Are You Ready? We Are Ready!

Here we go! Alpha and I are launching our new ministry! We have joined Global Grace Fellowship and are starting our journey back to Bangladesh. Below is our new website! Get excited! We are excited!  Click on the "News" tab to hear two of Alpha's new songs. Support information is under Donate and Alpha and I would be happy to come speak at your church or small group. Send me an email emillermk@gmail.com. 

Alpha Studio Bangladesh

The Waiting Place

There are so many emotions going on in m heart today. I was reading an article about the Rohingya refugee crisis in Bangladesh, saw a short clip on Facebook about the lack of value daughters have in India and about how a man walked into a Denver Walmart and killed three people only a couple blocks from my brother's house. With all the turmoil in the world it can be hard to find the joy and thank God for his blessings. But even in, especially in, the dark times God is there and His plan is perfect.

This is not the first time I have asked God "why are we here and not there?" But I can see God moving here in little Wescliffe. It may not be at the speed that Alpha or I want, but His timing is perfect and He still loves us in our doubts and questions.

When I was in middle and high school I would beg my parents to return to the missions field, I did not and still today struggle with feeling "American." It might be what my passport says, it is the accent I have, but it is hard to feel "at home" in a culture that is supposed to make sense but doesn't. I have learned over the last year that "home" for me is not a specific country, but where my family is and where God is using me. Back in those school days my mom once told me "Let God use you where you are, then He will send you where you want to go."

So we stay, waiting, but being used. How unfortunate would it be to stay in one place, whether you like it or not, but never shine the light of Christ? How can I expect God to send me to do His work, if I do not let Him use me here? I long to be back in Bangladesh doing what my heart's passion is, but I have also found joy in being used in Westcliffe. I love being a part of our church, as does Alpha. Alpha is an active part of our worship team and I am able to help in the nursery. I love being able to teach an art class once a week to about 15 kids in a home school co-op and I love seeing our interns at work be challenged and grow in their love for the Lord.

And though we do not know exactly why God has brought us here, we are excited to have found a church that is as passionate about sending us back to Bangladesh as we are to go. And so we take another step in the journey of honoring our Savior with our lives. Waiting, yes, but seeking the Lord as we look ahead to a life of ministry in Bangladesh. We are ready and the Lord is moving. I will be writing another post soon with more details about our plans to return to Bangladesh and the specific ministry the Lord has been building and leading us to start.

We appreciate your prayers, love and support. 

Alpha and Emily Samaddar

Settled, Serving and Learning

We are Settled!

We made it to the beautiful Sangre De Cristo mountain range in southern Colorado over a month ago. I cannot believe how fast time flies. We have turned this wild and majestic land into our home. We have settled into our apartment and the routine of Alpha attending classes and me going to work. Even Ember has decided country living is for him. Most of our furniture is still borrowed, but living in a camp setting with high turnover has some advantages and we have been blessed with a few of our larger pieces, like our (new to us) couch! It has been such a joy to make new friends and living in this Christ centered community. We have also been blessed to have my brother Nathan come visit twice and bring my Grammy up once.

Ember has made with friend in puppy LeLe

Ember is loving living in the mountains

Grammy and Nathan came to visit us!

We are Serving!

Starting camp in the summer is a lot of hard work, long days and exhausted bodies. The kitchen staff I have the privileged to manage and work with are some of the hardest working, most humble young adults I have ever met. The serve selflessly, sometimes over 12 hours a day and always with a smile. The ministry of working in a camp setting is most definitely a calling. I feel blessed to have been given the opportunity to work and learn from some pros and I know God is using this experience to shape me and Alpha for ministry in Bangladesh.  Alpha is volunteering at the seminary, cleaning the classroom and main lodge to help cover his tuition. He has been working so hard to maintain his studies and work.

On Wednesdays we have a Western night for our guests

We are Learning!

Alpha has amazed me with his ability to learn and understand his classes. It has been a challenge and lots of extra hours to get through the readings, looking up words with a translator, discussing ideas and theological ideas with classmates, memorizing verses and topics. Fewf! I am out of breathe thinking about it all! Alpha often feels like he is not learning anything in lectures because he has to focus on translating, but even with all of these challenges he has surpassed his fellow students on tests and exams! I have seen and heard Alpha talk about his classes with passion and I know he is learning far more then he realizes. Please pray that Alpha feels that he is learning and that he does not get overwhelmed with the language barrier.
I have also been learning. I just finished a SafeServ Manager course and will hopefully receive my test results and certification next week. I am learning what it means to be a manager (assistant) and how to help resolve conflict as well as what it means to serve selflessly. Its not always easy, let me tell you!

One of the Kitchen's dishwasher was down so we loaded up a van with our dirty dishes and had a washing party at one of the other kitchens.

Our beautiful mountains, the pointy one in Horn Peek where we live

As Alpha and I have been working hard to cover tuition, housing and moving expenses, the Seminary has asked that we pray about and try to raise our tuition for the three year program as the goal of the Seminary is to prepare its students for full time ministry. We will be starting to pray about and ask for long term supporters. We would love if you would join our team as we work through Seminary and begin to look toward the future of being back on the missions field in Bangladesh full time. Over the next three years we will need to raise around $9,000 in tuition alone with more info to come on monthly ministry support and start up costs for when we move back to Bangladesh.

If you are interested in becoming a monthly supporter or would like more information please feel free to email me emillermk@gmail.com and I will be happy to send you more information.

If you feel God leading you to help Alpha with his masters, and ultimately back to Bangladesh, and would like to make a tax-deductible donation on his behalf please see the information below. We would love to have you join us on this journey.

Please make checks payable to: Sangre De Cristo Seminary

Sangre De Cristo Seminary
6160 County Rd #130
Westcliffe, Colorado
81252

Please include a note saying: 'On behalf of the tuition for Alpha Samaddar'

If you would like to donate online through PayPal please follow the link below. Again, please include a note: 'On behalf of the tuition for Alpha Samaddar'

Online Donation

If you would like to check out the school's website:
Sangre De Cristo Seminary

Enjoying a rare moment of quiet together

We are Moving!

For those of you who have known me for many years, know that my life is hardly ever stationary. So we have come upon another such time. Alpha's dream of attending Seminary is coming true and we are moving to COLORADO!

I have been very blessed to work for World Relief Chicago these last few months as a Refugee Case Manager. It has been intense and rewarding. I have learned many things about myself, politics and some of the most needy and vulnerable around the world. Unfortunately Alpha has not been able to find work in Chicago, partially due to some health issues, but we are seeing more and more how this has been a part of God's plan all along.

When we were first moving to the United States, Alpha expressed his desire to attend Seminary to get his Masters so we could return to Bangladesh fully prepared to do ministry. We looked and applied to a number of schools, but none seemed to fit Alpha's needs. Until recently.

My little brother Jared and I worked at a Christian Camp and Conference Center a number of years ago in the mountains of Colorado. While I was there I stumbled upon a tiny Seminary called the Sangre De Cristo Seminary. One of our co-workers was attending there to get his Masters of Divinity, which is one of two degrees offered.

Sangre De Cristo Seminary came to my mind last year when Alpha and I were looking at schools, because they are small, only 12 students, they could offer one on one teaching that Alpha will need as he studies in a second language. But because they are so small they could not offer him a student visa (as we did not have his green card at the time). So we put it out of our minds. However, last month it came back up, and with Alpha's green card he was able to apply. By the grace of God, there was one full-time spot available and Alpha was accepted.


Now we are looking forward to moving to Westcliffe, Colorado so he can start classes on May 29th. We are stepping out in bold faith, as I do not have a job yet in Colorado. I have an interview this week, so your prayers will be appreciated. We know this is the way God is leading and He has never asked us to do something He wasn't prepared to cover.

The Seminary is non-profit so the tuition is only about $3,000 a semester. Because the Seminary's focus is to prepare pastors for full-time ministry they also allow their students to raise the tuition. Alpha and I would love to be able to jump from school straight onto the missions field back in Bangladesh. If you feel God leading you to help Alpha with his masters, and ultimately back to Bangladesh, and would like to make a tax-deductible donation on his behalf please see the information below. We would love to have you join us on this journey.

Please make checks payable to: Sangre De Cristo Seminary

Sangre De Cristo Seminary
6160 County Rd #130
Westcliffe, Colorado
81252

Please include a note saying: 'On behalf of the tuition for Alpha Samaddar'

If you would like to donate online through PayPal please follow the link below. Again, please include a note: 'On behalf of the tuition for Alpha Samaddar'

Online Donation

If you would like to check out the school's website:
Sangre De Cristo Seminary

New Year, New Job, New Country

I left you with a rather dramatic blog post back in July about our lock down in Bangladesh. Alpha and I have now been in the US for about 5 months now. But I am getting ahead of myself.

After the attack and being locked in the house for the month of July, Alpha's visa came through the 1st week of August. We packed up, said goodbye to family and flew to Chicago. We had about 24 hours to drop our stuff off with our friends and then fly to Colorado to join in on my family reunion. Nothing like throwing your husband in to meeting 50 family members at once for a week. It was a very special time for me as I had not seen most of my family in over 2 years and none of them had met Alpha yet.

After the reunion and time with my immediate family, Alpha and I headed back to Chicago where I started working at my church. At the end of September we were very blessed to be able to rent my parents house as they are living in Germany. I cannot express how exciting it was to have a place of our own and to get my dog, Ember, back!

Alpha and Ember

In October we got a call from a long time family friend asking if we would like to contract with World Relief Chicago for a month as they were having an exceptionally busy time. So on top of affordable housing God blessed Alpha and I with jobs. We worked in the Refugee Resettlement department help the most vulnerable get on their feet and start new lives in the US (Just like what we were doing ourselves).

Alpha's First Snow!

As the contract ended in November, I was asked to apply for a Case Manager position that was coming available. After a lot of prayer and discussions with Alpha, I applied.

Refugee Job Training

For Thanksgiving Alpha and I drove to Arkansas and Oklahoma to stay with our good friend the Waters family who we worked with at Grace in Bangladesh. We were also able to pick up my brother, Jared, and his roommate to celebrate Thanksgiving with friends and family. What another amazing blessing!

Celebrating Christmas in the States

When we got home I had a few interviews and was asked again to contract with World Relief for two more weeks before Christmas. Right before the holiday I was offered a full time position as the new Case Manager. Alpha and I are excited about this position. Alpha has also been blessed with a full time position at Meijer. Please be praying for him as he transitions to this job.

Over all we are doing well, though culture shock is hard. Please continue to keep us in your prayers as we try to find our rhythm in this very different world.