IT Websight

Lori and I are so proud to be part of IT and love to see all of the ways that they are serving people and embodying the Gospel around the world. When we went through training and stayed at the headquarters in Elgin, IL one of my favorite things about that time was meeting people from all around the world and hearing their stories. If you would like to see a glimpse of some of the things that God is doing through IT, then I invite you to take a virtual trip around the world via internet. International Teams just totally refurbished their web sight and you can check it our here.

Seasons Change

We have been enjoying an extended summer until today. We have had months of beautiful sunshine and cool evenings. However, I think that that has come to an end today with the dark rain clouds of winter. The kind of dark wet days that make you want to curl up on the couch with a good book and a cup of tea. Anyway, with the change of the seasons I have been thinking about the changes this new year will bring in the seasons of the ministry here.

The student life is returning to SdC and the tourists are fading away with the summer weather. As the students return I would like to ask you to be praying for our team and the café. Santiago has around 40,000 students and that I know of only two small Bible studies for University Students. One is Catholic and the other Evangelical, each with around 30 students. That is literally a drop in the bucket in comparison with the size of the University here.

I would ask that you pray for our team and the students that we meet. Pray that we would meet students with whom God is already stirring something in their heart. Pray that God will give us a voice into the Christian student groups here to challenge them in what it means to live their faith outside the comfortable walls of the Christian circles of friends that they have. Please pray that God will foster and bless our relationships with the small remnant of Christian leaders who are working here in Galicia (our province) and help us to encourage, bless, and challenge them.

Also, pray that God will give our team wisdom as we wade through cultural and historical religious mine fields. Pray that God would guide us in the best way to plant and water in this place. Just as the apostle Paul stated, ^“6I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God made it grow. ⁷So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow. ⁸The man who plants and the man who waters have one purpose, and each will be rewarded according to his own labor. ⁹For we are God's fellow workers; you are God's field, God's building.” 1 Corinthians 3:6-9

We thank you so much for your prayers for our family and for this ministry!

Back Online

Hey, thanks for your patience, everyone. Sorry about the internet fiasco and slow communication. We are now back online. It has been a great fall here in SdC with the students returning back to school. Santiago has morphed from a tourist town back into a college town. I always prefer the town with students more. Something about the students bring a vibrancy and life to the SdC. I had the privilege two weeks ago of going to Holland and visiting one of my good friends Marcel. We met in Santiago when he worked a Christian hostel for the group Oasis Trails. It was good hanging out with him and meeting his family. The were very hospitable and I felt like I received an insiders look at Holland. I was very impressed by their bicycling culture, something you almost have to see to understand. Besides visiting a lot of the tourist things like the VanGogh Museum and the Church tower in Utrecht, we also got visit a hostel ministry and a cafe ministry that reach out to youth in Amsterdam. It was great to see what they are doing in the midst of that beautiful country.

Internet Down

Hey everyone, I just wanted to let you know that our internet has been down for about a week. All week wanadoo has been telling us it should be working tomorrow. So, if we are slow in responding to e-mails, that is the reason. Hopefully it will be resolved "tomorrow". :) Blessings, Matt