{"id":4616,"date":"2016-09-08T17:53:24","date_gmt":"2016-09-08T17:53:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/joel-mcmartin\/?p=4616"},"modified":"2016-09-08T17:53:24","modified_gmt":"2016-09-08T17:53:24","slug":"saying-thank-you","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/joel-mcmartin\/2016\/09\/08\/saying-thank-you\/","title":{"rendered":"Saying Thank You"},"content":{"rendered":"

Before we get to our Literacy workshop, I wanted to share about an event that took place while my parents were here. \u00a0We decided to host a party at our mission to thank our host families. \u00a0It was the first time that we had done an event of the like that was solely for that purpose. \u00a0We had an amazing turn out not only of host families that are currently working with some of our missionaries, but also with those that have worked with us in the past. \u00a0We began the day with worship and then took a few minutes to thank each family with a gift. \u00a0We ended the morning with some discussion time as to how the process was going. \u00a0It was amazing to see the “experienced” hosts passing on insights to the newer host families. \u00a0Finally we enjoyed lunch together. \u00a0As I looked around the room I was so touched to see all these families who have invested so much into the lives of our missionaries. \u00a0It was encouraging to hear the testimonies at how God has been at work in the lives of people through this process.<\/p>\n

\"The
The room was packed with almost 70 people<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"It
It was neat to hear the testimonies of lives changed<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"We
We go into this relationship blindly like an arranged marriage, but God has been so faithful through it<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Through
Often making this relationship one of the most important in the lives of our missionaries here<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"All
Even our kids all enjoyed hanging out together.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"It
It was all around a very special day!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

God sent one more encouragement our way through this process. \u00a0The next Sunday at our church our host dad got up and shared about this event. \u00a0He shared about how important it is for the local church to come alongside the missionaries who are here and to help them as they learn culture and build relationships. \u00a0He talked about the change he has seen in us. \u00a0And he talked about how encouraged he was to be at this event and to see all the other families, churches and missionaries who are working together in this endeavor. \u00a0It is not very often that we get to hear such encouragement, but it was such a blessing to hear. \u00a0We praise God for each host family who has taken on this task, as it is not an easy task. \u00a0We are thankful for each missionary God has sent our way who is willing to change. \u00a0We are amazed at the work God is doing in and through this process not only in the lives of the missionaries, but also in the local church. \u00a0May he continue to work so that his kingdom can advance!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Before we get to our Literacy workshop, I wanted to share about an event that took place while my parents were here. \u00a0We decided to host a party at our mission to thank our host families. \u00a0It was the first time that we had done an event of the like that was solely for that […]<\/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-4616","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\/4616","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=4616"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/joel-mcmartin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4616\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/joel-mcmartin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4616"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/joel-mcmartin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4616"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/joel-mcmartin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4616"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}