{"id":2434,"date":"2013-08-05T22:13:11","date_gmt":"2013-08-05T22:13:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/joel-mcmartin\/?p=2434"},"modified":"2013-08-06T07:02:14","modified_gmt":"2013-08-06T07:02:14","slug":"god-at-work","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/joel-mcmartin\/2013\/08\/05\/god-at-work\/","title":{"rendered":"God At Work"},"content":{"rendered":"

This camp was bathed in pray by many and God didn’t let us down. \u00a0He was there and he was at work. \u00a0There is something amazing that happens when God’s people come together to serve Him. \u00a0There were many challenges that we faced in the week, but God took all our weaknesses and still used them for his glory.<\/p>\n

Here are some of the amazing ways he worked through this week…<\/p>\n

GOD’S TRUTH WENT OUT!<\/strong><\/p>\n

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We had 100 kids and 20 adults present...way more than we planned on!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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21 of them took time to one on one with a leader to invited Jesus into their lives! Praise God!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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They were then connected with someone from their church or village who can continue their discipleship<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

God Created Unity<\/strong><\/p>\n

We had kids from all over and there were MANY barriers that needed to be crossed. \u00a0Language was a huge barrier as there was not one common language spoken by everyone there. \u00a0Crossing these barriers took time and also added to the chaos, but the beauty of it was seeing people from all different walks of life being unified though this camp. \u00a0I saw this unity happening through our church as the youth, Sunday school teachers and pastors all came together to make this camp run. \u00a0I saw this unity across churches as kids and teachers from the village churches were connecting with people from our churches in town. \u00a0Seeing such unity take place is truly only a work of God!<\/p>\n

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It was so encouraging to see the youth of our church interacting this the kids<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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The pastors and Elders of our churches came down the last night to celebrate with the kids what they had learned<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Most encouraging was seeing kids from all different backgrounds coming together in worship<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Growth<\/strong><\/p>\n

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This ministry is one that seems to be very effective here. \u00a0This year we had to turn kids away because of there was no more room. \u00a0It is super exciting to see God blessing this ministry and using it to fill a need here for spiritual growth in our kids. \u00a0However there is definitely room for growth and improvement. \u00a0Pray with us as we look toward next year and contemplate what changes could be made.<\/p>\n

God’s Personal Gifts to Me<\/strong><\/p>\n

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Seeing Ethan's Growth<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

There was nothing easy about this camp for Ethan. \u00a0Change doesn’t come easily for him and these past 2 years have been full of change. \u00a0This week was no different, as for the first time he was immersed completely in Senegalese culture for a whole week. \u00a0It was not easy for him, but he did amazing. \u00a0We have been working hard all year to help our kids becoming more and more familiar with the culture and life here and it was such a blessing this week to see that our work has paid off. \u00a0It has been an extremely difficult process, but God is at work helping us connect with the people here. \u00a0I can’t tell you want an encouragement this week was for me!<\/p>\n

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It made me smile to see Ethan connecting and integrating with the kids from our church<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

On top of that one of the people that Ethan connected the most with this week was our new believer Abe. \u00a0Abe has been at our house a lot and so he was a familiar face to Ethan. \u00a0Watching their friendship was very touching. \u00a0We have been investing a lot into this new believer and yet God used that same believer to be an encouragement to my son as he took a big step of faith to be at this camp.<\/p>\n

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An absolute blessing from above<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Camp was the first time that I have ever seen Abe completely carefree. \u00a0It was so neat to see the joy on his face this week. \u00a0It was a small escape from the daily trails he faces. \u00a0It was so encouraging that God made this possible for him to be there.<\/p>\n

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Glimpses of Language Growth<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

I led 3 crafts and a small group. \u00a0It was huge accomplishment for me and very encouraging. \u00a0I still struggled to say correctly what I needed to, but language is starting to come more naturally. \u00a0I received a lot of encouragement on my progress in language and also in cultural relevance. \u00a0God knew that I needed to hear those words as it gave me strength to keep pressing on!<\/p>\n

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It is so exciting when God is at work and he allows us to be part of it<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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That is what this week was for me...a chance to witness God at work<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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I am so thankful that God allowed us to be a part of it!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This camp was bathed in pray by many and God didn’t let us down. \u00a0He was there and he was at work. \u00a0There is something amazing that happens when God’s people come together to serve Him. \u00a0There were many challenges that we faced in the week, but God took all our weaknesses and still used […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":830,"featured_media":0,"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":[2545],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2434","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-updates-and-news","entry"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/joel-mcmartin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2434","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/joel-mcmartin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/joel-mcmartin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/joel-mcmartin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/830"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/joel-mcmartin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2434"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/joel-mcmartin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2434\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/joel-mcmartin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2434"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/joel-mcmartin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2434"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/joel-mcmartin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2434"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}