  “And if one can overpower him who is alone, two can resist him. A cord of three strands is not easily broken (Ecclesiastes 4:12 ). January 6, 2026 I pray 2026 finds you well and rejoicing in the Lord! We begin this new year with thanksgiving, with joy, and with prayerful expectation. First, we are thankful for our Amazing God, for all He has done in and through NEBC! We are also thanking the Lord for you and all you have done to help NEBC impact the Northeast, the nation and the world. Second, we begin 2026 with the joy of the Lord! As the Apostle Paul indicates in 1 Thess. 5:16 we always have a reason to choose joy. We not only have the absolute assurance of a real and vibrant relationship with Jesus today, but for all of eternity. We also experience great joy as we join Him in His work. Third, we begin with prayerful expectation. The Lord has accomplished so much leading up to this amazing moment, but I believe we are right on the cusp of an even greater work of God in the coming days, weeks, months, and throughout 2026. The college continues to grow in number and in impact across the northeast. Despite all the Lord has done to date, there remains 150 towns in Vermont without a Gospel Witness. I am trusting the Lord to bring even greater growth in the days ahead and we continue to pray and press forward looking for the day that the least-churched state in the US, becomes the most-churched state in the US. For us to continue to move forward, we need your help in 2026. The work ahead of us in the coming year will require more mission team support than ever before. Our permitting requires that we complete the Dr. Gray Allison Student Housing Village this year. In fact, it must be complete by October 15, 2026. We also need mission teams to help us open the graduate library as soon as possible. Once the library is open, we can prepare the new chapel building for the fall semester. We will need the chapel operational prior to the start of the fall 2026 semester (late August). All three of these construction projects are crucial for us to keep up with the rapid growth the Lord is bringing. When we opened the doors to NEBC in August of 2013, there were fourteen churches in our Baptist network, here in Vermont. Today, we have 60 churches across the Green Mountain State. As mission teams help us prepare housing space, library space, chapel space, etc., the Lord fills the space immediately. As these new students begin gaining the mind of a scholar in the classroom, they also begin serving in the Northeast harvest fields by sharing the Gospel, discipling new believers, and serving in churches and church plants across the region. As our students graduate, they start churches, pastor churches, and get the Gospel to one town after another through the various fields of study the Lord has led them. When I think of all the Lord has done the first thirteen years of NEBC, I am filled with joy and thanksgiving. When I think about the number of students we have today, the number of students the Father is bringing to us this month, and the number of students already signed up for the fall semester, I am confident that within the second decade, or possibly sooner, we can actually see a Gospel witness in every town across this state. Yet, we cannot do it without you. We need your continued prayers. We need you to continue to come on mission trips. We need you to continue to give, as the Lord leads. We need you to invite others to come on mission and get involved. So today, I am writing asking you to plan now to come on mission and help us finish the task before us this year! Together we can make a difference! Please reach out to Christian Weaver today to schedule your mission trip(s) for 2026. You can reach him via email at [email protected] or by phone at 936.229.1409.Thank you for your faithful partnership!In Him, Mark H. BallardChancellor, NEBC Give Now  |
