{"id":4031,"date":"2015-11-06T10:07:02","date_gmt":"2015-11-06T10:07:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/joel-mcmartin\/?p=4031"},"modified":"2015-11-06T10:12:38","modified_gmt":"2015-11-06T10:12:38","slug":"traveling-as-a-family","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/joel-mcmartin\/2015\/11\/06\/traveling-as-a-family\/","title":{"rendered":"Traveling As a Family"},"content":{"rendered":"

God called us to the mission field as a family and so I am convinced that our ministry should happen as a family. \u00a0This wasn’t our first time traveling as a family, but it was our first time intentionally trying to involve the kids in the goal of our travels. \u00a0Before leaving we talked with the kids to explain our goals of this trip. \u00a0We talked about how our goal was to be a blessing to the families we were visiting, so that meant it was about them and not about us. \u00a0We took the kids shopping to pick out treats \u00a0for their kids. \u00a0
\n<\/a><\/p>\n

The morning of departure finally came<\/p>\n

\"We<\/a>
We loaded up our car with supplies for 3 missionary families<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"I<\/a>
I am thankful for expert packers in our family<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"We<\/a>
We left small spaces for the kids to squeeze in<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

During the car ride I had downloaded some audio books for us to listen to together. \u00a0My only mistake was not downloading more as I didn’t know that it would work so well! \u00a0I had to space them out over our 6 days drive as it was one of their favorite car activities.<\/p>\n

\"We<\/a>
We stopped along the road each day for lunch<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"To<\/a>
To let the boys get out a stretch a little.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The days in the car were long, but all in all the boys did really well. \u00a0I had books for them to color in, we listened to silly songs and audio books and they played imaginary games together. \u00a0I gave them each a blank book for a picture journal of what we did over our time there.<\/p>\n

\"This<\/a>
This was Ethan’s picture of the tower Joel let him climb up<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"This<\/a>
This was one of the 9 boarders stops on the Guinean Boarder<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

After three days in the car we made it to our first stop…<\/p>\n

\"Our<\/a>
Our first visit was to a family living in the capital of Guinea<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"It<\/a>
It has been 3 years since our kids had seen each other.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"But<\/a>
But they reconnected quickly<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"We<\/a>
We stayed with them on the church grounds where they live<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"We<\/a>
We connected with their friends<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"There<\/a>
There was lots of chess<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"and<\/a>
and red light green light<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"I<\/a>
I love how quickly kids make friends<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"After<\/a>
After three days playing with them, we hit the road again<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Our<\/a>
Our next stop was out at a village<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"To<\/a>
To connect with two families who live out there<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"In<\/a>
In the village the boys became explores<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"And<\/a>
And treasure hunters<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"There<\/a>
There of course was a lot of soccer as well<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"and<\/a>
and lots of games together with friends<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"It<\/a>
It was not just the boys who enjoyed the fellowship<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

It was a lot more work traveling together, but it was worth it. \u00a0The boys enjoyed the travels even with the long hours in the car. \u00a0They are learning flexibility – how to sleep and live in many different environments. \u00a0However most importantly we were able to do ministry together as a family. \u00a0They were stretched at times, but that is what growing is all about. \u00a0We came home tired and covered in heat rash and bug bits, but also with some great memories.<\/p>\n

More Pictures to come!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

God called us to the mission field as a family and so I am convinced that our ministry should happen as a family. \u00a0This wasn’t our first time traveling as a family, but it was our first time intentionally trying to involve the kids in the goal of our travels. \u00a0Before leaving we talked with […]<\/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":[448,637],"class_list":{"0":"post-4031","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-updates-and-news","7":"tag-ethnos360","8":"tag-new-tribes-mission","9":"entry"},"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/joel-mcmartin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4031","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=4031"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/joel-mcmartin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4031\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/joel-mcmartin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4031"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/joel-mcmartin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4031"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/joel-mcmartin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4031"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}