{"id":1630,"date":"2026-08-31T06:48:20","date_gmt":"2026-08-31T10:48:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/chris-hostetter\/?p=1630"},"modified":"2026-08-31T06:50:04","modified_gmt":"2026-08-31T10:50:04","slug":"an-encouraging-summer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/chris-hostetter\/2026\/08\/31\/an-encouraging-summer\/","title":{"rendered":"An Encouraging Summer"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

It’s back-to-school season! The girls are already in their fifth week of classes, and the boys have started a new semester at Liberty after arriving early to help the new MKs acclimatize to college. Chris and I are the dorm parents for this year, so the house is full again with the addition of five high schoolers whose parents all have full-time ministries in various villages around the country. Things are busy with homework and teaching and sports and Bible studies… all the things. We are excited to watch all the kids in our care learn and grow this year.<\/p>\n\n\n

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A picture from when we visited the boys at college last fall<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

All told, Chris was able to spend about six weeks in our village home this summer. He was able to help and advise the Bible teachers as they serve the community and grow in their own relationships with God, and he got a lot of translation work done on the Gospels of Luke and John. Luke is almost ready to be checked by the translation consultant for one final time before printing! <\/p>\n\n\n

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Ready for a night-time hike to Bible study in another village<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Chris was encouraged by his time spent with Pal believers. There seems to be some real sorrow and repentance over the mass capitulation to community pressure in February, when many believers participated in a pig sacrifice because everyone else was doing it. One of my friends confessed to me that she did what they told her to do and put her hand on the pig so that she could “see the light.” When I asked her if she saw it, she laughed and said, “No!” I think God used this event to show her very clearly that nothing will ever come of seeking righteousness in our own way instead of God’s. I pray that her testimony will help others to understand that, too.<\/p>\n\n\n

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One of the faithful Bible teachers in Pal with his daughter<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Bible teachers from our original church plant are still hiking 3-4 hours every Sunday to teach the Word to a small group of believers in their most recent church plant. And literacy teachers are hiking 3-4 hours in the other direction to help people improve their reading fluency in preparation for teaching God’s Word there (early next year?). God is working! Our Pal brothers and sisters feel burdened for their relatives who live in these places and do not know the peace that comes with salvation. They are now uniquely placed to reach them in ways that we never could. Without the barriers of disparate wealth and culture and language, they can understand and relate to the innermost thoughts and fears of their listeners and reassure them that God is not for just one people group, but for every man, woman, and child on the planet. Please pray that God would call more workers for his harvest in Pal.<\/p>\n\n\n

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People came from all around to see the recent baptism at this young church<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
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New believers being baptized!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

And very soon, two neighboring tribes will be hearing the story of Scripture for the first time ever! These people groups speak a different language, and teams of missionaries have been living with them for years, preparing to open God’s Word to them. Both of these people groups intermarry with the Pal tribe, and our believers have been intentionally building relationships with them for the past few years in hopes that many will believe and become part of God’s family. We look forward with hope to a time when many local churches will exist to build each other up in faith and point people to the only source of real light. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thank you for praying for us and the Pal believers as we all continue in the ministries that God has given us!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It’s back-to-school season! The girls are already in their fifth week of classes, and the boys have started a new semester at Liberty after arriving early to help the new MKs acclimatize to college. Chris and I are the dorm parents for this year, so the house is full again with the addition of five […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":488,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1630","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-uncategorized","entry"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/chris-hostetter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1630","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/chris-hostetter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/chris-hostetter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/chris-hostetter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/488"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/chris-hostetter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1630"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/chris-hostetter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1630\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1637,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/chris-hostetter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1630\/revisions\/1637"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/chris-hostetter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1630"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/chris-hostetter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1630"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/chris-hostetter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1630"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}