![\"\"](\"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/joel-mcmartin\/files\/2019\/10\/20190407_123051-600x338.jpg\")
We celebrated a variety of countries<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/li><\/ul><\/figure>\n\n\n\n ![\"\"](\"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/joel-mcmartin\/files\/2019\/10\/20190407_120702-600x338.jpg\")
It was fun to watch different songs and dances<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/li><\/ul><\/figure>\n\n\n\n ![\"\"](\"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/joel-mcmartin\/files\/2019\/04\/20190407_122206-600x338.jpg\")
The food at the end was also amazing\n<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/li><\/ul><\/figure>\n\n\n\n I love how kids are important at our church. They work hard to invest in the kids lives and also reach out to kids from different neighborhoods. I teach the 8 to 10 year olds and enjoy the chance to teach them God’s word. The highlight of this each year is always the kids camp. This year as well we had a talent show for the kids to raise money for camp. It was so fun to see all their different talents on display.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/joel-mcmartin\/files\/2020\/03\/20190608_174134-600x338.jpg\")
The kids all enjoyed talent night<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/li><\/ul><\/figure>\n\n\n\n ![\"\"](\"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/joel-mcmartin\/files\/2020\/03\/20190804_120314-600x338.jpg\")
Kids Camp, as always, was a big hit this year<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/li><\/ul><\/figure>\n\n\n\n ![\"\"](\"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/joel-mcmartin\/files\/2020\/03\/20190803_102938-600x338.jpg\")
I am always encouraged to see kids studying God’s word together<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/li><\/ul><\/figure>\n\n\n\n This year we have enjoyed starting up some events for junior highers. What a joy it is to get to know those kids more and invest in their lives. We do a study once a month. We also have had some fun events like a trip to the beach and a movie night and overnighter. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/joel-mcmartin\/files\/2020\/03\/20190223_174615-600x338.jpg\")
Our group of boys<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/li><\/ul><\/figure>\n\n\n\n ![\"\"](\"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/joel-mcmartin\/files\/2020\/03\/20190817_183946-600x338.jpg\")
Soccer is one of their favorite activities<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/li><\/ul><\/figure>\n\n\n\n ![\"\"](\"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/joel-mcmartin\/files\/2020\/03\/20190413_182545-600x338.jpg\")
We do lots of crafts and games as well<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/li><\/ul><\/figure>\n\n\n\n Another event we have each year is the sports day organized by our youth. At this event we distribute Christmas boxes to disabled kids. Then the day ends with a soccer match between the marrieds and the singles. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/joel-mcmartin\/files\/2020\/03\/DSC_4965-600x400.jpg\")
This is one of my favorite events of the year<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/li><\/ul><\/figure>\n\n\n\n ![\"\"](\"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/joel-mcmartin\/files\/2020\/03\/DSC_4979-600x400.jpg\")
I love seeing everyone together competing and having fun<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/li><\/ul><\/figure>\n\n\n\n ![\"\"](\"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/joel-mcmartin\/files\/2020\/03\/DSC_4866-600x400.jpg\")
The last few years giving out the boxes to disabled kids has also been a highlight<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/li><\/ul><\/figure>\n\n\n\n ![\"\"](\"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/joel-mcmartin\/files\/2020\/03\/DSC_4826-600x400.jpg\")
It is a great day of fellowship and service<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/li><\/ul><\/figure>\n\n\n\n Christmas and Easter are always big occasions at our church. It is always a highlight to spend this time together in fellowship and celebration on these big days. Our celebration often involves presentations by different age groups as well as a shared meal and worship. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/joel-mcmartin\/files\/2019\/05\/20190421_100209-600x338.jpg\")
Our kids always prepare something to share during the celebrations<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/li><\/ul><\/figure>\n\n\n\n ![\"\"](\"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/joel-mcmartin\/files\/2020\/03\/20181224_210018-600x338.jpg\")
Even the adults share in the fun too<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/li><\/ul><\/figure>\n\n\n\n Our women gather together twice a month to study God’s word, we are in the book of Romans. They also do a lot of visits to each other during times of grief and celebration. Each year we try to do a retreat for a few days and this ranges from a small group to a shared larger group with multiple churches. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/joel-mcmartin\/files\/2020\/03\/20190913_183448-600x338.jpg\")
This year our retreat was a big gathering of 9 churches
it was an amazing time together<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/li><\/ul><\/figure>\n\n\n\nWe considered it such a blessing to live and work side by side so many different believers. We feel as much a part of this church here as we do our sending church back in the states. Everywhere we go we praise God for the family of believers he places around us and the opportunity to be in community with them. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/joel-mcmartin\/files\/2020\/03\/20190421_150555-600x338.jpg\")
May we never forget the blessing it is to be part of the family of God<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/li><\/ul><\/figure>\n\n\n\n ![\"\"](\"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/joel-mcmartin\/files\/2019\/09\/69086444_2540862545993597_1754176072317927424_o-600x300.jpg\")
Nor forget the value of gathering together and encouraging eachother<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/li><\/ul><\/figure>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
We love our church family here! I often don’t take the chance to share about our church as there are many other things going on. But our church is a big part of who we are and what we do. So, here is a small peek into our church. Our church is full of people […]<\/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":{"0":"post-6542","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-updates-and-news","7":"entry"},"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/joel-mcmartin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6542","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=6542"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/joel-mcmartin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6542\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/joel-mcmartin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6542"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/joel-mcmartin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6542"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/joel-mcmartin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6542"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}