{"id":256,"date":"2016-07-29T07:28:33","date_gmt":"2016-07-29T12:28:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/imie-mark\/?p=256"},"modified":"2016-07-30T09:02:56","modified_gmt":"2016-07-30T14:02:56","slug":"the-family-prayer-countdown-day-3","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/imie-mark\/2016\/07\/29\/the-family-prayer-countdown-day-3\/","title":{"rendered":"The Family \u2013 Prayer Countdown, Day 3"},"content":{"rendered":"

We begin our final preparation for departure to Papua New Guinea by asking you to join us in\u00a0prayer for our family, nuclear & extended.\u00a0 Together we\u2019ll face unprecedented relational challenges.\u00a0 That is of course from our perspective, indeed there are many who have walked this same trail before and from whose example we take heart.\u00a0 While certainly stretching, it is an incredible opportunity for us to understand \u00a0and experience God\u2019s love and grace more fully as we lean in all the more heavily on Him.<\/p>\n

While the very definition & even existence of a nuclear family is being challenged here in the US, we\u2019ll face some decidedly different obstacles as we head overseas –<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. What will the Mark family look like in a cross-cultural ministry context?<\/strong> What roles will the Lord have each of us play as together we seek to make His name famous among the nations?<\/li>\n
  2. How will we parent 3rd<\/sup> culture kids (TCKs)?<\/strong> As they face new and different challenges, probably different from our own and maybe even different from each other\u2019s, how do we shepherd their hearts?\u00a0 How may we best assist the kids in transitioning well to a new culture while keeping them connected with that of the US in order to transition back well too?<\/li>\n
  3. How will we maintain relationships with family & friends across the many miles for years on end?<\/strong> Even coming \u201chome\u201d to the US on our first furlough 4 years from now will mean leaving behind a whole other set of friends.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    We\u2019re not the only ones sacrificing either as we head off to the other side of the globe.\u00a0 Our extended family: \u00a0our parents, siblings, cousins, etc., they too sacrifice much –<\/p>\n

      \n
    1. How often will they be confronted with the fact \u201cthis isn\u2019t easy\u201d<\/strong> as they surrender not just big moments, big hopes, big dreams to the Father, but all the countless little moments they\u2019ll miss out on as well?<\/li>\n
    2. How will they remain connected to their kid\/sibling\/cousin<\/strong> who\u2019s not just \u00bd way around the world for years at a time, but now speaks a different language, eats different food, & maybe even comes to call another country home?<\/li>\n
    3. Who will rally around them with support and encouragement as they process what\u2019s happening and adapt to their new role?<\/strong> Their sacrifice isn\u2019t as immediately evident to most onlookers when placed alongside that of our family being the ones in the field.\u00a0 There\u2019s a good possibility their needs are probably not as evident either, maybe even to them.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

      These aren\u2019t reasons not to go, they\u2019re tough realities of going, taking the Gospel to the uttermost parts of the earth.\u00a0 It is true, as the Austin Stone Worship song declares, \u201cJesus is Better<\/a>.\u201d\u00a0 When Christ commissioned His followers to go out and make disciples of all nations, though, I do not believe it was to be at the complete expense of the family.\u00a0 That\u2019s certainly not what He modeled when, compelled by love He followed His Father\u2019s leading, leaving His perfect home above.\u00a0 No, despite making Himself nothing and being made in human likeness Jesus never broke fellowship with the Father until that moment on the cross when for our sake He bore the full burden and horror of our sin debt.\u00a0 Even then, while unspeakable, that period of separation made possible the most glorious of reunions as He returned to the Father and was not only restored but exalted to the highest place.<\/p>\n

      Pray then if you will for us, for our family, and for the many thousands of others just like us who struggle, if but for a relative brief moment in this life, to live connected foremost\u00a0with God and His kingdom\u2019s claim on our lives while maintaining fellowship with those He has placed in our lives and who hold such dear places in our hearts.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

      We begin our final preparation for departure to Papua New Guinea by asking you to join us in\u00a0prayer for our family, nuclear & extended.\u00a0 Together we\u2019ll face unprecedented relational challenges.\u00a0 That is of course from our perspective, indeed there are many who have walked this same trail before and from whose example we take heart.\u00a0 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1057,"featured_media":262,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","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":[3,58],"tags":[1099,448,97059,29493,637,255],"class_list":{"0":"post-256","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-family","8":"category-prayer-requests","9":"tag-challenge","10":"tag-ethnos360","11":"tag-family","12":"tag-fellowship","13":"tag-new-tribes-mission","14":"tag-sacrifice","15":"entry"},"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/imie-mark\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/256","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/imie-mark\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/imie-mark\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/imie-mark\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1057"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/imie-mark\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=256"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/imie-mark\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/256\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/imie-mark\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/262"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/imie-mark\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=256"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/imie-mark\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=256"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/imie-mark\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=256"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}