{"id":386,"date":"2014-05-19T14:06:56","date_gmt":"2014-05-19T11:06:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/rob-ellis\/?p=386"},"modified":"2014-05-19T14:06:56","modified_gmt":"2014-05-19T11:06:56","slug":"getting-comfortable-getting-focused","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/rob-ellis\/2014\/05\/19\/getting-comfortable-getting-focused\/","title":{"rendered":"Getting Comfortable, Getting Focused"},"content":{"rendered":"

Wow, it has been way too long<\/span><\/strong> since my last Ministry blog update! \u00a0Please forgive me for not updating this sooner. \u00a0We have really been enjoying life in Tanzania<\/strong><\/span> and staying very busy. \u00a0The past several weeks have been very rainy<\/strong><\/span>, which has caused a lot of problems throughout Tanzania such as severe floods, property damage, loss of life<\/strong><\/span>, but we have been ok. \u00a0At one point, all the roads in and out of our neighborhood were impassable (…we couldn’t get out…). \u00a0Right now, the puddles are drying up and all the grass\/trees\/flowers are growing, so we thank God for that.<\/p>\n

Our ministry has been growing so much and we have been enjoying our roles<\/strong><\/span>. \u00a0In April and May, the main role I have been focusing on is my role as the Regional Security Coordinator<\/strong><\/span>. \u00a0I am responsible for making sure all of my Field Security Coordinators across Africa are doing what needs to be done. \u00a0I took a trip to West Africa at the end of April\/beginning of May to do several security-related tasks. \u00a0The trip was a huge success! \u00a0Before the trip, I was very nervous<\/strong><\/span> because I wasn’t sure how I would be received. \u00a0Meaning, I’m a fairly new missionary, and a bit younger than many of my security counterparts, so I felt inadequate. \u00a0Thank God<\/strong><\/span> for burdening my heart that way because it really forced me to rely upon Him for my strength and identity.<\/p>\n

While in West Africa, I was oriented to all of our works there, I trained my field security coordinators in some specific areas, attended some informative meetings at the US Embassy, and discussed some needed changes in their security protocols for their main office property. \u00a0All this stuff was good, but one of the best things that happened was that God allowed me to feel secure in my position; He made me feel adequate, comfortable<\/strong><\/span>. \u00a0He impressed upon my heart that I could do this job, if I trust Him with it. \u00a0I gained a greater understanding of Him, how He works in us, and how to depend upon Him. \u00a0Because of this, I thoroughly enjoyed the trip! \u00a0Here are some pictures of my time there.<\/p>\n

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me leading the formal Risk Assessment<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

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me up front<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

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more training and discussions<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

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Embassy Meeting<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

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Embassy Briefing<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

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the famous doorway of no return<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

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Huge Statue<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

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Now that I have made a lot of headway in my security role, I am excited to get\u00a0focused<\/strong>\u00a0again on finishing my Swahili language and culture program. \u00a0At my last evaluation, I was rated as Capable-Mid, and our goal is to reach Capable-High, so I am REALLY CLOSE! \u00a0Another ministry of mine that takes up a lot of time is that I handle all of the\u00a0finances<\/strong>\u00a0for our organization. \u00a0Just this month we had a team do a People Group Assessment and traveled around Tanzania for a couple of weeks. \u00a0We’re still sorting out all the transactions from this amazing trip! \u00a0Everyone on our team has agreed to lighten the workload starting now through the rest of the year in order to finish our language studies. \u00a0Amy and I are buckling down and getting focused on this very important aspect of our ministry. \u00a0We’ve fulfilled the purpose of taking a break from our language program, now we are ready to wrap up the formal study. \u00a0We’ll need your\u00a0prayers<\/strong>\u00a0as we switch gears in order to complete our language studies. It isn’t going to be easy, but we are up to the challenge!<\/p>\n

We can’t thank God enough for allowing us the privilege of participating in His work here in Africa. \u00a0Thank you<\/strong><\/em> as well for being such a big part of this ministry. \u00a0Remember that we are all spokes on this wheel. \u00a0We must work together! \u00a0We’re glad to do our part and we’re glad you do your part so well. \u00a0We still pray that God blesses our supporters, and we hope you are seeing His blessings in your life.<\/p>\n

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Until next time, enjoy the blog!<\/p>\n

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Wow, it has been way too long since my last Ministry blog update! \u00a0Please forgive me for not updating this sooner. \u00a0We have really been enjoying life in Tanzania and staying very busy. \u00a0The past several weeks have been very rainy, which has caused a lot of problems throughout Tanzania such as severe floods, property […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":467,"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":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-386","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-uncategorized","7":"entry"},"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/rob-ellis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/386","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/rob-ellis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/rob-ellis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/rob-ellis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/467"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/rob-ellis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=386"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/rob-ellis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/386\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/rob-ellis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=386"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/rob-ellis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=386"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/rob-ellis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=386"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}