• Home
  • About
  • Give
  • Photos
  • Subscribe
  • Contact

  • 
  • 

What is Ethnos360?

March 17, 2020 by Joel Potter

A few Sundays ago, in our church service, our pastor did a Bible quiz game-show type thing. To make it more interesting, the participants were playing for money; actually, donations to one of the ministries our church sponsors. There were several that I would say most of our church recognized and then there was this one that I wondered if anyone knew what it was.

It was Ethnos360.

Now don’t get me wrong, our church knows us, the Potters. They know Joel and Bethany, Bethany’s mom, Lynn and our kids, Jack, Owen, and Kate, but if you asked most of them what Ethnos360 is, I think the answers would be quite vague if they even tried to answer.

Now, I’ll admit that it is entirely on us to remedy. And when we first moved to the area, we felt it was important that our church-body get to know us personally, simply as partners (that’s what our church calls ‘members’) before we introduced them to our ministry.

Ethnos360 is the organization we, the Potters, chose to team up with. Early in our adult lives, we both learned about huge numbers of people who have lived and died for generations without access to God’s Word in their language and no chance to know the Creator. That reality broke our hearts and caused us to feel a sense of accountability to be a part of the solution. 

And when we learned that Ethnos360 (it was named New Tribes Mission from 1942 to 2017) was reaching these people groups sustainably and sensitively, we chose to “throw our lot in” with this team. It is an organization made up of about 3500 people from the USA who all work full-time to see thriving churches among every people group around the world. We partner with like-minded ‘Global Partner’ ministries as a part of a network of believers all around the world, using our hearts and minds, our talent and experience, our love for the Creator of the world, to see those who were beyond the reach of the gospel, brought into reach.

Because it’s NOT FAIR that anyone shouldn’t know the Truth!

Here’s what we like about how Ethnos360 works:

  1. The Great Commission was given to the whole Church and so we are committed to working with the church as a partner and not leap-frogging over it.
  2. We are committed to working in the heart language of a people group. That means we devote years to culture and language study as well as solid Bible translation methods.
  3. We believe that people with no concept of God learn best when taught foundationally. So we teach the Bible chronologically, following the natural order a story is told. We start before even the creation of the world.
  4. We are committed to seeing thriving – self-sustaining – churches planted. That means we don’t leave right after the church is born. We stick around and work to disciple the church to a point where it’s leading itself and reaching out on its own.

That’s who Ethnos360 is. But in the end, it’s not about the organization you work with, it’s about the God that we serve.

For more detail about the team we serve with find the details here.

Filed Under: Ministry Tagged With: 2020 Campaign, Ethnos360, Ministry

More Posts:

« It’s getting exciting!
Is Missions On Hold? »

The Potters…

are missionaries helping every people group around the world have the chance to understand the gospel and have access to a thriving church. We are serving with the International Ministries Office as it assists Ethnos360 and its Global Partners.

joeldpotter

Late last week, we shared a "Can we be candid..." Late last week, we shared a "Can we be candid..." update, this time about a BIG ministry change. Many of you read that and wrote your sweet prayers back to us. For some of you, email is not your thing and so we don't want you to miss out. So, there's a link to the full post on our blog in my profile link or you can read the brief overview of update if you just want the basics.

Shortly after we returned from our trip to Missouri in June we had some realizations that led us to conclude, with the counsel of others, that our time serving with the Equip Asia team was coming to an end. The Lord had already been putting desires on my (Joel’s) heart to pursue a role that would allow me to serve our wider global missions community in the area of media and communications and we knew that with Kate starting to hybrid homeschool, she was going to need much more support as a homeschooled student. We also realized that Bethany needed to pursue some side-jobs and employment to supplement our very tight financial state.

So, for now, I’ve had my new ministry role approved and am making strides at getting an audio and video studio setup here in Sanford as well as beginning to make many plans for upcoming projects both here and abroad. I’ll be able to use both the experience I gained working with the Communications team for 8 years as well as the newfound skills in videography and media production to serve many different teams in what we call the “Global Partners” family (all related to Ethnos360).

Bethany is also off to the races, so to speak, helping to homeschool Owen and Kate, working several small jobs on the side, all while keeping our incredibly busy household sane and well organized. It’s a different scene for sure after the last three years, but there are some blessings that come from it.

Again, there’s more detail at the post you can get to in my profile link. 
______
#thepottermission @ethnos360
After learning of this book, I had to read it. Not After learning of this book, I had to read it. Not reading a lot of books, I used every renewal cycle that the local library allowed (it is due tomorrow) to finish this one and boy am I glad I finished it. 

@andrewpetersonmusic wrote a book about trees (and SO much more) and moved me at a time when I needed moving and reminding of how the God who created me and knows me intimately, is carefully tending the garden of my own being. 

There were moments when I gasped as I read his words and his realizations which I found paralleled some of my own. 

Having been transplanted from Pennsylvania and it’s temperate woods to Central Florida and it’s weird mix of prairies and swamps at 11 years old, I identified with his interpretation of his childhood. 

Two huge realizations will remain with me. The first is that the God who admonishes me to “be slow to speak…” is entitled to the same right to be “slow to speak.” The second is these imagined words from Jesus to me: “I love you. Let me love you.”

I’ve always loved trees and only love them more now. In fact a week ago I took the chance to go visit some of trees that AP mentioned in the book; the somber remains of our truly ancient Bald Cypress, “the Senator”, that tree’s younger (but still 2,000 years old) sibling, “Lady Liberty”, and the youngest of the family, a clone of the original, the relative sapling, “Phoenix”. (Big Tree Park, near the Spring Hammock Preserve)

I commend this book highly and again, pass my thanks to Andrew Peterson for it. 
______
#andrewpeterson #thegodofthegarden
#plantmoretrees 
@bhpub 
______
The tree in this photo is the pride and joy of our backyard, a Chinese or lacebark Elm (Ulmus parvifolia)and was planted by us not long after we moved to this house and provides lush shade to the eastern side of our backyard and filters the early morning sunrise light beautifully!
After running for a long time, like since 2002, I After running for a long time, like since 2002, I finally found a partner to train with, someone who although they live states away, knows the value of partnership and how to push another person to do better. I’m pretty excited about what’s to come as he and I work towards a goal that will be a lifetime highlight when we achieve it. Until then, here’s some highlight runs of the last month. 
______
#runwithstrava #floridarunner @strava @altrarunning
Load More... Follow on Instagram
  • About
  • Blog
  • Home
  • Give
  • Photos
  • Subscribe
  • Contact

Disclaimer: This personal ministry website is provided by Ethnos360 as a courtesy to its members. Ethnos360 makes no warranty regarding the accuracy of the information on these pages. Opinions expressed are provided by members in good faith, but are entirely those of the member and do not necessarily represent policy, doctrinal position, or opinions of Ethnos360. If you encounter information that you consider questionable, please e-mail the Ethnos360 web team.

© Copyright 2023 Ethnos360. All rights reserved.

Log In

  • 
  • 
  • 