c_of_brazil@yahoo.com
s_of_brazil@yahoo.com
Phone: 262-832-7208

Cynthia and Stefanie Armour
New Tribes Bible Institute
915 North Hartwell Avenue
Waukesha, WI 53186

“My heart says of You,
‘Seek His face!’
Your face, LORD,
I will seek.”
-Psalm 27:8

Alkdfjklajeaklfjdoaifjdadifjakldfjakldjfakldfjaodijfaklfjdakldfjklajdfklajdfklajdlkjaldkf Location: All alone in the Library
Time: 6:59 p.m.
I’m sitting at the computer staring at the screen. I face a daunting task: 
MY FIRST PRAYER LETTER!!!!
 As I stare at my fingers (for inspiration) I’m trying to think of a way to scoop up all the memories, wonderful experiences, and all that God has taught me in the last month, dump them into a box, shake them around and pull out a neat little letter!   
That won’t happen, though! 
	So with a prayer to the Lord for help – here goes! 

First I must start out my letter with the greeting. Here are my options: 
1.	“Dearly Beloved” –Very spiritual sounding, and you are dear and beloved
2.	“Yo” – We were the “Gang-Green” for Field Day here on Campus, and that was our greeting. Very Cool. Not spiritual sounding; though!
3.	“Hey y’all” – This was the Red Team’s greeting. They were the Red Neks (Yes, that’s how they spelled it!) 

Hey Y’all!!! (They won Field Day- so I am forced to use their greeting!  )
  
Now the body of the letter. Before I write I’m assuming one of three things about those reading this:
	a) You don’t know me from Adam! You’re wondering how in 
    the world you got on this mailing list!
      b) You’re skimming this- you have a very busy schedule! 
      c) You love me sooo much you’re going to read every word I write!
 I can count on one hand the people who fall into the third category. About 99% of you fall into the second so I’ve formatted this letter for you! It’s got handy-dandy little titles for each section. Read the section that you feel like reading and skip the rest! Ready? Here goes! 

About NTBI

	
History: This school was founded in the 1950’s by New Tribes Mission to train young people to take the gospel to every tribe and tongue and nation. It has been called the “cutting edge” in missions today because those who graduate from here and go on to be missionaries are literally turning the world upside down. Martin and Gracia Burnham made headlines internationally, but they are just two out of thousands of missionaries who are living on the front lines as far as the gospel is concerned. 

Goofy Facts Quiz: 
Mark true or false: 
1.	It sounds like the U.N. when you’re walking down the hallways.   ______
2.	The teachers are highly-paid professionals.  ______
3.	The school is located on the only hill in the city. _______
4.	Saturday brunch is the very best meal of the week. ________
5.	Waukesha is a very tropical place. ________

Answers to the Goofy Facts Quiz: 
1.	True. There are so many students from different places! Most are American kids who grew up in the foreign country where their parents worked as missionaries, but some are international students. So: 
-I practice my French on the students who grew up in Ivory Coast. 
-I Hear German when my roommate calls her mom and dad (who live in a city that I   can’t pronounce.)
- I tell Happy Birthday to Luyba (a beautiful Russian girl) 
-I hug Yun Je when her parents drop her off at the Nursery. (They are from Korea)
2.	False. Although the teachers here are all professionals they are not paid a salary. They could be anywhere else and get a lot of money but they choose to teach here as a full time ministry. By teaching us, they are reaching the world! 
3.	True. It’s the only hill around! We have a great view of Caroll College from our balcony.
4.	True!!!! I love Sunday Brunch! I wouldn’t miss it for anything! (Grapes, strawberries, kiwis, waffles and whip cream, hash browns..) I better stop; I’m drooling on the keyboard! 
5.	 False. Woefully false. Alas, my prayer-partner prays almost daily for God to “thicken the blood of the m.k.’s” (An “m.k.” is a missionary kid, and most of us grew up in tropical locations so Wisconsin weather can be scary!)  

My Classes

1.	Doctrine 1 – Ernie Richards is shorter than I am but we’re talking serious intimidation here! This is a teacher who has the entire pi formula memorized! Where most of us only say 3.14; he says the whole thing. He has dates and facts on the tip of his tongue and you’ll get a cramp in your hand from taking notes. He’s awesome! 
2.	Old Testament History- Dwaine Stous was the dean of men when my dad studied here! He speaks of the passages we study in class like they are old friends. My heart is always blessed in his class.
3.	Biblical Foundations- We have the biggest freshman class in the history of NTBI but Jody Riethmiller knows every name by heart. He will always greet you in the hallway and will stop whatever he’s doing to chat with you. 
4.	Pentateuch- This class just started, but Adam Demark already made us write a paper about Creation. (6 days or 6 thousand years? Why it makes a difference what you believe) One thing I can say about Adam, he was on the Green Team and it was awesome how he was just “one of the team.” 
5.	Proverbs- We haven’t started this class yet. 
6.	Apologetics – Naturalism. Deism. Nihilism. Postmodernism. These were once foreign words to me, but Scott Kneivel has made them part of my vocabulary. We just finished doing a survey analyzing someone’s worldview. (I went to Barnes and Nobles and interviewed a college student. Stef interviewed a punk and a guy from India at the mall) 
7.	Hermeneutics- Haven’t started this one yet. 
8.	Jewish Culture- Haven’t started this one yet. 
9.	Greek- Aghhhhh! I have a love-hate relationship with this class, which is by far the hardest one! But it was an elective and I chose it and I love it. If we had any teacher other than Jason Weaver I probably wouldn’t make it! I also sit by a girl named Alicia from Trinidad and she cracks me up! (Stef doesn’t take this class)
10.	 Hold the Ropes- Stef hasn’t started this one yet. (I’m not taking it.) 

Wonderful World of Applications

Stefanie and I are planning on working our way through Bible School. Job applications aren’t easy, though! How do you explain who you are? At least it’s not as hard for me as it is for Lucy Tinker! (my adorable roomate) 

1.	Her dad is Australian
2.	Her mom is Irish
3.	She was born in Indonesia
4.	She grew up in Papua New Guinea
5.	She is now studying here in America! 

So Stef and I have hit the proverbial road going job searching. One place we applied at had guys behind the counter who could barely speak English!

For a long time we thought we’d found a great job. Don’t laugh: we were training to be bus drivers. I know, I know- ridiculous idea wasn’t it? But we almost made it through the intense training when they told us they had no more routes available! They will have routes in January, though.

Tonight Stef and I applied at a place called “Famous Daves” to be waitresses. We’ll see what the Lord opens up! In the mean time we are living on faith! 

This is Where I Close

	I praise God from the depths of my heart for bringing me here. I can’t imagine being anywhere else! It hasn’t been easy being so far away from my parents and my brother who are still in Brazil, though. Yesterday I burst into tears listening to a song about a mother and her son. 

	Sometimes I feel like I’m in the Navy Seals when it comes to the pace we keep up here. Sometimes I miss my babies (the children I taught in Brazil) so much I ache for them.

But I’m here. 

And God wants me here. 

I wouldn’t trade being in the center of God’s will for anything in the world!  
All my love, 
Cynthia for both of us 

Cynthia and Stefanie Armour 

This is my P.S.

Do you have any idea how popular one is when one receives a letter here?? How everyone looks upon that person in envy? Oooooh… and packages! Packages are even better! 

Now is your chance to boost our popularity!  Go for it!!!