Our journey West began in seed form, one year ago, with the decision to begin looking for ministry opportunities outside of Virginia. Having decided that our present circumstances were not where God was calling us to continue our ministry, we began to look for where our gifts would be most useful. For many reasons, the Pacific Northwest fit the bill. Post-Christian, experiencing the effects of drug use, and poverty and homelessness on the rise, it seemed to fit the kinds of gifts and experiences that God has given to me and Mary. But it was not until October that we finally came to the place where it was clear that Oregon was the direction we should go.
We had already been selling off and hauling away all clutter, but now we began in earnest to reduce our worldly possessions to a bare minimum, anticipating the sale of our home in the near future. We obtained a realtor’s services, and began to make plans to head to Coos Bay and stay with Mary’s Aunt Audrey. Warren and Peter would move in with their Oma in Blacksburg and finish out their school year in the comfort of her loving care. We all began to pack up non-essentials and move them to the basement, and to decide what we would need for the Spring and what would go in storage until May.
The house was under contract within 24 hours of being listed for full price without any inspections. The family loved it, and we believed would be great for the neighborhood and the house since they wanted to invest in it and yet maintain its historical quality. Many answers to prayer unfolded over the next several days and weeks as we enjoyed our last holiday celebrations with the family for the foreseeable future. This bittersweet time was full of encouraging memory making with the stress of moving pushed off to January and our closing date of the 12th.
The Move
The time had come. We had planned to spend our last Lord’s day in Virginia saying good bye to friends, but the Lord had other plans. Shortly after New Year’s Day Peter came down with an ugly flu that had infected the whole family except myself by Sunday, the 7th. We faced a week of packing and loading the storage unit with our belongings and our moving crew was bedridden. By God’s grace several friends and family had offered to help, and so we pivoted. Peter rallied enough to help get the first load away on Monday, with an hour’s push from Chris. Tuesday we packed. Wednesday I had hoped Warren could help, but after two boxes it was clear he would never make it. But my dear friend Jeff Mitchell and Nephew Luke Vance soon arrived and dove into the work with a cheerful energy and trucks that brought my drooping spirits back to life. By the end of the day all boxes and loose items were safely stored. Thursday brought the cavalry. Reuben Telling and Sam Miller arrived with gusto and began disassembling furniture and loading up the remnants of our life into their trucks. Warren and Peter were back with energy as well and by the afternoon we had everything stored and Warren loaded with belongings to haul away to family.
My sister, Catriona, arrived and immediately set to work cleaning the house. As we swept our way out of the house the driveway became the catch all for anything going to Oregon, anything going to the dumpster, and anything left for storage. Cleaning out our closets and sweeping up the remnants of the house, our home became a house again with all indications of our place there wiped and scrubbed away. We wished we could have had time to process the loss, but the driveway disaster called us outside. We packed and re-packed the van, culling everything but the bare essentials for life in Oregon. Everything else had to go and Christopher and I made one last run to the storage unit to put away the newly denoted “Non-essentials.” Warren and Peter pulled in just in time to load Warren’s truck and trailer full of dumpster treasures. Loaded to capacity we drove to Mom’s ready for closing.
Mary, after battling the flu all week, collapsed. She woke Friday morning vomiting and exhausted. We drove to the house and I walked it with the new buyers while Mary lay in the car. They loved the house and we headed to closing. We signed away ten years of investment in as many minutes. Special Snacks, Singles, Home Groups, movie nights, game nights, Holidays, meals around the table, devotions in the Library, 100,000 memories, 1 Million laughs, and thousands of tears had found their place in that house. But it was time to go. We drove back to Mom’s and collapsed. I could feel my body give way and the flu symptoms coming on. The Lord had carried me and Mary all the way to the end, and now we were done.
The Interlude
God knew that we needed time, and so he held us back. Originally we had planned to close on Friday and head West on Saturday so we could worship with Mary’s good friend in Illinois. Impossible. I wasn’t going anywhere and Mary was still recovering. Also, an Arctic Blast was covering the middle of the country with sub-zero temperatures and snow. We weren’t going anywhere and it is just what we needed. Mom graciously cared for us and God gave us much needed rest and opportunity to help establish Warren and Peter and encourage all of us through special times of family worship Saturday and Sunday evening. By Monday I was beginning to feel better. Carefully watching the forecast we made ready to leave. A wintery mix was pelting me as I loaded and re-organized the van. The girls grabbed the chance to go sledding with their cousings one last time. We had already said our goodbyes on Friday night, but by God’s grace we had opportunity for another round of goodbyes with the Vance family Monday night.
The Oregon Trail
After a night of tossing and turning we woke up early on Tuesday, It was time to go. We roused the kids and squeezed our gear into the van, barely latching the back hatch. After tearful goodbyes we squeezed Christopher and the girls into the middle seat with Tilly at their feat, and Mary and I slid into the front with snacks, bags, backpacks floating up around us. Sagging low we pulled out of the driveway on slush and waved our goodbyes with a couple of taps on the horn for good measure. We were off!
Our first leg was 11 hours of driving to Columbia, MO just short of Kansas City. Our day started with a snowy climb through West Virginia, our first test of the van’s reliability. We motored up the mountain without a hint of trouble. No traffic, no accidents, just an overworked defroster. Wrapping around Charleston we turned West heading through Kentucky, southern Indian and Illinois, and finally the home stretch in Missouri. Mary took over driving and as the sun set, so did the temperatures. I had been worried about the effect of the arctic blast and this was the night to test our metal as it passed over our heads to the East. As I battled with Cracker Barrel to fix us some supper, I watched the temps drop to 6 degrees. We arrived at our hotel on slush again, and gratefully unpacked our overnight bags in a ritual that would soon become rote. Scarfing down fried chicken we watched the a football game occurring down the road in these freezing temps, wondering at the athletes stamina.
Everyone was in good spirits as we settled into bed, though several were still overcoming sickness. As the lights went out the reality of what had just happened set in. The room began to spin, and close down onto me at the same time. The kids were fast asleep in seconds, but the darkness only brought me distress as I thought about the separation from all that I had ever known as home. This kind of stress manifests itself to me in the form of claustrophobia. I had to resist the urge to leave the hotel, just to breath. The freezing temps and snow seemed to create a cage around me. I felt trapped. Mary was still awake. I talked through what was happening with her, but there was nothing she could do except affirm that we were okay and we were on the right path. The more I tried to rest the more my mind and heart raced with the implications of separation. I just had to get back to Virginia or something inside of me would die! So it went for most of the night. In-between moments of sleep I would wake and wrestle with the fear that I was not safe, that I was unbelievably alone and abandoned. As my wrestling continued two themes continued to present themselves to me. I was not alone or unsafe because God is with me, and through the loss of all things I was finding Christ in new ways that I had never known before. Psalm 23 and Philippians 3:7-8 became my meditation and I remembered how much my sister Jenni had come to know Christ through her time apart in Phoenix, AR. By 6:00 the panic had broken. The wrestling ceased. My prayers were answered and God, my Father was there with me, and the knowledge of Christ was all, even more, than I needed.
I woke up first and made ready. So would begin the first of several morning starts. Bags packed, pets cared for, van stuffed, breakfast grabbed, and we headed West again into the cold. But the cold was “warming up.” Temps were moving into the 20’s even up to freezing. Snow lay all around, but the roads were clear! After skirting around an accident in Kansas, City we moved north to Lincoln, NE where we turned west for the mind-numbing drive across the plains. As the sounds of a six hour “Pride and Prejudice” floated to the front, Mary and I discussed the previous night. In the final stages of sickness our voices were fading, making lengthy discussion difficult. I found myself trapped in my own thoughts, unable to externally process as I would have liked. I took my own advice, given many, many times to those experiencing much worse. “Grab hold of Jesus and push into the pain.” With each trigger I held fast and found His grace sufficient. While it helped to remember the actual facts, and ground myself in the reality of our safety, it was only the confidence that God was watching over us that kept me going. Everyone else was doing well, and as the day wore on and P&P ended Mary pulled out topical cards with questions to keep us going. Soon the van was rocking to the extent we had to tone it down again. As we drew into sight of Cheyenne, WY we were ready for another night. Mary had discovered and secured for us a wonderful hotel, and we gratefully unpacked.
Checking the weather while wolfing down cheap taco’s Mary and I planned the next day, catching up with Uncle Jerry about the mountain passes. A few episodes of shark tank later once again the room went dark. As the claustrophobia struck again, this time, I found the Spirit bringing peace almost immediately. As I struggled, I found the Lord near to grant peace. I knew that this crowded hotel room on the frozen plain was where I was called to be. In the middle of the night, I checked the pass to the West and found it closed! “Surely this will blow over,” I thought, and, “If not then we will pivot.” Even faced with a roadblock I was at peace and so I slept more and better than the last night. At dawn we woke, and as we packed we watched the weather. It was not looking good. We decided to try and headed out.
Only a few miles out the gates came down. Interstate 70 was closed. Pulling off we checked with a helpful trucker who said it was not likely to open soon, summing it up simply with, “It’s very bad.” So we turned back. Stopping at the visitor center I took the girls inside to see a dinosaur model and make a plan for the day. Mary re-booked our hotel and Christopher participated in his Chemistry class in the back seat, via cellular hotspot. Within the hour we were unpacked again in the hotel and fully embracing our God-given rest day. The girls played, Christopher settled in for a Chemistry exam and I started catching up on details while Mary made a grocery list.
One call threw my sense of peace away. Before beginning our trip West, God had provided all that we needed. Our neighbors, completely out of the blue, brought us $1,000 in cash as “seed money” for our Western ministry. I felt safe in providing money to our buyers for tree work on our existing tree that needed pruning. Our closing had gone off without a hitch and we had deposited the check. That check was held because it was so big, and I called to inquire about it. My banker was concerned. She said there could be an issue with the check clearing, but she wasn’t sure. “Don’t worry,” she said, “The money is still there, but if it is held they may need to re-issue the check and mail it to you in Oregon.” Don’t worry she says! This item that seemed so certain was suddenly shaken to the core. I pulled Mary aside and told her the news. Her response? “That was never our money in the first place. If God takes it away then He will take care of us some other way.” I knew she was right, but I needed to work it out. We turned to prayer and devoted it all to the Lord again, the trip, the money, the future we were moving toward, the closed interstate, all of it. Once again, He came near and I had peace.
Christopher found peace after catching up on school, and that afternoon we headed into town to visit the WY state museum and capital. After exploring the wildlife and history of WY, we walked through an almost unoccupied state capital building covered in beautiful artwork, stained glass and stained wood. The only tourists out on this four degree day, we had the place to ourselves, and took full advantage. Grabbing some Chick-fil-e for supper we slid into our slushy parking space at dusk before dashing through the cold to the safety and warmth of our hotel. More cooking shows and Sharktank were enjoyed with fried chicken and snacks before we crashed again into bed. The Interstate had opened that afternoon, and we prayed it would hold.
Now was time for restless sleep out of a desire to go! Not wanting to miss the opening Mary and I both woke up early and ready to go. Rousing the kids we squeezed our breakfasted bodies into our sagging chariot and pressed on. I was grateful to know that our van would start in 3 degree weather without problems, and it was not long before the temperatures started to jump. That is good because as soon as we crossed the first ridge into Wyoming, the winds hit, in earnest. Gusts up to 40 mph slammed our van and we were grateful to be safely stowed inside…except for essential rest stops on frozen tundra. We pressed on with trucks as our only company. After hours of driving, the beautiful peaks of the Wasatch Mountains near Salt Lake City rose up to the south. Then the beautiful canyons came with purples and blues blending into a beautiful display of geological artwork. Passing through the tip of Utah we grabbed a birthday blizzard in celebration of my 42nd year, before heading North into Idaho. Stopping short of Boise, we unpacked for our last road stop before enjoying some local pizza and an episode of Wipeout. Crashing into bed, we slept easy, hoping the Oregon mountains would be clear for us as forecast.
Once again we rose early, ready to go. After enjoying the best breakfast of our trip, we squished ourselves into our van for one last run. Mary started us off, heading into spitting wintery mix and unrelenting fog. We were not missing much scenery, as far as we could tell, and it was not long before we slipped off the interstate into Eastern Oregon’s agricultural heartland. A combination of Virginia and Nebraska we passed farm after farm soaked through with winter precipitation. Soon we were climbing and we found ourselves slipping through beautiful mountain passes on a two lane road caught between cliff and riverside. The blanket of snow made the rugged peaks of violet rock stand out even more distinctly.
Soon we were through and thus began the long, straight and flat run across central Oregon. It was my first glimpse of a snowy desert wasteland, and it did not disappoint. Miles of scrub-brush laid out against a contrasting backdrop of snow. After what felt like forever the scrub brush met evergreens. With a quick rise in elevation we were suddenly passing through an evergreen forest. Here was the real danger…that never was. It is here that the snow storms will suddenly strike. Here that the temperature will suddenly drop and cause the slushy roads to harden into ice. But it was not to be! We passed through the mountain forest in warm rain that washed the roads clean of ice and snow. Feeling sorry for the skiers we passed heading to warm slopes, we sped down the mountain at 7% grades with 3’ of snow plowed to the side of the road. Ever conscious of the van I carefully traded between brakes and transmission, and she ran like a champ. Skirting gorgeous mountain lakes we made our descent to I-5 just outside of Eugene.
Turning South we raced the fading sun wanting to catch all the sights that we could. Shocked at how much this coastal region reminded me of Virginia we all marveled at the deep greens all around. Had we moved to Ireland? After only a few miles on the interstate we again found ourselves on a two lane road winding our way between mountain and stream. Beautiful, fresh, evergreen smells wafted through the van as we raced to beat the night. Soon a heavy rain set in, and the last hour of our trip was a battle against the elements. Tired yet triumphant, we pulled into Audry and Jerry’s driveway and thanked God for His faithful care. Many things have yet to be sorted out, but here we raised our Ebenezer for “Thus far, He has been our help.”
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
This last year has been a challenging one. I have returned to full time employment in order to cover my living expenses, and I am still a handful of classes away from finishing seminary. Please pray for the Lord to provide direction, and opportunity to begin full time ministry soon, while I finish seminary. My employment is not such that I believe it will last until I am done with seminary and yet I would love to be able to already begin working to serve Christ in the church in some way, even without my full seminary degree. Thank you for praying, and please feel free to forward my information to anyone that you know who may have opportunities that I should consider.
In Christ,
Ben
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
Have you found that there are certain truths that continue to echo in your heart long after you first heard them? Sometimes those echoes can be painful. Often I find myself saying, “Haven’t I already learned this? Why does it feel so new?” It turns out that with each wave of echo the Spirit is pressing a new aspect, a deeper knowledge into my heart that leaves me humbled, stripped, and more dependent on the Lord who is working all things to His Glory, and somehow incorporated my sanctification into that plan.
The particular truth that is echoing in my heart at the moment is best illustrated by the rain. Perhaps that’s because we’ve had a good bit of it lately, but either way, it captures the moment of my calling right now. Because, you see, God is pleased to send the rain, and the rain is, as part of his creation, “pleased” to be sent. The rain does not question God. It doesn’t ask why it’s being sent, or how what effect it is going to have. He sends the rain over deserts where plants spring up quickly only to fade away as quickly. He sends rain that brings flooding. He sends rain that gently waters the earth bringing growth and life. In none of this does the rain question His purposes, it simply finds “joy” in service to its God.
Thank you for allowing me to anthropomorphize or humanize the rain a bit. I think this is at least part of what Jesus is getting at in Matthew 5:45 when he uses the rain to illustrate his command to love our enemies. So often we question God’s use of us, His calling on us, because we measure it according to its outcome. It’s fruitfulness. This inhibits our ability to minister because we hesitate to water areas that appear to have no potential for life (as we see it). Christ gives us a different measurement for our service. He says we are to “rain” love on our enemies (and anyone else that doesn’t appear fruitful) because we are sons of God, who “Sends rain on the just and the unjust.” God measures fruitfulness differently than we do, and our calling finds its source, its meaning, in God’s pleasure in us and our joy in His service. The life of blessing that he introduces this sermon with requires giving up our measurements for value and worth and rooting them in Him.
This truth has shaped my pursuit of ministry for longer than I have known, and yet it never gets easier. I still struggle not to define my calling by its outcome—its immediate fruitfulness. I resist God’s unit of measurement that will not be revealed until the last day, when I will surprised to find out how I blessed Him, and how I did not (Matthew 25:31ff). As you consider the prayer requests below, I ask that you do so with this in mind. Don’t ask God merely to take care of my family, help me with seminary, provide funds. Ask God to use me. Ask God to allow me to feel His pleasure when I run, whether I win the race or not, as Eric Liddell is remembered to have said. Ask God to make me rain on the just and the unjust, the good soil and the bad, not questioning His purposes in it.
Thank you for praying for us. We are sustained by your prayers. Here are some of the particular concerns for which we need your intercession:
· As I enter my final year in seminary (Lord willing I graduate in the Spring) I am looking for direction for next steps. I am offering an exploratory, six-week class starting 7/20 that will present my vision for the Church and specifically the church in Radford that we are seeking to discern whether God is calling us to plant. Please pray that this class will be edifying and provide clarity for our future steps. If you would like to attend this class, please let me know, we’d love to have you.
· The Lord has blessed me through GCPC with many teaching and preaching opportunities. These have encouraged and challenged me in fresh ways. Please pray for humility and grace as I continue to refine my gifts in these areas.
· Please pray for Mary as she presses on with home education and household management with an uncertain future in front of her. She continues to encourage me by her devotion to the Lord’s will, but the day to day can be challenging when that will is not altogether certain.
· Please pray for the kids as they also live in these in-between times. God continues to bless them with wonderful attitudes, but that blessing comes in the face of their own challenges.
· And please pray that God will provide financially as well.
In Christ,
Ben
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
I am thankful for the opportunity to reflect again on the Lord’s work in our lives by writing out an update for you. The past few months have been challenging, but we continue to see God taking care of us along every step. Recently our family has taken up Genesis in our devotional time, and the life of Abraham has provided many points of encouragement and warning to us. It has been sobering to watch as Abraham is called from Ur and promised a land and people, only to have to wait until his and Sarah’s body are old and beyond giving life. Despite God’s many promises and the layering on of signs and guarantees, God’s promises seemed to fade with each passing decade.
In some small ways we have been facing something of this fatigue. We clearly are not being tested like Abraham and Sarah, but 2022 has brought a level of weariness in well doing. We are coming up on three years on this road and that itself brings a certain level of fatigue. Peter’s diagnosis of diabetes, chronicled in our Christmas letter, coupled with a need to take on more work hours made this year a harder one. In that we have found ourselves testing God’s call in many ways, and He has remained faithful.
Regarding our path forward, after a lot of study and a series of exams, I am now licensed to preach by my denomination (the PCA). That means instead of occasional preaching, I am now allowed to preach regularly for a church with no pastor or as an assistant to a Pastor. We are hoping that this will open up new opportunities and are beginning to think through our final steps to ordination. To be ordained I have to have a “call” for a particular work, and we are looking now for clear direction from the Lord regarding what kind of work that would be. The burdens that God has placed on mine and Mary’s heart do not fit a conventional church environment and so we are seeking clarity on where God would place us for this initial “work.”
Before I can be ordained I need to finish my studies and take another series of exams. My classes are my focus right now, though I have been struggling to maintain my focus with the multiple different directions I am being pulled. My current class, Hebrew, has certainly been a serious challenge. I continue to have opportunity to teach and preach at my church, and I will be filling in more this summer as my pastor takes study leave. Mary and I continue to expand our discipleship ministry in our community around us, and we are thankful to see fruit in that. Our family as a whole is doing well. Everyone is in good health now and we are very thankful to God.
So, as we march forward in the calling God has given to us, and we find it doesn’t always match up with our expectations, we would appreciate your prayers. Here are some of the main ways you can pray:
· Thank the Lord for his faithful provision for us. My employer is graciously allowing me to step back to two days of work a week, which will allow me more time to study, while still helping with our life expenses.
· Pray for diligence on my part in classes. I am finding Hebrew particularly taxing to my brain and heart at this point and would very much appreciate your prayers as I finish it over the next few weeks.
· Pray for clear direction. I am not exactly sure where we will fit in the Kingdom of God and I would very much like your prayers for clear direction on that point.
· Pray for Mary. Mary has been faithfully walking with me, ready to do what is necessary to answer the call, but this in between time is taxing.
In all of these things we want you to know that we continue to be encouraged by how God is working. We continue to see His fruit in and through our lives. Thank you again for your prayers. They are a constant encouragement to us.
In Christ,
Ben Trice
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
If you knew that starting down the road of following Jesus would lead to the loss of everything, would you start? The longer I go down this road, the more the Lord makes Scripture precious to me. Most recently it has been the Apostle Paul’s statement, “I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord.” (Phil. 3:7). How often have I glossed over this verse, skimming past it and its very real application to my heart! Like Ananias and Sapphira, I find myself compromised, wanting to appear “all in” while holding back a portion and, “Testing the Spirit” (Acts 5:9). Many have misused these texts to assemble their kingdoms at the expense of Christ’s. For many years I used this misuse to minimize and soften the power behind Paul’s statement.
As I follow Christ down this uncertain road of ministry, Paul’s words have been a balm, and I want to share a few reasons why so you can enter into them with me. We live in a time focused on loss. As American’s we have much to lose. Liberty, comfort, peace, the list goes on and on. Paul is not focused on what he has lost. He considers this loss a gain, because its loss has brought on the superlative experience of the excellence of the knowledge of Christ for whom he suffered the loss of all things (Phil. 3:8). What kind of knowledge is this that the loss of everything is worth it? I don’t want to lose everything. I cling to my way of life, my culture, my comfort. Can knowing Christ be enough if it takes away all the things that are gain to me?
In asking these questions I reveal my Ananias and Sapphira like calculations. For it is not that I give up these things in order to gain Christ. He never asked me to give these things up in order to gain Him. In gaining Him, I have entered into who He is and all these treasures of mine fall away like scales from my eyes. By knowing Him, I may know the “Power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings.” I don’t have to give up everything for Him. I get Him, and with Him comes all of who He is both death and resurrection. What a glorious gospel we have been given. In Christ, we die to all things. In Christ we are raised and all things now are made new.
This truth fuels me and mine as we draw near to the end of this first chapter of our path to ministry. I have several updates for you followed by some pointed prayer requests:
· My studies are going well. I am currently tracking for completing my degree by December of 2022. The Lord has renewed my drive through many wrestlings and I am thankful for His grace.
· My internship at GCPC continues to progress, and I’ve particularly been enjoying teaching a Sunday School through Acts.
· We continue to hope that the Lord will allow us to plant a church in Radford, but after further consideration regarding the timing and expense, we have decided to delay taking part in our denomination’s Church Planter Assessment Center.
· Out of preparation for the Church Planter Assessment center, Mary and I established a mentor relationship with a wise and godly couple who have been such a tremendous blessing to us that we now believe the Church Planter process may have been given just to bring this about!
· The Lord has continued to stretch our family while also giving us wonderful opportunities to grow, even in the middle of Coronavirus. Thank you for praying for our trip out West this past summer. We were blessed in so many ways, and arrived home refreshed, energized, and knit together in ways we could not have anticipated. Our vision for the Kingdom of God was expanded and the glory of His creative power. Thank you for praying!
· Mary and the kids are doing well. Warren is making decisions about how to begin his adult life, and everyone else is in the thick of school looking forward to the Holidays. Mary continues to tackle the challenge of home education with an uncertain future, and she is searching for new ways to use her gifts.
Thank you again for continuing to pray for us. We walk as those who are carried along by your petitions to the Lord for His sustaining grace. Here are the areas that we particularly feel the need for your prayers:
· There are several steps in the process of preparing me for ministry that need to happen in 2022. Please pray that He will open the way for us to move through the process of bringing my preparation for ministry to a close.
· As you may remember, we were facing in August the loss of one of the three financial legs that has sustained us for the past 2½ years. The Lord graciously has provided all we need and more (car repairs, health issues) until January. Please pray that he would provide us with a way to make up that third leg.
· Along these lines, Mary particularly feels a burden to be able to earn something toward that third leg. Please pray for clear direction for her and me about ways we can earn money while completing the other callings we currently have.
Thank you for taking the time to read through this update and pray for us. We are grateful for your love and support!
In Christ,
Ben Trice
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
It didn’t take an Einstein to figure out that time is relative. Everyone knows that time moves so fast it can make you feel like you’re standing still. Einstein just figured out the science behind it. Each time I have written an update (Yes, I’ve tried more than once) a new development has led me to pause and wait to send it out. I know that many of you are praying faithfully for me and have been in the dark. Please forgive me. I hope to catch you up now, and be more consistent again in future.
Let me summarize this update in a few bullet points for those who don’t have time for the details that follow:
· Sad news: My father died at the end of 2020. His death altered my perspective on life and sent me into a depression for the first part of the year.
· Good news: I have discovered that I do not need to complete an MDiv degree to be ordained, and I am shifting my degree to an MABS which will be 100% distance and should be close to complete by the end of 2022 (Lord willing)
· News news: Mary and I are planning to take part in our denomination’s Church Planter Assessment in November, which is a preliminary step to becoming one.
· Great news: I am part way through an internship at Grace Covenant Presbyterian Church in Blacksburg, VA. I’m very thankful for the chance to teach and preach!
· Needs news: Our financial circumstances will soon be changing and we need prayer for discernment in how to handle those.
For those of you who want the background to these bullet points, read on!
My Father’s health had been declining for the past two years and so in some ways his passing was not a complete surprise, but it is never easy to face death. I have hope in Christ, and I am grateful that my Dad is with the Lord, but the entrance to eternity is guarded by a fierce darkness. I believe we all fear the ultimate loss of control that we experience in death. I think, if I’m honest, I would have laughed along with those friends of Jairus when Jesus said his daughter was only sleeping. I would have known better. In a new and more personal way I now know death, and it is no sleep. But, like those friends, my problem lies not in my knowledge of death, but my ignorance about Jesus. For Him, raising the dead is no more difficult than rousing those asleep. How I look forward to Him “taking my hand” and saying, “Little child, I say to you, get up!” (Mark 5:40-41)
While processing these eternal realities, I continued to pursue my classwork, though with less zeal than I would have liked. I have done well in my classes, but this year has been particularly challenging. I have lacked motivation and struggled with direction. Some of that fog has lifted through the advice and encouragement of several counselors who pointed me in the direction of amending my target degree. They have reasoned that because of my life experience and the internship program required by my presbytery, I did not need to obtain my practical ministry training from seminary. That results in a considerable savings of time and money, for which I’m very thankful.
At the same time, knowing our desire to plant a church in Radford, they also encouraged me to go through the church planter assessment center for our denomination. This process is intended to reveal any weaknesses and validate strengths to give us direction on how to proceed. We are thankful for the opportunity, and it has already prompted us to evaluate our level of preparedness and take further steps to ensure that we are equipped for this calling if the Lord would allow us to pursue it.
Along the lines of equipping, our home church, Grace Covenant Presbyterian Church, has graciously offered me an internship, filling in for their associate pastor while he is on sabbatical. I am enjoying the opportunity to regularly teach, and I will be able to preach again, which I have missed a great deal. Our pastor and elders have been both kind and clear in their direction and we have been grateful for their guidance.
Many of you support us financially, and we are more grateful than we can adequately express. I am not leading into a request for more support, but I feel a responsibility to give you an honest report on the status of your investment. We set out on this path in August of 2019, not sure how long I would be able to pursue seminary mostly full-time. In God’s mercy we have made it thus far on Savings, Part-time work, and Financial support. I always knew that when I lost one of these three “legs” my plans would shift. It appears that time could be here as soon as August or September of this year. I have never wanted to fundraise, and I am assuming that I will simply need to increase my work hours and reduce my course load. I tell you this for two reasons. First, I need your prayers, not just for provision, but also for faith, trust, wisdom, and real-time discernment. Second, those of you who are supporting me shouldn’t do so without knowing that such a significant shift might have to happen.
Along these same lines, as a praise, and in the interest of 100% transparency, we have been gifted a driving trip to see friends and family out West. We will be gone 2½ weeks in June and would very much appreciate your prayers for safety and recharging. We are not burned out, but we do smell some smoke!
Thank you for taking the time to read through this update and pray for us. We are grateful for your love and support!
In Christ,
Ben Trice
Dear Fellow Laborers,
Autumn is one of our favorite seasons in the Trice household. We love the coolness of the air combined with the warmth of sweaters and blankets, and the burst of colors mingled with increasing darkness. Perhaps our love for this season is a reflection of our love of clarity and definition. We enjoy wrestling with contrasting extremes and struggling to hold them together, and I can think of no better way to describe this season.
For many this time of year brings pain and discomfort. The cold and darkness are overwhelming and depressing. Death looms large around every corner, even if only metaphorically. Farmers know this better than most as they struggle with the dwindling and all too brief growing season, but even those of us whose dominion taking is reduced to a small area of turf know that we no longer need to cut it. How can such a time as this be a season filled with joy? This is where the notion of contrast electrifies my enjoyment of Autumn. I do not find joy in death, but the reality of death enhances the life we have in Christ Jesus. I believe this is what Paul is getting at when he says we gain through death.
But there is more. We do not have joy in death merely because through it we gain something for ourselves. It is Who we gain that is our joy, not merely our escape from death itself. Pagan cultures of every age have mourned the onset of Fall and felt bound to offer sacrifices to their gods in hopes that they would reverse the death they see all around them. Our God has offered us more than we could possibly hope to gain via our sacrifices. He has offered Himself, in Christ. While we constantly set our hope on escaping Autumn so that we can enjoy the Spring, He constantly reminds us that He is Spring. He is life, and our sights are set far too low when we aspire to nothing more than an escape from death.
We like Jairus’ family can rightly be overwhelmed by the pain of death. We, like they, need to be reminded that, “The child is not dead, but sleeping.” (Mark 5:39). Of course she was dead, but what is death to our Lord? Nothing. And if our hope rests firmly on Him, we too will one day hear Him say, “Little girl [little boy], I say to you, arise.” (5:41). Our death, our Autumn, will become the contrast to His most glorious, eternal Spring, when He will take us by the hand and finally draw us to Himself.
You may have already guessed that we have been spending some time outdoors! The last few weeks have been quite busy, but we have found time enjoy the outdoors as a family. We always enjoy an annual Fall drive to Mabry Mill on the Parkway, and we added new adventures this year by camping at Steel Bridge campground and taking a field trip to Monticello. Beautiful colors and biting cold made for an interesting mix on both trips, but we love getting a chance to break away from our books for bit!
That has been the bulk of our day to day activities. If you come by our home at any given moment you will find me in the library memorizing Greek vocabulary, reading theology or prepping for attending or teaching a class. Mary and the kids split their space between the Dining and Breakfast Room. The older in the former and younger in the latter. Both tables overflow with books and notebooks, spilling onto the couch and chairs surrounding. The click of keyboards is occasionally drowned out by the unsolicited groans of minds stretched beyond their limits. What doesn’t kill you can make you stronger…we hope. It is crunch time, and we appreciate your prayers this November as we strive to complete our semester well.
You can praise the Lord with us for Mary’s relief from back pain. The accident this Summer threw her back out, and she has only found substantial relief from that in the last month. She is still continuing to receive physical therapy, but please rejoice with us for her deliverance from pain. Please pray for me as I continue to try to balance the weight of my studies and continue to be a blessing to my family and friends. The Lord continues to bless my work and I am progressing both personally and ministerially. I am, Lord willing, coming under care of Presbytery soon, which means I am now starting down the track of being officially recognized by my denomination. This is a long track with many steps. Please pray for wisdom and endurance.
Above all, I ask that you pray that Mary, the kids, and myself would love God more and more. This may sound obvious, but because we are all consumed by study, it can be easy for our knowledge of God to push out our love for Him (I Cor. 8:1-3). So, please do pray for protection against dead knowledge, and ever increasing love for Him.
Dear Fellow Laborers,
We face many challenges in this life from without and from within. These challenges appear suddenly, like dark clouds, blocking out the sun. In the moment all is dark, and the light of God’s purposes can be blocked from our view. It is only as He, in His kindness, breaks apart the clouds that their purpose is made clear. As the light of His grace pours through its beauty is reflected against the darkness. Some areas remain obscure, others fully exposed, but in the contrast we see the masterpiece of His providence. God continues to use your prayers to break up the clouds and reveal to me and my whole family the light of His grace.
I have been meditating on this subject for many reasons, but one of the more delightful ones came in my preparations to bring God’s word to the delightful members of Christ at Wellspring, ARP. I was meditating on the woman afflicted with a flow of blood that Mark tells us about in his fifth chapter. I have no doubt that this woman had long lost hope of serving any important purpose in the providence of God. She had done all she could to heal herself and spent all she had on doctors in the process, yet after twelve years she remained unclean, and unable to enter the presence of God in the Temple according to the Old Covenant (Lev. 15). Her situation is framed within the death of Jairus’ daughter, and it is as if death itself had risen from the grace to lay hold of this woman before her time. Cut off and without hope in her own body, she turns to Jesus, with the simple hope and prayer, “If I touch even his garments I will be made well.” Here are some observations I took away from her experience:
· Hundreds of years of Old Covenant signification is represented in this one woman’s experience.
· Anyone who touched this woman…even her garments…would be made unclean.
· Jesus is not. Jesus cleanses the unclean. Jesus brings life from the dead.
This woman, who sought so long to cleanse herself, so that she could enjoy her place among God’s people is a walking parable for us. We cannot cleanse ourselves in order to enter God’s presence. Only by touching, being united, to Christ and having His power flow in us can we come. Consider the beauty of the light that shines in this woman’s dark experience. The beauty of the Gospel, that Christ has come to cleanse the unclean.
Our experiences over the past few weeks have not been nearly as dark, though we have had some difficult times. Mary has been afflicted with Sciatica and in serious pain until just this week. On top of that we struggled to find a new family vehicle. God answered your prayers on our behalf by providing, through a non-profit organization called Mats.org, a wonderful replacement van. The insurance money and your gifts have paid for it in full, and we are very thankful! He even provided it in a color that Mary loves, which was an added blessing. Thank you for praying and participating in our need.
On another, equally happy note, Mary and I celebrated our 17th anniversary by spending the day in Roanoke and enjoying the Taubman Museum of Art together.
I am finishing up a summer counseling class which has been delightful. I find myself being tested and stretched in many good ways. I will be taking three classes this Fall and would appreciate your prayers for my stamina since they are heavier credit loads. I am also planning to continue teaching as I have opportunity. In addition to preaching at Wellspring I have enjoyed leading our evening service at Grace Covenant twice. I continue to be blessed by witnessing the Lord’s work in the lives of several of my friends with whom I meet regularly.
I had asked you to pray for the Lord to give me wisdom regarding my future planning and He has answered your prayers. When I started down this path to ministry I had roughly one year planned out. Here on the one year anniversary of my start I am looking ahead with hope of completing another year before I need to consider more drastic changes in my plan. At this point about 1/3-1/2 of our monthly bills are paid through the combination of my work as a maintenance man and some very generous monthly supporters. The rest has been covered through savings and one-time cash contributions from you or good old Uncle Sam. In order to ensure that I am able to press forward for another year I have cashed in a modest retirement account that I had with my former employer. My hope is that I will be able to obtain more clear direction by the end of that year and perhaps even utilize my gifts in some form of employment in order to support myself as I study. Please continue to pray for us and ask for the Lord to give us clear direction and provision for the future!
Our New (to us) Van!!
In Him,
Ben Trice
Our June has slipped past us so quickly that our update has slipped into July! It has been an odd start to the Summer. Almost anti-climactic. We are used to a bit of a jolt from the busy school year wrapping up to the more chaotic world of summer activities. Covid-19 has smoothed out every wrinkle in our life and extended the social calm into our summer months.
While at first this calm has been encouraging and refreshing, like a prolonged hug, it has moved beyond comforting to become stifling. Mind you, we don’t blame any particular person for this sensation. It is simply a reflection of our experience of the prolonged effects of the Covid-19 phenomenon. This experience led me recently to consider the first chapter of Ruth in preparation for preaching. I am regularly moved by Naomi’s declaration that the Lord, “brought her home again empty.” (Ruth 1:21). Naomi had experienced prolonged affliction. She states simply, “The Almighty has afflicted me.” Some would point out her husband’s unfaithfulness in going to Moab in order to justify the Almighty, but I don’t see Naomi accusing the Lord of injustice. I see her at the end of herself, feeling the effects of prolonged affliction. Like Job, she wonders what the point of her life has been if only to be emptied of all she considers worthwhile.
As I contemplated Naomi’s condition. Three points rose to the surface:
· Affliction empties God’s children of what they consider worthwhile (Husband, sons, social and financial security)
· That they may be filled with His treasure in hidden vessels (Ruth, a Moabite, in the line of Christ)
· Through their faithfulness to Him in affliction (Ruth’s devotion to the God of Israel comes through her relationship with Naomi. “Your God, my God.” 1:16)
Naomi had no idea that her faithfulness to God through affliction was bringing into her home one of the women whose Seed would crush the Serpent’s head (Gen 3:15). In fact, all she could see was what God had taken away from her life, and it made her bitter. I can be like Naomi and only see how God has emptied me, and not the blessings He is pouring into my heart and life. Naomi consistently reminds me to measure my fullness on the scale of God’s eternal plan, and not my earthly aspirations. I am awed by how God used her imperfect faithfulness to execute His eternal plan more each time I read this book.
We, under much easier circumstances, are seeking to remain faithful to the Lord. My spring studies finished very well with top marks in each of my three classes. I am taking two classes this summer in Pastoral Theology and Counseling. My Pastoral Theology professor, Charlie Wingard, has over thirty years of experience as a pastor and his example and instruction were both incredibly encouraging and helpful. I am hoping to continue classes at almost full-time levels this Fall, but that remains to be determined at this point.
Mary and the children are doing well. We have enjoyed two birthdays this month (Peter-14 and Christopher-12) and with the crush of Spring Semester over we took a day to visit old town Wytheville, VA with its many historic buildings and antique shops. June has been a month of catch-up. We have been reuniting with old friends and new as Covid-19 restrictions have begun to lift. I have had more flexibility to meet one-on-one, and lead Bible-studies. Our church is beginning to hold services again and I am having opportunity to help in some ways with that multi-faceted effort. Mary is re-tooling for Fall classes already and we are trying to take advantage of the quickly passing Summer months!
Thank you for continuing to pray for us and our path toward ministry. As you pray, here are some specific concerns. 1) Please pray that we will remain faithful to God’s purposes in our work, and not be distracted by our own. 2) Mary recently was backed into and it looks like our faithful, old van is headed for the scrapyard. This unexpected expense is testing our faith and forcing us to rely on God’s provision even more since now it looks like we’re going to have to get a new family vehicle. 3) Please pray that I will have discernment and humility as I try to plan for the future. I was hoping to have a plan articulated by the middle of July, but Covid-19 is making that challenging.
Thank you for your love and care for us. We would love to know how we can pray for you. Please take a moment to respond with your requests so that we can join with you, as you have joined with us to bring His Kingdom to earth as it is in Heaven.
In Him,
Ben Trice
I continue to be thankful for each of you and your prayers on my behalf. Over the last month I have found an increasing peace and trust in the Lord’s care for His people. I know that may sound strange when there is so much to be anxious about in our world today, but I am seeing the Lord use the anxiety and pain created by the Coronavirus in the hearts and lives of many people for their good and His glory. For myself, it continues to humble me and reveal my unholy fear. Like the disciples on that wind-blown sea of Gallilee, He is turning my fear of the waves into the fear of the One whom wind and wave obey.
The Parable of the Talents (Matt. 25:14-30) has been particularly encouraging to me at this time. The context of Jesus’ teaching is in the shadow of the Cross. He, like the Master He tells about is going away, and leaving His servants His goods to invest for Him. I have been meditating on my role as a steward of God’s gifts and what that means at this time, and I have a few thoughts to share with you that I hope will be a blessing to you.
· The Master gives talents, “To each according to his own ability.”
· My Master knows my abilities. He’s given me neither too many nor too few talents.
· I need not covet my fellow servant’s talents, but only to invest my own to the utmost.
· I serve a Master who reaps where He has not sown. It is not mine to determine the fruit that my labors will bear, but by faith to till the soil and plant the seeds that He has given me with the abilities that He has given me.
We serve a God who brings life from the dead (John 11, Ezek. 37). He can reap where He has not sown, and so he resembles the “hard man” of the parable. This hardness, while at first terrible to behold, gives us something to cling to when all the world seems soft and weak. And as we cling, we look up and find our grip is fixed upon the hardened knots of the tree where all His hardness was spent. Yes, our Master is hard, but in Christ our investment is already sure, and our talents cannot return empty when spent in His service.
My studies continue to go well. I am wrapping up three classes the second week of June and starting a summer intensive course the same week. I am hoping that by the end of the summer I will be close to ¼ of the way toward my Master of Divinity. While the shutdown has inhibited my ability to teach or preach, it has opened new opportunities for interpersonal relationship building, for which I’m very grateful. I have found many of my friendships deepening and mutual edification enriched due to the inability to gather corporately. I have also had opportunity to write more, both to flesh out my thoughts on the Coronavirus, and to provide answers on other topics when asked. I have much to be thankful for personally through all of this!
The family is doing very well. Everyone has just finished with school, which they are very excited about. Mary is already getting ready to start planning for next year! She will be teaching two history/literature/religion courses, along with all the normal responsibilities that she carries. I hope to join in by teaching a high school level course on Systematic Theology. Everyone is healthy and mostly happy. God has been very gracious to us and we have little reason to complain, but it is hard being away from Church and apart from friends for so long. At least we have toilet paper!
As you pray specifically for the future, please pray that I will have wisdom in my future planning this summer. All in all, we continue to need clear direction and provision. Thank you for praying!
In Him,
Ben Trice
April, 2020
Trice Family
Path to Ministry Prayer Update
It is Spring! We are very grateful for the blooms and birds that remind us of the faithfulness of our God. These reminders seem to be even more important in light of the pandemic and the confusion that it has brought to our lives. He is good. His purposes are not thwarted by these things. They are worked out in and through them. If the death of Christ was but the prelude to His resurrection, then so it is in us. Our hope is not in the comfort we find in this life, but in the new life we have in Him.
These last few weeks have been hard. The pandemic and resultant stay-at-home orders have not affected our daily lives as dramatically as some, but the spiritual and emotional disruption has been intense. The entire family has struggled with staying on task when the world seems to be turned upside down. For myself, I have struggled tremendously with a sense of responsibility to produce a well thought out response to the pandemic and the government response to it. God has graciously worked in my heart to teach me several truths that I would like to share with you.
· God is good and God is great. His plan is beyond my comprehension.
· God calls me to serve where I am today, not where I will be tomorrow.
· God’s uses my faithfulness to my calling today to work out His plan.
For some of you these truths may be obvious. For me they are the lessons of a lifetime. I have struggled my whole life to be content with God’s plan. Not just for me, but for all of life. I want to see His Kingdom come in the way that I think it should come, and I am often not happy with the way He is working things out. I often think I need to step in and help explain God to the world. Some of you know what I mean. We grow weary of waiting for God to change our spouse, our child, our friend, ourselves! We long to see God more and so we grab the reigns of our own bridle and seek to take control. What a relief that God continues to gently break me! He firmly, and kindly, has put His hand over my lips yet again and taught me to sit quietly in His presence and wait on Him.
Some of you are getting this Prayer Update for the first time, and you may be wondering when you will get to hear about all the things I’m doing to increase my ability to become a pastor—a shepherd for the flock of God. I do want to share those things with you, but first and foremost I want you to hear about how God is shepherding me. Since you are praying for me and my family, you need to hear about the most important answers to your prayers first and foremost. Yes, it is important that we have food and a roof. Yes, I need to do well in my classes and continue to progress in my MDiv degree. Yes, I want more opportunities to teach and preach. However, all of these things will mean nothing if I have lost my first love. If in seeking to become a shepherd I lose sight of my Shepherd I will be worse off than if I had never started down this road.
So as you pray for me and my family, please pray first and foremost that we will know the Love of God, the Grace of Jesus, and the power of the Holy Spirit more and more. If God is not my all in all, I will not only be useless to the people of God I will damage them and myself as well. I am serious when I ask for your prayers in this regard. Pray that I will not indulge the flesh but will walk in the Spirit. Pray that my family will grow in grace and love for God and for His sheep. Pray that His kingdom will come through this endeavor and that His name will be hallowed.
With that said, here are the details of our daily life so that you can intercede on our behalf in these areas as well. Mary and the kids are doing well. Homeschooling is continuing as before with little change, except an elevated level of distraction due to the Coronavirus. You can pray for determination to finish the Spring semester well. I finished my winter intensives several weeks ago and am working my way through my Spring semester of online classes. I am learning a tremendous amount about the Word of God and about myself. It’s not easy going back to school at this stage of life and I’m grateful to be keeping a 3.6 GPA.
I am working less hours (along with the rest of the world), but we continue to have all that we need at this time. I would appreciate your prayers for continued clear direction from the Lord. I am working to have a more permanent plan in place by July for completing my seminary in three more years. I am content with whatever path the Lord sends me down, but I ask that you seek Him with me to make that path clear.
We thank the Lord for your prayers on our behalf, and your love and support. I plan to send a brief update every month from now on and would love to include you on that if you are willing. Please let me know.
In Him,
Ben Trice
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12/17/2019
Time for an end of the year update! Life continues at a quick pace. Since August I have started classes, obtained a part time job, moved my membership, provided pulpit supply, and continued lay counseling--along with the other normal elements of life!
I recently completed my first three classes at RTS with a .92 GPA. I was deeply challenged by the transition from secular employment to part time work/part time Seminary/part time ministry/etc. The Lord graciously provided all the brain power and energy that I and my whole family needed to make this transition smoothly.
I am gainfully employed at a local Comfort Inn as a maintenance man. The hands-on work is very helpful when my brain hurts from studying and the income, while modest is still very helpful. It along with support from family and friends, and spending from savings, is making this process possible. We are still uncertain exactly how to get all the way to the end of this process at this point and would appreciate your prayers for wisdom and provision.
After further evaluation with my Elders at Redeemer Church we decided it was best for me to transition to a different church in order to receive more impartial oversight. Since David Vance, Pastor at Redeemer, is also my brother-in-law and my brother and parents are also members there, it was going to be challenging for me to receive the thorough evaluation that preparation for the ministry warrants. After seeking further council we decided to transfer our membership to Grace Covenant Presbyterian Church in Blacksburg, VA. The Pastors, Christ Hutchinson and Taylor Rollo, have very kindly met with me and offered encouragement and assistance as they were able. They do not currently have an opportunity for a Pastoral Internship, but they are very willing to consider future opportunities as the Lord leads.
This Fall I had the delightful opportunity to preach the first of every month at Woodside EPC in Roanoke, VA. The people at Woodside were very kind and were a great blessing to my entire family. We preached through a series on Mark, and I hope to be able to post some of those messages online soon in order to give you an opportunity to hear some of my preaching if you so desire.
Along with these other opportunities I have continued be blessed with the Lord bringing me more and more opportunities to be Christ to those who are hurting. This fallen world is a dark place and it has been a tremendous privilege to be able shine His light into it through the words and actions that He gives me.
Mary and the kids continue to hang in there. This has not been an easy transition for them, but they have been committed to it. They have been patient with me as I evidenced greater and greater stress. They have born the partial separation from their Church friends and the general upheaval with a high level of grace, for which I thank God on a daily basis! He is good and He not only gives the call but provides the grace necessary to bring it about.
Thank you for praying for us. That is the most important thing you can do for us. God knows all things and He is in control of all things, and we desire above all things to be humbly submissive to His will. Please pray for wisdom and grace. Pray that I will be increasingly filled with the Spirit of Christ, and that He would submit my will completely to His, no matter what that means. My goal is not to enter the Pastorate. My goal is to do the will of God. Please pray that He will continue to guide me in all that I do, that He may be glorified.
In Him,
Ben Trice
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8/26/2019
"We definitely think you should be a Pastor, but how are you going to do it?"
This is by far the most common reaction that I have experienced as word has gone out about my plans to go into the ministry. It's a good question! Married with 5 kids, 3 years of seminary, internships, examinations, ordination......in human terms it doesn't seem to work. I don't want to over-spiritualize the situation by naively proclaiming, "God will provide." BUT here is what I have come to realize. God's provision is no different for me today than it was for me a week ago. I was no more secure when I worked a day job than I am today! Was I relying on the Lord to take care of me? If I examine my heart I see a mixed faith, that He has been gradually purifying. I have been weened from my dependence on a day job to depend wholly on His hand. When I look back I see how that He long ago convinced me that my provision was not in the hands of my human master, but in my Heavenly Master.
So what does that mean for me today? Am I simply "letting go and letting God?" No, God has called me not just to have faith, but to walk by faith. Here is how I am walking:
I am looking for part time employment that would provide me the flexibility to study while at work. I am looking for something in customer service, watching a desk or checkout counter or providing security that doesn't require constant attention, but rather being "on call."
I am fundraising. Anyone who supports me should do so out of a sense of opportunity not obligation. I don't want support from a burdened conscience, but support from a heart filled with faith that God is raising me up to be an instrument to grow His Kingdom and care for His sheep.
I am working out the details.
I have been accepted into the MDiv program at Reformed Theological Seminary, Charlotte. I am going to start online courses in the next two weeks, Lord Willing.
I have been working with my Church Elders to decide the best path forward for my development at this level. My Church is already providing a portion of my tuition for Seminary, and I am exceedingly grateful for their generosity. Please pray for wisdom for us as we decide what is best way for me to continue my growth.
I have nailed down a streamlined budget and am working on further streamlining. At this point we need between $5,500-$6,000/month to live, and I am working on multiple avenues to meet that goal each month.
Lots going on, and lots still to do. Thank you, thank you, thank you for your support and encouragement and prayers!
Ben Trice