Emily Brumbelow Newsletter (Winter 2023)

Dearest Friends, Family, and Supporters; 

Hello to you all! I pray as you read this update that you will be encouraged in all that God is doing.

The Past Few Months

In my last update I had shared with you my plans to take our Bible school students, two interns, and two staff members on a week-long ministry trip. We went up to Breathitt County, Kentucky, to serve with Samaritan’s Purse. A pretty major and devastating flood went through the area in the summer of 2022. Breathitt County is also one of the poorest counties in the United States. This was definitely evident to us as we worked throughout the county. Many of these people lost EVERYTHING in the flood, but still had such joy in their hearts. It was an amazing experience to go and serve with the students, interns, and fellow staff. We had a great time together, and saw God do a lot of amazing things. 

For Thanksgiving I was so thankful to celebrate with a family I work with, the Petersens. We had a wonderful meal together and enjoyed even more wonderful fellowship. So thankful!

In November I celebrated my 27th birthday (yikes), with some good friends of mine. Tim, Faith, and I made a road trip up to northern Florida and stayed at a lake house Airbnb. It was gorgeous up there and we had such a good time! We went to a local state park and saw some beautiful natural springs. So thankful for these pals and for the short trip we got to take. 

After Thanksgiving, the fall term (for the Bible school) wrapped up without a hitch and we went on Christmas break. I had a wonderful time back in Georgia seeing my beautiful family. It was my first time back up there since March of 2022. We enjoyed our time together—catching up, watching Christmas movies, and eating some good food. It was also wonderful to see some of my extended family that I hadn’t seen in person since August 2021! 

After Christmas, I went to see some good friends of mine in Alabama for New Years! It was nice to see their town and have them show me around. Shout out to the Metzler fam for hosting me and making me feel like family.

Happenings As of Late

We started back to work on January 3rd, and the new term for the Bible school started on the same day. We still have our same seven students, who are such blessings. I’m teaching Ethics this term and loving it! I enjoy all the discussions the students and I are able to have. This term will finish at the end of March, and then the spring term will run until June 9th.

Please pray for me as I continue to coordinate the school. I’ve been working to get our school a Student ID Number from the government so that we can easily accept international students. Because our school is not accredited, we are trying to get this number and have it be recognized as an institute instead. This is proving to be quite a difficult process, but I believe God will grant us this in His timing and in His way! At this time, we have two international students accepted to the program, who are waiting on this ID number so that we can apply for their student visas. Please pray with us and for us! The students are from Mongolia and Iceland. 

I’ve also continued working in the Finance Department and focusing my attention on our annual audit and tax returns, which are always such fun. I’m thankful for my student secretary, Abigail. She has been such a HUGE help and blessing to me. 

Another responsibility I’ve been enjoying is being a country encourager/advocate for three of our overseas bases. Miss Pat (a fellow staff lady) and I are responsible for checking in with, encouraging, and going to visit our bases in Zambia, Malawi, and South Africa. In February, Miss. Pat and I will travel for three weeks between these three countries. We’re so excited to go over and see our staff and also give them some guidance and encouragement. We have monthly Zoom meetings where we can see them and check in, but it will be so amazing to see them in person! We’ll be gone from February 12th-28th. Please pray for us, that we would have safe travels and a fruitful time of ministry there. 

As of late, there’s been a lot of changes here at the Florida office! All of the offices are being renovated and folks are being moved around. A few weeks ago, I moved into my newly renovated office, and have been loving it! I can’t wait for everyone to see all of the updates to the buildings once they’re completed. 

What About The Summer?

Summer is fast approaching and we all are SO EXCITED! We have around 130 team members registered and more are being added each day. We’re praying for full teams and a full summer ministry, I ask that you pray with us for this as well. As of now, I’m scheduled to lead a team going to South America. I’m super pumped, as this is one of my favorite parts of the world. This is obviously subject to change, but I’ll keep you guys updated as I know more. 

Overseas Boot Camps! 

Throughout the winter, many of our overseas bases operated national Boot Camps for teens in their own countries. I wanted to share about one of them so you can have a better idea of our work worldwide! This is an update from the country of Uganda:

“On the arrival day of members it was so exciting to receive up to 96 team members. One good story is that there was one team member who was brought by his father together with friends, but he came sick and his condition was not good. So though he was registered and got his name tag, in the afternoon the father was communicated to and he came and took the child for medical help saying “it’s okay he will join next year.” But reaching home the father had no peace because the boy cried and caused trouble about coming back to camp the next morning. When I was asked of the favor by the father, I said this child was registered on arrival day, no need to deny him he has to come and cover his place. So he was brought back the following morning and joined friends in orientation classes and the rest of the camp. So the 96 members plus the 3 from leadership group brought the number to 99. In the course of Boot xCamp one student leader was also disqualified of leadership due to attitude. After counseling he was asked to choose between going home and joining membership. This was hard for him, but the following morning he reported to his head leader that he would be a member. This was an exciting attitude. So it brought membership to 100 in 5 teams.”

We praise the Lord for all that He is doing in and through our overseas staff and students. It’s such an encouragement to me to read updates like this and know that 100 Ugandan youth were out sharing the Gospel of Christ and impacting their own people and communities. 

Thank You

Thank you all for taking the time to read this update. I’m so thankful for you all. 

A verse that has been bringing me a lot of encouragement lately is 1 Thessalonians 5:24, “He who calls you is faithful; he will surely do it.” The verses previous to this are Paul encouraging the Thessalonians to remain steadfast in this process of sanctification and pursuing holiness. Through the work of Christ and His Holy Spirit, we are being continually sanctified and being made holy as He is holy. How beautiful is it to know that in His perfect faithfulness God will complete this process He began in us? I pray that you be encouraged in all Christ does in and through our lives for His glory. 

Blessings and lots of love, 

Emily