It all started on a cold winter day, when God directed my path to NBI. I hadn’t planned on coming. In fact, I was certain I was going to a different Bible school.

Bible school will help you figure out where God wants you. I have only been here for about 3 months, and already God has taught me so much more than I ever imagined. I knew I would be stretched, but throughout these past months I have learned to truly trust God as a friend and to call on Him. Those days when I am drowning in homework, or whatever comes up, He will be faithful. I want to constantly draw closer to God, and I can’t think of a better place to do it.

There is only one other thing that I want to say about NBI. The friendships you make here will impact you for the rest of your life. You will make friends that really care about you, and who will accept you for who you are.

If you are debating between a career and Bible school, I recommend coming for at least a year of Bible school. My experience at NBI has been amazing. It is not a waste of money or time to invest in knowing what God wants for your life. It is an eye-opener to see how truly awesome our God is, and what His plans are for our lives.

Coming to NBI has been the best thing that has happened in my life. Let’s put it this way, I don’t regret for a moment the 24 grand that has been spent on schooling. I can’t think of a better way to spend it than to come to a place where God can work on me, shaping and molding me into the man He wants me to be.

NBI for me has been the place where I discovered who I was and learned to love myself, finding purpose in life. Here I was confronted with the reality of God’s love as it was displayed to me over and over by people around me. My best friends are people I have met here at school; people I can be real with and share with from my heart. God’s provision is unbelievable, he has provided for me in ways I never dreamt possible, teaching me to rely on Him for anything and everything. I wouldn’t trade my experiences at NBI for anything in the world and would recommend Bible School to anyone in a heartbeat.

There is a current mindset that says to a young person that a year of Bible school costs too much: too much time when you need to begin pursuing a career, too much money when you want to save for university, and too much information that will never get you anywhere in life.

10 years later I know I will probably never fully grasp the impact NBI had on my life.  I think the main thing God taught me in my years there was that I had something to give.  That while so much changes in 10 years – my marital status, my direction in life, my friends and acquaintances, my home church body, and countless other areas – I know without a doubt that God created me to share my story, my experiences, my talents, my abilities, and everything else He created me to be, with others.

I would do it all again in a heartbeat.  I would encourage you to abandon a mindset that overlooks the most important things in life.  The cost is so insignificant when compared to the value.  What a great time in my life.

“Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will."  (Romans 12:2)

“What good will Bible school do me? I’m not going to go overseas and be a missionary, I am going to University next year and I don’t want to waste time.”   That is what I thought before I started Bible school at NBI.  It didn’t take long for me to discover that Bible school was for more than preparing those called to be overseas missionaries.  It is for anyone who wants to know God more and anyone who wants to build a firm foundation for their life.  It was at Bible school that this happened for me.

I grew up in a Christian home and became a Christian at a young age, but I don’t feel that I really made my faith a priority until I was challenged to do so at Bible school.  This happened through the classes, interaction with the professors, and the friendships formed with fellow classmates.  It all helped me learn more about my Bible, and who to turn to for help and answers when life doesn’t seem to make sense.

I had a hard time leaving home after graduating from high school, but NBI was the perfect fit for me.  I loved the small school setting (a family, really) which allowed me to develop personal relationships with many of the other students as well as faculty and staff.    As a matter of fact, I went back for a second year, even though I was still planning on going to University.  I knew that God was not done teaching me what I needed to know before entering the world on my own.

I attended University for four years following my time spent at NBI and nothing there measured up to my Bible school experiences.  It is now ten years since I began at NBI.  I am so thankful for my time spent learning there.  NBI has been a continued blessing in my life, and I pray that God will keep using NBI to enrich the lives of many other young people and keep building “foundations for life.

 

NBI is committed to encouraging their students to fall in love with God and His word, to grow spiritually, and to prepare them for ministry. For my year and a half here at NBI, the school has readily provided the environment for these things to grow in my life through dorm life, the classes, and student ministry opportunities.

Because of the classes and dorm life I have been given a spiritually nurturing environment in order for me to grow in my relationship with God and develop disciplines that will keep me close to God. I genuinely love God more now than before I came here.

Because of the classes and my student ministry I have gained knowledge and practical experience in the ministry I feel I am called to in the future. I am planning on going into youth ministry and the classes here have helped equip me for that career as well as get me excited about the ministry God has for me. My student ministry, being on a tour team, has helped me develop my musical and leadership skills which are skills that I feel I will need and use in my future ministry. It is exciting to see how God is already using and is going to use what I have learned here for His glory.

God has used NBI to further my growth with Christ, and in turn my response as a husband, friend and recently father. I was a relatively new Christian when I came here and now am able to look back at who I was as a person before I came here and see where I had been and where I am now.