To prepare to go on a Mission trip you must prepare your hearts for His Ministry and unexpected challenges. You must be flexible, flexible, flexible. If you have never been on a short-term mission trip, please consider going - It will CHANGE your life forever!
Jack Hempeling wrote the following in his book, Before You Go:
We must prepare our hearts. Our long term impact depends more deeply on our heart preparation than our technical preparation. We must prepare to stay focused, to be unified, to be positive, pure, humble and submissive and full of faith and praise. All of this combined with practical and technical preparation is what will allow us to make a greater impact and touch people's lives.
We are to throw out pride, rebellion against the team or leaders, division and strife among the members, complaining about circumstances, negative attitudes, course language, inappropriate relationships and impurity. We must be vigilant to keep them away from our hearts.
Expect the unexpected. God has set this trip in motion and He may choose to use you in many different ways. Maybe witnessing to someone in a crowded airport or in the seat next to you. He may intervene and create a greater plan for you in the field, one greater than you had planned. Be open to His plan and be flexible.
We are to not allow anyone, even ourselves, to limit us from fulfilling God's call for us. He has set us apart for His purposes and He creates a stir in our heart to respond to that calling. He put in our hearts the desire to go to the mission field so we need to resist the temptation to focus on our personal limitations.
Job's compliment
Although many people have not read the book of Job, many know one thing about the main character because of a common phrase [compliment]—"He has the patience of Job"—echoing James 5:11. The compliment, however, emphasizes only one of Job's spiritual qualities. Job was not only patient in his circumstances—but also faithful to God and God's revealed truth.
In spite of the absolutely horrible set of calamities that occurred—the loss of possessions and children—Job did not sin or blame God. How many of us have this kind of faith? How do we react when we lose possessions or family members? Does our relationship to God include patient faith?
The burning question in circumstances like these remains: "Why? Why, God?" Job never gets an answer. Job doesn't know that this is God's way of proving to Satan that faith exists independent of worldly prosperity and endures in times of loss. Nor does Job know that God knows he will not fail the tests.
The book of Job never answers the question, "Why do we suffer?" The way to cope with suffering is not to find out the immediate cause but to find out who God is. A deep, personal knowledge of God, our Creator, Sustainer, and Redeemer is what we need to handle the stress of suffering. We need a relationship with God that enables us to endure suffering without losing faith, without cursing God, and without blaspheming God's name in actions and words.
mississippi flooding
Right now the south is facing another crisis. The Mississippi River is higher than its been in over 75 years. Today it crested at 47.8 feet, leaving a trail of destruction up and down the border states of Illinois, Missouri, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Louisiana and Mississippi. My heart just aches for them. Many families are faced with the loss of property or worse, life.
The reason I wanted to add this is for another keepsake and part of history taking place on this Earth.
thai - hometown
We are currently in our fourth month of Thai school! Language learning can be exhausting and a little mundane at times, but so far we have completed three courses on speaking and listening. We are now in our first reading and writing class! Please pray that we will be able to retain what we learn in class and have chances to use it outside of the classroom in everyday life. We would also love prayers for continued faithfulness in learning and studying, as we know that it will be essential for ministry in the future.
Recently, C had the chance to go with his friend Palm to his hometown. He was honored to be invited into his home and to get to spend time with his family. It was a really fun weekend and was great to get extended time with Palm. His family was so hospitable, kind and kept us well fed! It's always so great to get to have experiences like this where you get to learn the culture in a new way, as well as getting to know a good friend better. We are eager to have more in depth conversations about the gospel with Palm. Although these have been slow to happen so far, we are trusting that the Lord is still at work.
thai - holidays
While language is our main focus during this next year, we pray that the Lord will use us in relationships with our neighbors, tutors, coffee shop workers, and other people we come in contact with as we are studying and living our daily life. We already feel that the Lord has given us favor with some of these friendships and hope to walk faithfully in what He has put in front of us.
Holidays are a great time to share our faith and the reasons why we celebrate. We hosted a Thanksgiving dinner in our home and had friends from America, Thailand, South Africa, and Myanmar join us! We pray that during this Christmas season, we will have more opportunities to host people in our home, share the Christmas story, and invite them to join us for church on Christmas day!
thai - Songkran:
A few weeks ago, Thailand celebrated its most popular holiday, Songkran, also known as the water festival. While Songkran is perceived as a fun and exciting celebration, the heart of it is troubling for Christians. Buddhism is a system of merit, where one has to outweigh the bad that they have done with good in order to have a better future in reincarnation. There is a constant cycle of repentance and personal atonement, making the goal of escaping suffering unattainable. During Songkran, Buddhists will pour water over statues of Buddha and one another to gain merit, good luck, and wash away sin.
This year, Songkran coincided with Easter. There is a stark contrast between the hope Christians have in the life, death, and resurrection of Christ and the constant striving of Buddhism. In Christ, there is nothing more that I can do to make myself more clean before the Lord. It is all by grace, through faith that we have a relationship with the most loving God, who alone has the power to justify us and make us righteous through His Son's blood. We long for Thai people (and all people) to know this kind of love and freedom found in Christ.
Would you pray for the Thai people? Would you pray that as they recognize their sin and need for cleansing that they would long for salvation that is not based on their own merit? Our prayer is that the beauty and grace found in Jesus would be fresh and attractive to people that are stuck in an endless cycle of hopelessly attempting to atone for their own sin!
new england - focus
For the past month we have been serving as the Summer Program Hosts at the FOCUS Study Center on Martha’s Vineyard, MA. Two of the college-aged staff members we are mentoring have given their lives to Christ and were baptized. Matt baptized Kitchy within the first week and Hawley baptized Juliette more recently.
Thai language
Of the 69 million people living in Thailand, 61 million remain unreached with the gospel. That is over 88% of the population. The need for the gospel is great in Thailand! According to Joshua Project, only 0.6 percent of the population are evangelical Christians.
Although these statistics are staggering, we are excited to see how the Lord is using His church in Thailand and can't wait to be a part of this ministry in just a few months!
Our first official Thai lesson! Our team leader connected us to a teacher in Thailand who was willing to give us lessons via Zoom. We have so much to learn but we are grateful to learn some of the basics before we land in Bangkok!
new england - change is difficult
Prayer Request/Update: Andrew from Northampton & My Father’s House
A year ago I (Matt) sent out a prayer request and told the story of a man named Andrew I met who was sleeping in his car in Northampton, MA. My friend Seth and I were at Pulaski Park in downtown Northampton doing street evangelism, and Andrew was there. I offered to take him to a recovery home several towns over called My Father’s House. Andrew stayed there several weeks, and during that time I discipled him, led him to repentance, and baptized him.
However, in spite if this progress, Andrew was a difficult person to work with for both me and My Farther’s House, and we both eventually cut off our relationships with him in the end.
Andrew recently resurfaced, and the second state appears worse than the first. He needs much prayer and fasting. I invite some of you to join me in prayer, maybe even fasting, for him and My Father’s House. He needs to be delivered completely from darkness, gain mental health, and learn to maintain relationships so he can sustain employment and reconcile with his family, including a young son. Pray for the team at My Father’s House as he has recently been unkind to them.
thai - Carmac's
The Carmac's are both from Montgomery, Alabama and started dating while serving in East Asia. They spent nearly five years learning the language, culture, and sharing the gospel with college students. The Lord used these years to grow them in their knowledge of the goodness and sovereignty of Himself and to develop a burden in them to see the lost in Asia come to a saving faith in Jesus Christ. After unexpectedly returning from East Asia in the 2020 pandemic, they worked with international students in Birmingham, Alabama, and married in the summer of 2021.
The Carmac's are grateful for the ways the Lord has used these past experiences to lead them to join the MTW church-planting team in Bangkok, Thailand, where they will work alongside the local church and Thai national pastors. They desire to form deep relationships within their community, allowing them to share the hope of the gospel with those who have never heard. They are humbled to be called to take the gospel to Bangkok and are eager to see how the Lord will continue to use them in Thailand.
