Tethered to the Shore

The Ethnos360 Training campus borders the Lake of the Ozarks, and Nick and I went out to the boat dock the other night to fish. The dock has a permanent tether to the shore, but it is also in constant motion with the water’s movement. That is how I feel about our ministry here: we are anchored here with one singular purpose of seeing a thriving church planted among every people group. However, we are constantly moving in what exactly we do.

It is always a fun question to answer what Nick does because he jumps between a lot of different tasks. Over the summer, he and his co-workers finished the retaining wall project behind a row of student housing. Thank you for your prayers for that project! Now, he is working on outdoor maintenance and campus projects in the morning, and he works with students in the afternoon during their work detail time. When he can, he trains them in equipment maintenance and in operating machinery and tools that they may use on their future mission fields. He also helps with the computer/IT side of his ministry, automating work slips and creating documents and calendars in the cloud that allow for easier collaboration. (If you know my mom, Cindy, you know she is very happy to see Nick show interest in anything IT related! Haha!)

I also have felt a lot of movement in my ministry now that the semester is in full swing. Last year, I taught a class of 2–3-year-olds every day. This year, I work one-on-one with a 3^rd grade student, I work in the nursery, and I am preparing to start an early intervention program with 5–6-year-olds. Everything is so different! It really is a blessing to feel anchored in why we are here. The truth of our “why” is summed up well in Romans 10:

For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!”

Romans 10:13-15

No matter our roles here, we are thankful to help equip the beautiful feet of our missionary coworkers!

Emmy and Naomi are settling into their new routines as well. Naomi enjoys Kindergarten and has so much to talk about every day when she gets home. The day is a bit long for her, though, and she does come home tired. Emmy loves her Little Sprouts class (the childcare class for 2-4 year olds that is right across from the nursery on campus). Both of our girls have continued to form friendships with neighbors and co-workers who live here on staff, which is such an answer to prayer to have some consistency for them.

For our ministry partners who live in Pennsylvania, we have some exciting news! We are planning a trip to Pennsylvania for the month of January. We are only able to serve here at Ethnos360 Training because we have a team of people and churches who support us in our ministry. We want to travel “home” and reconnect with as many people as possible, and we are praying to grow our ministry team as well. In our next update, we will have some more details about that, so stay posted about how you can connect with us during our visit.

Prayer Requests

• A group of Linguistics students moved to Oklahoma for 2 months for their Linguistics practicum. They will practice techniques that will help them learn an unwritten language in future ministry settings, and it is a very full and intense 2 months!
• Next week is Field Fair, which is a time for missionaries from around the world to come share about Ethnos360 ministry locations. Pray that the representatives and students have many opportunities to connect and discuss future ministry possibilities.
• Pray as we start planning our trip in January—it is still a few months away, but we want to use our time well when we are there. We also are praying to grow our ministry team and add new financial partners to that team, so prayer that God is preparing what we need and that we trust His provision.