FOUR!

On September 9th, our lovely older daughter Naya turned 4! She got to choose a 'theme' for her birthday party, and her choice was Strawberry Shortcake. As the picture shows, she had a Strawberry Shortcake cake, and some strawberry-ish cupcakes. We are blessed to have her in our family... she is such a sweet little girl. (All the time, right? haha!)

Trying out her new bike from Mommy and Daddy!

Did you know?.... that our training is a total of 4 years? We are in our 3rd year of the 4-year training to go into tribal church planting. Where did the time go?!

In 4 more months, we will complete our first semester at the Missionary Training Center (just before Christmas)! (Maybe that's technically 3 months... but work with me anyway... )

4 degrees is how much higher Jocellyn's temperature was recently, as she suffered a bout of sickness. Thankfully she is recovering just fine.

Jocie, resting with her fever

We have 4 hours of class each day. We've also been studying through 4 classes simultaneously. Now there is some overlap with the classes. We recently began our "Love and Respect" class, where we are enjoying the video series by Emerson Eggerichs. Also, we've just moved in to Part 2 of our Foundational Bible Teaching class. We're excited for this, as this part is when we essentially team-teach through (an abbreviated version of) the Building on Firm Foundations curriculum within our class! View our earlier blog for a few more details about this curriculum, or feel free to ask us if you're curious!
Finally, next week we begin the Child Protection course. I'm sure you could join us in listing the reasons why this course is important (for any culture, any context).

Oh... and Lisa made her first (of many)
batch of homemade cinnamon rolls! YUM.

Lastly, regarding "FOUR": No, Noe has not been playing any golf lately. Disc golf, yes! He's enjoying staying active outdoors since the weather has been so gorgeous (upper 70's). Lisa is staying busy with the girls, and keeping the home. The keyboard even gets played once in awhile! We're really starting to feel settled in to the routine and the environment, and so we press on!


Do YOU have any questions for us about our training, our family...anything? We'd LOVE to answer your questions!

~Noe and Lisa Martinez, and girls

NTM's MTC CP1 Class!

So, you understood that title, right? :)

Indeed, there are many acronyms used here at the Missionary Training Center (MTC), and many jokes about said acronyms. Here's an example of how we could communicate poorly with you:

"Hello friends in the PNW! After graduating from the BI in MI, we are at NTM's MTC in MO, taking our e1 CP1 courses, to prepare us for e2 and NCLA so that we can move quickly into TCLA. Our current classes include FBT and BOFF, CLA and MP, MCM, and WA. We also have our ELINC twice a week with several other couples, some of whom are MK's- and one who was with NTMA. We're still being diligent with our PD too. We're interested in PNG or perhaps WA, but we're open to any UPG."

Actually, the whole concept of acronyms really could relate to some of the things we're learning here. For example, if we were to approach a stranger and quickly say, "You need Jesus!", would they really understand? (of course there's a chance, but the general answer would be no!) Sometimes we abbreviate things, and perhaps we don't even consider why.

Two of the acronyms above, "FBT" and "BOFF" are the substance of what I'm writing about here, and what we're learning currently. We are reading "Building On Firm Foundations" (BOFF) - which we highly recommend -, which addresses this very issue of hearts being prepared and ready to receive the Gospel message. This concept begins in Genesis 3. Before God addresses any other issues with Adam and Eve, He first asks them, "Where are you?" Is it important to find out 'where' someone is before telling them that their Savior has come? Do we have a relationship with them? Do we know who they are? From this book also comes New Tribes Mission's (NTM's) curriculum for tribal church planting - the Foundational Bible Teaching (FBT), which is Creation to Christ. We've mentioned it before, but by beginning in Genesis, a hearer is given the opportunity to learn who God is, the state of man, man's failure to keep the Law, and man's need for a Savior. Then when Christ comes on the scene, the hearer understands and can say, "That's my Savior!" The point? Hearts and minds that are prepared and ready to receive the Gospel of Jesus Christ! Part of this FBT class (see above) will be to teach through this curriculum to/with our classmates.

We are keeping VERY busy with studies, and we absolutely love being here at the MTC! We thank God for each and every one of you who has helped us get here in one way or another!

Study group

We ask that you remember us in your prayers:

• For our relationship (marriage)
• For parenting - Naya especially right now
• For our friendships with fellow students and staff here



Blast from the past dinner! :)

• For God's continued provision for our needs

The girls are having a blast with old and new friends, and with the weather being so hot (average 90's since we moved here), they've enjoyed splashing in the water (the lake, or water in our little inflatable boat). Naya turns 4 on September 9th!!!

To find out how you can get involved in reaching unreached people groups with the Gospel, visit www.ntm.org!

~Noe and Lisa Martinez, Naya and Jocie

--by the way, e1 just refers to the phase of equipping we are in with NTM, and CP1 means we are in our first semester of the Church Planting track of training.

Our "home"! 3rd Townhouse from the left w/ the lights on.