{"id":3078,"date":"2014-03-28T11:32:57","date_gmt":"2014-03-28T11:32:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/joel-mcmartin\/?p=3078"},"modified":"2014-03-28T11:34:16","modified_gmt":"2014-03-28T11:34:16","slug":"marchs-blessings","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/joel-mcmartin\/2014\/03\/28\/marchs-blessings\/","title":{"rendered":"March’s Blessings"},"content":{"rendered":"

Fasting and Praying – <\/strong>Last week the ladies of my church approached me saying that they were fasting and praying with the ladies of the other church in our town. \u00a0It sounded like a good idea to me, but then they told me that they were doing 72 straight hours. \u00a0My first thought was, “Are you Crazy?!? \u00a0That is what high school students do , adults fast from dawn to dusk”. \u00a0However I quickly changed my attitude and decided to join them. \u00a0I can’t tell you what a blessing these days were to me as I gathered with the women of our church. \u00a0We prayed, worshiped, read God’s word and prayed for God to work in our church. \u00a0They confessed divisions and committed to working on unity. \u00a0It was a beautiful time and well worth it. \u00a0May God continue to work in our small church here as it struggles to be a light in a difficult context.<\/p>\n

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I am so thankful for these precious women and how they encourage me<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Another Wedding<\/strong>\u00a0– This wedding fell at a difficult time as Joel was gone and weddings are a lot of work for the women in the church as most of the preparations fall on them. \u00a0However even in the midst of the chaos, I thanked God for the fellowship and the friendship of these women. \u00a0This time I was actually given responsibility of a task and control of one pot. \u00a0They told me that next time I had to bring my camera. \u00a0I try not to over do it with pictures, but with that free invitation I promise to capture pictures at the next wedding that takes place.<\/p>\n

Health – <\/strong>This month we stayed healthy and that is always a blessing here!<\/p>\n

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We praise God for every month of good health we have<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Beginning Ministry – <\/strong>It was my first month without official French sessions, although thought I will always be working on improving my French. \u00a0I began to get some clarity as to what my responsibilities will be in ministry and will begin training to be a language consultant to those learning French in the next few months. \u00a0It is exciting to see small pieces of what God has in store.<\/p>\n

Thriving as A Family – <\/strong>I was given the opportunity to share with the other missionaries in French study about how to help our kids adapt and integrate. \u00a0It is a subject I am very passionate as it doesn’t happen as naturally as I thought it would when we arrived. \u00a0It was a great time of collaboration and was very encouraging.<\/p>\n

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A new culture is challenging whether you are young or old<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Friends and Pools – <\/strong>\u00a0As the boys get more and more comfortable here they are starting to make friends with a variety of people. \u00a0We enjoyed going over to people’s houses and playing with a variety of kids: \u00a0from missionary kids, to kids from our church, to friends from school, to neighborhood kids. \u00a0It is fun and encouraging to see them enjoying life here. \u00a0One of our friends put up a big pool in their yard, which has been a lot of fun for our boys.<\/p>\n

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Ethan with one of his friends<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Together Again – <\/strong>Joel’s trip was a productive time for him in Guinea. \u00a0He is home now for a few weeks, which is always time that we treasure! \u00a0His next trip will take him to the Southern part of Senegal as they research some people groups down there that we hope to work with one day. \u00a0However before he leaves again his parents will arrive to keep me company!<\/p>\n

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We praise God for all the blessings he sends our way!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Fasting and Praying – Last week the ladies of my church approached me saying that they were fasting and praying with the ladies of the other church in our town. \u00a0It sounded like a good idea to me, but then they told me that they were doing 72 straight hours. \u00a0My first thought was, “Are […]<\/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-3078","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\/3078","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=3078"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/joel-mcmartin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3078\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/joel-mcmartin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3078"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/joel-mcmartin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3078"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/joel-mcmartin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3078"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}