This morning began our second week of classes, but as the semester continues, we’re looking forward to learning about health and wellness overseas, missionary technology, animism, folk religions, culture and language learning, grammar for language learning, parenting skills (how applicable, right?), and conflict resolution, just to name a few. Please be praying that God would use these classes to teach us what we need to know to be effective overseas.
We are so grateful for the time we were able to spend with many of you back home, and we’re looking forward to seeing those of you we missed when we return this summer to have baby Bicket! (Just so you know, he or she is doing very well, and I am now almost to the halfway point!)

Love,
Mike & Kelli (”Team Bicket”)

Baby Bicket is on the way!!!
The little tiny tadpole/blob looking thing in the middle of this picture is actually our baby! This picture was taken at our first Dr. appointment about a month ago, and our breath was taken away by this little picture of the miracle that God is creating within me. We are due early next July, so our little one has quite a bit more developing to do before he/she can greet you all! Your prayers for the baby’s health and my health as well are much appreciated.

Mike and I have 1 week left of classes before we head back home for Christmas break. We would love to see you when we are home: we’ll be in the Quad Cities area from December 20-29, and then again January 13-18 before heading back to Missouri. We’ll be in the Zion/Gurnee area from December 30-January 12. Please give us a call (763) 258-6729 or email us if you have any time to get together!

Love, Mike, Kelli & Baby Bicket

Throwing Darts?

"If you haven’t chosen a country to serve in by the end of this year, just pick up a dart and throw it at a world map, and the closest field that New Tribes serves in is where you should go!" While this remark was said in humor, by the end of the "Field Fair" (two days set aside to introduce and focus on the various countries/fields that New Tribes works in as well as their respective needs) on September 18th & 19th, those that had not yet chosen a field to work in began to feel that throwing a dart at a map just might be their best option. The "Field Fair" was an exciting two days as we heard about what God is doing all over the world, but it was also overwhelming as representatives from each country shared over and over again their great need for more help in reaching unreached people groups. Fortunately, Mike and I heard from New Tribes Aviation a few days prior letting us know that both the Philippines and Papua New Guinea (PNG) are in great need of an Aviation Mechanic as well as a teacher. So during the Field Fair, we spent quite a bit of time talking with the representatives from the Philippines and PNG, seeking to discover more about what life would be like and how God might use us in each place.
So, as you can imagine, choosing what country to serve in is a big decision, and we are asking that you would be praying and seeking the Lord along with us. We are holding off on making our final decision until we arrive in Arizona (final aviation training before heading overseas) next year when we have a better idea of the specific needs at that time, as things can change rapidly in missions. Nonetheless, we definitely desire to begin thinking and praying seriously about the country where we will serve.

Thanks for being a part of this journey with us,
Mike & Kelli Bicket (aka: "Team Bicket!")

P.S. We just updated our website with 2 new videos: "Life in Missouri" and "Crud Wars" to help you get a better idea of what life is like here for us! Check it out at mikeandkelli.org

We have been here for over 3 weeks now and are starting to adapt to the change in life.  It’s taken a little to get used to being students again but we are really enjoying the classes.  We feel excited every morning to go to class because we are enthusiastic about we are learning, and the staff here is amazing.  We have been able to meet a lot of neat people here that are in the training with us.  It’s been great to get to know some of the people, and we’re hoping that we will be able to at least be with a few of them when we end up overseas.  There are also two other aviation families in the training with us.  It’s really cool to be able to be with them for this year because we will also be with them next year in Arizona at the aviation training and will possibly be working directly with them overseas.  Thanks for praying for us while we have been making this transition. We really appreciate it.

Thanks, the Bicket’s