{"id":495,"date":"2011-12-23T02:07:44","date_gmt":"2011-12-23T10:07:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/joel-mcmartin\/?p=495"},"modified":"2011-12-23T02:07:44","modified_gmt":"2011-12-23T10:07:44","slug":"our-decision","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/joel-mcmartin\/2011\/12\/23\/our-decision\/","title":{"rendered":"Our Decision"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"DSC_4167\"<\/p>\n

We took our trip to out of the city this past Sunday. \u00a0As we left, we prayed that on this trip we would be able to make a decision about moving. \u00a0We feel like God answered that prayer. \u00a0Joel and I left this trip at peace with moving forward with the move. \u00a0We believe that if this is not where we should be then the doors will be closed, but as long as doors keep opening we plan to walk through them. \u00a0Let me show you and tell you a little bit about our next home.<\/p>\n

Space and Calm<\/strong> – The town is a little more rural and therefore there is a lot more space. \u00a0Most of the streets are dirt roads, but besides the main road the streets are pretty calm and there is significantly more room for the boys to be boys. \u00a0It is the type of place where all your neighbors know who you are and probably greet you. \u00a0The living spaces are more spacious and sometimes even have an enclosed sand “yard”.<\/p>\n

\"The
The roads there<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Cattle
Cattle crossing<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"There
There is room for greenery<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

We already have some Friends there<\/strong> – While we were there we dined with Roger and Fredine (missionaries from Haiti) \u00a0and we know that they would be avaliable to help with anything that our host family will isn’t available to do. \u00a0They have already taken the time to answer many questions for us and will be a great resource while we are there.<\/p>\n

\"Eating
Eating together Senegalese style<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\"DSC_4202\"<\/p>\n

\"Seriously
Seriously playing<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Together
Together with Fredine and Joel's mom<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The church<\/strong> – We went on Sunday so that we could go to church. \u00a0It is hard to get a feel for a church with just one Sunday, but they seemed friendly and they played drums.<\/p>\n

\"The
The Church<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Even
Even the liitle kids drum better than I could<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"The
The choir<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"DSC_4131\"
Tyler reading the French Bible<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\n

Availability of\u00a0Resources <\/strong>– The town is an hour from Dakar (depending on traffic), so most of what we have in Dakar will be available there. \u00a0I am sure there will be a few things that we will have to do without, but it will be another good step in preparation for village life. \u00a0They have water and electricity cuts, but supposedly they are rare. \u00a0We have had very few water cuts in our current apartment, so that will be a new adventure.<\/p>\n

Next steps and timeline – <\/strong>We could move anytime after the beginning of March, but it all depends on how long it takes to get the details together and for a host family to be identified. \u00a0It is still overwhelming thinking about packing and moving again, but I trust God will give me the strength when the time comes. \u00a0We are sad to lose Ethan’s school because his progress in French has been amazing, but we know God will provide other means for him to learn French. \u00a0I am so thankful for the peace we have, even with all the unknowns (if you know my personality you know how amazing that is). \u00a0I am reminded again that God is good.<\/p>\n

Just for fun<\/strong> – On our drive I kept track of everything I was offered to buy at my car window. \u00a0Food, water, music CDs, dvds, newspaper, razors, matches, all sorts of \u00a0toys,\u00a0scooter, bike, dishes, clothes, shoes, knives, cell phone case, phone cards, wallet, serving platter, books, \u00a0clothes pins, \u00a0 candy and this only begins the list of things that they sell. \u00a0It is amazing!<\/p>\n

Pictures from our Drive<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"P1010197\"<\/p>\n

\"P1010196\"<\/p>\n

\"P1010212\"<\/p>\n

\"P1010192\"<\/p>\n

\"P1010199\"<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

We took our trip to out of the city this past Sunday. \u00a0As we left, we prayed that on this trip we would be able to make a decision about moving. \u00a0We feel like God answered that prayer. \u00a0Joel and I left this trip at peace with moving forward with the move. \u00a0We believe 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":[],"class_list":["post-495","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\/495","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=495"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/joel-mcmartin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/495\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/joel-mcmartin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=495"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/joel-mcmartin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=495"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/joel-mcmartin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=495"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}