Posted by: Matthew | September 14, 2008

Welcome!

Welcome to our site! Through this blog, we plan to keep you up to date with our family and ministry as we travel on deputation. As you read our posts, we pray that God would burden you to pray for our family. Pray for safety as we travel, that God would continue to open doors to present our ministry, and that God would burden churches to add us to their missionary family! Thank you again for visiting and please come back frequently, we will update our blogs at least once a week!

Scroll Below For Our Latest Updates!!

Posted by: Matthew | December 7, 2009

Home at Last!

Our family is so excited about being home for the month of December.  We have four deputation meetings and three other speaking engagements this month but they are all close to home!  We started the month with two great meetings yesterday.  We are so thankful to Pastor Surber and the people of Galilean Baptist Church for adding us to their missionary family yesterday morning.  We also had a wonderful service last night at Holy Mountain Baptist Church.  It was the end of a wonderful weekend.

As you can tell by the pictures, Saturday had already been a great day for us.  Knowing we would be home this weekend, this day had been set aside to go to Whitetop Mountain and pick out a Christmas tree.  We woke up to a beautiful snow.  It was like a scene from movie!  We went up and came home with a great tree and a truckload of memories.  The day ended up with the wedding of Robert and Emily Brandt.  I officiated the ceremony and much to my relief it all went extremely well!  Needless to say, this was a weekend that we will not soon forget!

Posted by: Matthew | December 4, 2009

10,000 Hits

We received two big hits this past week.  Our website/blog which has now been up for one year received its 10,000th hit!  We want to simply say thank you for caring enough about our family to keep up with us and to pray for us faithfully.  It is the prayers of God’s people that protect us from things like our second hit.  On our way to Calvary Baptist Church in Chattanooga, a truck in front of us ran over a shredded tire.  A piece of that tire flew directly at us.  In the picture to the left, Lauren points out the initial landing point.  From there, it hit just between the windshield and hood, the windshield, the sunroof, and finally the car carrier before it went on its way.  Just a few feet higher and we would have taken a direct hit to the windshield.  Things would have been different if that would have happened.  As it turned out, we ended up with one dent, one scratch, and increased heart rates.  It is the prayers of people like you that protect us as we travel the many miles of deputation.  Just wanted to let you know and to also say thanks for caring about our family.  We love you all!  Keep praying!

Posted by: Matthew | November 26, 2009

A Florida Thanksgiving Christmas??

We are praying that God will allow us to be in Peru for the 2010 holidays.  Knowing that this would be our last holiday season in the states for a while, dad and mom decided to treat all the grandchildren to an early Christmas.  They took the entire family to Disney World (as our Christmas present). My sister and her family joined my parents and our family in Florida for Thanksgiving.  We stayed together in a house, visited the parks, rested, and had a huge Thanksgiving feast together (thanks to Cracker Barrel).

Needless to say, our children had a blast!  It was such a blessing to have two meetings on the Sundays around this week.  We had a wonderful time last Sunday with Pastor Steve Roberson and the members of Calvary Baptist Church.  They definitely got a week that was already going to be exciting off to a good start.  We were surprised to have “Christmas for the Missionaries”.  It was unbelievable!  When we unloaded at the motel, the gifts entirely covered one of the beds!  Brother Martin was a wonderful host and the people were so friendly.  It was a great meeting.  Now, we look forward to being at East Sleigh Avenue Baptist in Tampa this coming Sunday.

This post could not be made on Thanksgiving Day without giving thanks.  This year has brought us so much for which to be thankful.  God has greatly blessed our deputation ministry.  We have seen 32 churches partner with us in just 10 months.  Along with the individuals who have also committed support, our level has grown to 45%.  We have also distributed 825 change jars and collected almost $18,500 for Haven of Hope Children’s Home.  God has given us a number of great meetings and travel safety throughout this portion of our deputation.  Our health, for the most part, has remained good.  We have also had many comments as to how God has used our ministry to be a blessing to others.  We could never thank God enough for all that He has done.

Finally, let me take time to simply say thanks to you.  If you are reading this, obviously you care enough to keep up with and pray for our family.  We appreciate all the support that we have gained throughout this year.  This blog that updates our ministry is less than 100 hits short of 10,000 in this ten month timeframe.  We are so humbled and thankful that you are concerned about our family enough to take time out to read these posts.  We are even more thankful that you are keeping us before the Lord faithfully.  It is only through His blessing that our departure date continually draws closer.  Thank you for caring so much about our family! 

 

Posted by: Matthew | November 21, 2009

November Prayer Letter

Posted by: Matthew | November 10, 2009

Tanner Turns Three

IMG_0730On our latest road trip, our baby boy turned three years old.  To celebrate the day we set out on a seven hour road trip from Kentucky to Pennsylvania.  That would be a great celebration for any three year old, right?  However, Tanner is a road warrior.  We really think that he likes traveling better than being at home.  He is actually the best traveler out of our four children.

IMG_0718Knowing this trip was coming, plans were mapped out, stops planned, and presents wrapped.  The pit stops on this day would be Tanner’s favorite two destinations beginning with Chuck E. Cheese in Charleston, WV.  It was there that pizza was devoured, cupcakes were consumed, games played, tickets redeemed, and presents were opened.  Tanner had a blast!  He loves being the center of attention.  The second stop was thought out as well.  Dinner was served at Chic-Fil-A.  But, it was not the chicken nuggets that had Tanner’s attention.  It was obviously the playland.  For some reason, everything revolves around the Chic-Fil-A playland for Tanner.  Everytime we pass by one he goes crazy.  Thus, celebration two occurred there.  It was a really good day and the traveling ended two great meetings in Pennsylvania on Sunday.  You just learn to work everything in to the deputation schedule!

IMG_0754

Happy Birthday Tanner!

 

Posted by: Matthew | October 29, 2009

Busy But Blessed!

IMG_0672The month of October brings two words to mind: Busy & Blessed!

This past month took our family to 14 different churches in 9 different states.  For those of you who wonder, the states were (in order) Kentucky, South Carolina, Georgia, Virginia, North Carolina, Illinois, Tennessee, Alabama, and West Virginia.  Today we find ourselves on day number 12 of 18 straight nights in church.  Although this time has been extremely busy, we are so blessed to have a number of opportunities to present our burden for Peru.  God continues to bless as our support has risen to 43% and our children’s home project has grown to $17,500!  God is so good!!

IMG_0677We had a couple of special blessings this month as we were able to be with two churches that God has greatly used in our lives.  On October 11th, we were with Forrest Hills Baptist Church in Stone Mountain, GA.  It was there, 13 years ago, that God allowed our ministry and our family to begin!  We served as youth pastor there and had two of our four children during our three and half years in Georgia.  What an honor it was to return and see many dear friends.  We also had the opportunity to be in the Missions Conference at Temple Baptist Church in Powell, TN.  Through the ministry of Temple Baptist Church and Crown College, Crystal and I grew mightily in the Lord and learned much about serving Him!  We are so thankful that Dr. Sexton (top picture) followed God’s leading to begin this ministry.  Both he and the college have impacted our lives tremendously.  We were also blessed to spend a great amount of time with Mike & Valarie Fox (bottom picture) during our visit.  Other than my father, no man has had a greater influence in my life.  I am thankful for his Godly example and friendship.  We thank God for every opportunity to share our burden, but this conference was very special to our family.

Posted by: Matthew | October 16, 2009

Back To Beginnings

It was a blessing for our family to return to Forrest Hills Baptist Church this past weekend.  It was just over 13 years ago that God allowed us to begin our ministry there.  What a blessing it was to see so many familiar faces faithfully in their place.  We are so thankful for how God is using Dr. Warrren to guide this wonderful church.  We enjoyed so much our stay with the Mitchell Rose family.  It was an eye opener to go out to eat with Keith and Amy Hamilton and their soon to be four children.  Keith was in college and Amy in our youth group while we served at Forrest Hills.  How encouraging it is to see how God is now using them to minister there.  But, it did show us how old we are getting!!  We praise God for allowing us to distribute 27 change jars while we were there! We are so thankful that God gave us an opportunity to get our feet on the ground at FHBC.

At this moment, we are packing for a difficult leg of our deputation.  Starting Sunday night, we will be in church 18 straight nights in four different states. This will include two single meetings and five mission conferences.  Please pray for strength and patience for both Crystal and I and especially for our children.  We are praying that these days will reap great blessings from the Lord.  We are currently stuck near 40% on our support level.  Our slow summer has caught up with us this month.  We are praying that a very heavy schedule through October and November will see our support rise between 50-60% by January.  If this happens, our goal of departing in August will remain a reality.  However, please pray that we will be patient and wait upon the Lord.  His timing is always perfect.  Thank you so much for following us through this blog.  Please keep our family daily before the Lord.  It is only through His power and protection that safety will be maintained and His will accomplished.

P.S.  Sorry there are no pictures with this post.  My computer is messed up right now, so I am working from someone else’ computer.  I know things are so much more interesting with pictures!

Posted by: Matthew | October 6, 2009

Lauren Turns Eight

IMG_0605Our eighth month of deputation also brought the eighth birthday of our baby girl!  We traveled home for two days so that Lauren could celebrate her birthday with our family and a couple of friends. Although the stay was short, it was very enjoyable.  During this time, Madeline and Kyle were also able to go to the Chilhowie football game and see many of their friends as well.  I enjoyed watching Chilhowie get a critical victory over Virginia High!  For Crystal, this time ended up being a lot of work.  We still had a great couple of days.  Happy Birthday Lauren!!

IMG_0632Following our short time at home, we traveled to Beattyville, KY.  We had a wonderful time at both Ida May and Bear Track Bible Churches.  It was a joy to spend the weekend with my cousin Mark Coburn and his family.  It was also a blessing to stay at Youth Haven Bible Camp and to present our ministry with Brother William Owen’s church there.  God did so many wonderful things in my life as a young man at that camp.  Many memories flooded my mind this weekend.  It was truly a blessing!  This morning we head to Calvary Baptist in Greenwood, SC.  We will be preaching a three day revival in the Christian school there. Wednesday also brings the opportunity to share our work at a new church.  We end this leg of the trip at Forrest Hills Baptist Church in Stone Mountain, GA.  We are excited about seeing so many of the people where God allowed both our ministry and our family to begin.  Both Madeline and Kyle were born in the 3 1/2 years that God allowed us to serve at FHBC!  Please pray for our family as we travel.

Posted by: Matthew | September 24, 2009

An Awesome Six Days

The last six days have been wonderful for our family.  Friday through Sunday was spent with the people of Fellowship Baptist Church in Wytheville, VA.  We had an incredible time.  The church was so friendly and welcoming.  The services were truly challenging and the concern for missions was very evident.  Our family is so thankful for their concern in helping us to meet our needs as well as their commitment to support our family.  It was a blessing to be with the Mullinax Family(to China), the Stanley Family (to Australia), and to see our dear friends the Seaver Family (to Alaska).  I can say without a doubt, we were blessed to be in this conference.  I am so thankful to Pastor Drake and all the members at Fellowship.

The next three nights I was privileged to preach a revival at Grosses Creek Baptist Church.  What a wonderful meeting this was as well.  It was an honor to see so many dear friends as the choirs from Cleghorn, Chilhowie (our home church), and Macedonia (one of our supporting churches) came and sang each night.  The response to the messages was tremendous and our family had a wonderful time.  We are so thankful for their tremendous concern for our needs. it was exciting to see so many children’s home jars go out the door and it was exciting to see so much money given toward the project throughout the meeting.  We look forward to the possibility of partnering with Grosses Creek in reaching Lima for Christ.

God just continues to show himself faithful.  These six days have seen wonderful church services, additional support, many of our needs met, new contacts made, six meetings scheduled for next year, need I go on….  GOD IS GOOD!!!!  Thank you Lord for your blessing.  God continues to show that as we obey Him, He will do the rest.

Posted by: Matthew | September 16, 2009

2619 Miles Later!

IMG_0478Our latest journey took us to churches in the states of Louisiana and Alabama.  Although many miles were traveled, we had a tremendous time.  We not only visited some wonderful churches, but we also saw some great friends from our prior ministry.  This has truly been one of the greatest blessing of deputation.  We have been able to catch up with people from our childhoods, college, and early ministry times.  We most likely would have never seen these dear people again this side of Heaven were it not for deputation.  It has been such a blessing to see how God is using these people all over the United States.  We look forward to catching up with so many more over the next year.

 Please Pray: God continues to bless with meetings, financial support, and prayer partners.  However, God is also beginning to build a team of workers around our family as well.  Would you pray for Amy Noland, Lura Martinez, and Micah & Katie Smith as they consider and pray about both short and long term possibilities of assisting our family in Peru.  Several other individuals and churches are praying about and planning short term trips upon our arrival.  We are so excited to see so many people sharing in our burden for the Peruvian people!!  I am sure that each of them would appreciate your prayer support.

Older Posts »

Categories