August 2010 Letter

Dear Friends,

We pray this letter has found you at a wonderful time in life. This past year has been an amazing experience that we could not have had without your help. Throughout everything we have never had reason to doubt that our needs would be taken care of. You have truly been a blessing to us.

This summer has gone by extraordinarily quickly and has been a good “break” from the rigors of school. We began this summer by visiting family and friends, and it was wondeful to be able to see everyone and spend some much-needed time with them.

Following this I went to Troy, NY and spent time with James Glascock on a survey trip of the churches in the cities of Troy, Albany, and Clifton Park (with a side-trip to visit with Jim McGuiggan in Boston, MA). I also preached on the subject of the assurance of our salvation as seen in 1st John. The trip was very successful in getting to know the area better and I came away both impressed by the work going on in the area and somewhat saddened that the number of known members of the church of Christ is only around 650 in a population area of about 2.5 million people. We often hear of the need for foreign missionaries to go to exotic places such as Africa, China, and the Middle East, and that is true. However this trip showed me just how badly we need people to take back our own country for Christ. It is truly shocking coming from a place where there are 1,000 people in the church you attend and realize there are more people there than in an entire tri-city area of another part of the country.

Upon returning to Lubbock we had some more time to visit with family, and I had opportunity to work with the Central church of Christ in Lubbock for their VBS summer program. This was a program geared towards a very poor, Hispanic part of Lubbock which gave kids a place to go instead of being left at home alone while their parents went to work. I worked with the 3rd and 4th graders, and occassionally had older kids in my class as well. It was not a particularly easy work to do, but it was extremely rewarding to be able to talk to kids about Jesus who otherwise may never have heard of Him and what He has done for us.

With all this done we are now in school mode again and looking forward to all the things that it holds in store for us. As well as studying and keeping on top of everything, we will be looking for a job wherever it will be best and most effective for us. We are particularly interested in the mission areas of the northeast and west coast, and have no doubt that God will move us in the direction that He wishes us to go, whether near or far.

This year I also plan on preaching in various congregations as they have need in order to continue building up my comfort level with speaking and preaching, and I hope to get some additional experience with youth by helping with activities where needed and possible.

Classes this term are also looking to be very good, helpful, and interesting. The breakdown is as follows:

Minor Prophets: This course is dedicated to the “minor” prophets of the Old Testament. Study of these books includes the books in their contexts, what they said about Israel and the nations at that time, as well as what they have to say about how God views nations in general. A special emphasis is also given to the Messianic sections where applicable.

James / 1 & 2 Peter: A study of the books of James and 1 & 2 Peter, with a focus on their relevance for living in our world today as well as how to correctly teach and preach the epistles. Compiling a database of materials for sermons and lessons is also on the agenda.

Preaching from the Gospels: In preaching lab this term we are focusing on how to preach from the Gospels in order that we may use the good news of Christ to bring people to salvation in Christ.

Family and Youth Ministry Foundations: This class is focused on the importance of conducting a holistic, Biblical approach to family and youth ministry. Defining the Christian world view as opposed to other various world views, and understanding the key issues that have and do influence families and youth are two main aspects of this course. It is also expected to develop clear personal goals for future ministry.

Ephesians / Colossians: This class is geared towards knowing these two epistles in order that their messages may be stated clearly, applied to the church today, and defended against those who would relegate them to a lesser role.

Sacrificial Systems: On Fridays we are learning about the sacrificial systems of the Old Testament with a view and focus not only on the various aspects and details of Old Testament worship, but with a view towards the New Testament and how worship foreshadowed what was to come in the future in the embodiment of Christ, His mission, and His ultimate sacrifice for mankind.

And those are all of the courses! It will be a very, very busy term, but one which I believe is going to be extremely beneficial in the future for teaching, preaching, and helping others to understand the Bible and all that God has done for us.

None of this, of course, would be possible without your help and support. I realize that I say this in nearly every letter or writing but it is amazing what you have done for us and continue to do for us. I know people even still who have to continue to raise support just so they can stay here. To not have that concern frees us from so many worries and chains and it makes life so much simpler to know that we can rely on our family in Christ for every need.

We will be doing all we can to honor the trust you have given us. We recognize that your giving is a sacrifice that is given freely and we hold that sacred, giving thanks to Him who has made it possible. We pray for your life, joy, and blessings, that you may know the same love and care that we feel coming from you. Thank you.

Finally, if you would like to hear the sermon preached in Troy, it can be found at http://sermon.net/jaredkemp

Again, we hope and pray that you have had a wonderful summer and that you have been blessed in everything you have done. May the God of all things grant you peace when possible, comfort when needed, and all that you need to know and grow in Him more and more. All our love we send. Feel free to call, email, or contact us in any way. We would love to hear from you!

Term 4

Hello all, I hope this post finds you well. :-)

Life here is going quite well! Term 4 has begun, and classes are in full swing again. I was originally going to post my grades from last term, I seem to have misplaced my transcript. I can say however, that I made straight A's, so I was very happy with what my efforts paid off with.

Classes this term are going well also. The classes are:

M/W: 1 Corinthians
Church History

T/T: Philippians/Thessalonians
Biblical Theology of Missions

Fri: Letters of John

Mon-Thur: Evangelistic Preaching Lab

So that's the schedule for this term. The load is thankfully a bit lighter than last term, so that helps make it a bit easier. I suppose this would be a good time to talk about our summer plans.

In early June we will be in Katy, TX for our niece Alex's high school graduation. We will probably be there somewhere in the neighborhood of a week. In probably the middle or end of June we will be in the Sacramento, CA area for two weeks. There we will be helping to promote and put on a VBS with the church there. We also plan on being in Bonham, TX at some point in the summer but we haven't figured out when yet.

We are planning to spend about 1/2 of the summer here in Lubbock. During this time I plan on doing personal evangelism in the community and helping out the Central church of Christ here with their promotion drives. The Central church of Christ is a mission church in one of the poorest parts of Lubbock, and as a new church they are making strong pushes to evangelize the community around them. I also plan to devote a large amount of time to personal study, spiritual growth, and spiritual disciplines so that I can be as prepared as possible for what we are going into. There are also some preaching and serving opportunities at various nursing homes and churches that I plan to help out and be involved in. My plans also involve visiting the sick and shut-ins, helping out at the children's home, and serving in any other areas that I can be of use in.

So that's what is going on at the moment. If you have any questions then please let me know. I hope you have a wonderful day and that you are blessed more and more. Thank you so much for taking the time to read and thank you for keeping us in your thoughts and prayers.

In Him,
Jared, Danielle, and Haden

Term 3

Greetings again, all. I hope you are doing well! Life at SIBI continues on and we are now in Term 3. This time, my classes are as follows:

Mon. / Wed. Morning: Acts
Mon. / Wed. Afternoon: Life and Teachings of Jesus II: Matthew

Tue. / Thur. Morning: Effective Bible Study
Tue. / Thur. Afternoon: Scheme of Redemption

Fri.: Evangelistic Methods.

All in all classes have been going very well. The most difficult part of them this term is keeping up with the reading. While there are not quite as many assignments as in past terms, the amount of reading and memorization required are extremely high. It is not unusual for me to be reading for two hours a day outside of classes, then doing whatever homework we may have.

The last two weeks have been on a strange schedule, however. Last week was the Sunset Workshop (which was terrific), which cut off classes Thur. and Fri. Then this week we had snow and ice storms which cut out electricity to the school and ended up canceling classes for Thursday and Friday again. It did allow me some extra time to get my reading done and spend time with the the family, but now there will probably be a little bit of an extra push going to get through all the material.

In other news I received my report card from the last two terms, and my grades have been as follows:

Term 1:
Confident Preaching (introductory lab class): 100
Life and Teachings of Jesus I (Luke): 99
Introduction to Ministry (grammar and writing): 94
Old Testament History I: 96
Spiritual Disciplines: 94
Christian Evidences: 87

Term 2:
Interpretive Reading (reading scripture out loud): 99
Christian Home: 94
Old Testament History II: 92
Greek: 94
Introduction to Homiletics: 87
Evangelistic Message: 94

So there you have it! In the interest of keeping this post under 8 trillion words I'll end it here. I hope you are doing well and pray for all the best things for you.

Thank you for all that you have done, are doing, and will do for us.

Sincerely,
Jared, Danielle, and Haden

Post Midterm and Thanksgiving Wrap-up

Well all mid-terms and papers have been completed and turned in, and so far everything is looking good. We have also made it through our second research week, where class is not in session but we are given a lot of work to do and the opportunity to catch up on things we fell behind one (such as reading assignments). This time around research week was a little bit easier, as I had less studying to do but a little more reading. Accomplished last week was:

Read 2 Samuel - 2 Chronicles 19 (for Old Testament 2)
Read Pages 306-502 in Old Testament Textbook
Wrote a Paper on The Angel of the Lord (for Old Testament 2)
Read and wrote a report on The Five Love Languages (for Christian Home)
Translated 14 sentences from Greek to English, and 2 other Greek assignments
Read two chapters in Biblical Preaching (for Homiletics)
Developed a 15-20 minute sermon (for Homiletics)

All in all, it was a very productive week. The week we got back to classes (this week) I had a Greek quiz tuesday and a Homiletics test Wednesday. Thursday is another Greek quiz followed by an Evangelistic Message test on Friday.

Outside of class life is going very well. Danielle has been a bit sick this week, and Haden has been getting 2 molars in at the same time, but other than those two things life has been wonderful. We have loved walking to the church from where we live now and we have been having weekly get-togethers with friends from school and church. Over Thanksgiving my parents came down and spent a few days with us, and we had a few more people over as well for Thanksgiving lunch. A great time was had by all and we truly enjoyed having the company.

So life has been, as usual, very good to us. We are so blessed to be able to be here and able to learn and grow in so many ways as both a family and as individuals. We thank you for all of your thoughts, prayers and support and we wish you nothing but the best of everything!

Sincerely,
Jared, Danielle, and Haden

Almost 1 month

Well I must apologize for the lack of updates. For reasons explained below, I am only just now getting back the blogs. :-)

Before we begin, I would like to say that classes, while extremely busy, are also going very very well. You learn so much so fast here that I'm actually kind of surprised at how much me (and everyone else) seems to be retaining.

On October 24th (the first weekend after classes began), Danielle and I moved closer to the school. Whereas we used to live around 15 minutes away when driving, we now live 5 minutes away on foot. It's actually faster to walk now than get in the car, drive, and park. This has been a tremendous help in getting Danielle and Haden back and forth from school, and it saves a ton on gas money. Oh, did I mention that it's also bigger than the last place we lived? And cheaper? Yes, it was a really good move. On top of that, we had so much awesome help from our friends here that the house was mostly moved and set back up in about 5 hours, and pretty much completed within the 1st week of living here. Yey!!

If you're wondering how an average day goes, it's something like this:

7AM: Wake up
8:15AM - 4:30PM: School (Nap at Noon)
4:30PM - 9:30PM: Family Time / Church / Dinner / Friends
9:40PM - 10PM: Nap
10PM - 2:30AM: Homework / Studying / Reading / Occasional Free Time
2:30AM - 7AM: Sleep

It's been pretty fun so far. We have (as I'm sure I've said before) loved being here so far and we are so thankful that we have been able prepare for our future this way. We are also looking into the possibilities of mission work in Zambia. At this point we are simply at the information-gathering stage to see if it would be a good fit, and if it is, whether we would be most effective long-term or short-term. It seems the mission mindset here really does infect you and make you think about what's really important and what you should really be doing.

Well, It's getting towards the end of my night, so I should wrap it up here. I will try and be better about post regularity (every 2 weeks, as originally planned), so that you and anyone else interested can stay updated on our progress.

As I say every post, but mean with all my heart, thank you for your support, be it in thought, prayer, financial, or any other way.

Sincerely,
Jared, Danielle, and Haden

Term 2 Incoming

The second term is now upon us, and starting tomorrow. Classes this time around include:

Old Testament History 2 (Judges - Esther, I believe)
Interpretive Reading
Introduction to Homiletics (Preaching)
Christian Home
Greek
Evangelistic Message

Of these courses, the only one I actually fear a little bit is that one called Greek. It's also not Greek as we know it now, but the study of the Koine Greek that a lot of the New Testament is written in. We have daily (daily!) homework, and a *lot* of memorization to do according to the syllabus.

That being said, I'm still looking forward to classes this term, as it will definitely help with my studies and planning for lessons in the future.

In other news, we are moving! We've found a place for less money that is about 2 blocks from the school. This means that I will be able to walk to school everyday, saving money on gas as well. We are very excited about this move because it will make it much easier to get back and forth for all the things going on at SIBI. The new address will be:

3715 32nd
Lubbock, TX 79410

There will likely be a post next Monday as well (maybe even this week) about how the classes look and what we will really be studying in them. Until then we wish everyone the very best and thank you for everything!

-Jared, Danielle, and Haden

Papers, Tests, and Notebooks, Oh My!

Apologies for being a week late with this. There has been a lot going on and I just didn't get around to it last time. School is going very well, and next week is finals, followed by a Break Week where there is nothing to get done and no classes to go to.

This term has really opened my eyes to a lot of things that I hadn't paid very much attention to in the past. The historical reliability of the New Testament comes to mind immediately. The facts surrounding the New Testament as a historically accurate document, and the proof which surrounds it, is not something I was taught growing up, and indeed none of the 15-18 people in class with me, from all over the country, had been taught about it either.

Spiritual Disciplines is another class where I explored areas of our faith that were somewhat foreign to me, though less so. From meditation to fasting to spiritual gifts, just to name a few, and their place and effectiveness in our lives today, has opened up an entire new world within my faith for exploration.

These courses are just a couple of small examples of what I learned about and experienced in this first term at SIBI. I'm planning another series of posts where I talk about each class a little more in depth so that people can get a more accurate picture of life in the classroom here.

The workload is really something else too. Reading several books of the Bible, writing exegetical papers (what stuff means), more than a couple of books, and studying for tests is something that I had to get back in the swing of. I'm pretty sure I didn't have to do as much in college, but then again that was a completely different type of work. Meeting new people, making friends, and spending time with so many others all looking to become what they need to be for the work of Christ has really been a blessing and contributed much more to my own growth than what I could have thought.

Life is good, school is great, and hey, even my grades are quite a bit better than average. Once I have them (sometime after Break Week, I'm sure), I'll post them all up here. The first part of the journey is almost over, but it's also only just begun.

As always, we love you all and thank you for the support of all types that we have from you.

-Jared, Danielle, and Haden