Churches in Missions
“Mobilizing the Church Through Short-term Mission Trips”
Merry Christmas,
Long ago the prophet Isaiah said, “For unto us a child is born, unto us, a son is given.” That is the sum of what Christmas really
is about. While we enjoy family
gatherings, lights, trees, gifts, caroling, and many other parts of Christmas,
all of them would be pointless without the Christ-child that was born, the Son
of God that was given for us. Christ
departed the glories of heaven to come to this world to take upon Himself flesh
and dwell among us. He came with the mission of saving us from our sin. The true irony of Christmas is that we
celebrate the birth of a child who was destined to die for all mankind. This Christmas rejoice in the finished gift of God put on open display
through Jesus Christ!
Christmas is a season of rejoicing and
we wanted to invite you to rejoice with us.
The past month has been incredibly fruitful. First, Matt flew to Chicago to speak at an
IFCA youth conference in Central Illinois. There were over 150 teens
gathered to hear a challenge from God’s Word. Matt preached about the things that the world
promises to fill you but always leave you empty and the promises that God
offers us and always satisfies. There were many deep spiritual
conversations ranging from assurance of salvation, rededications, to teens
struggling with various different addictions. Continue to pray for these teens as they
apply God’s Word to their lives. A huge
thanks to Liberty Bible Church and their youth pastor Spencer for their great
hospitality.
We have also had a robust schedule in regard to speaking
occasions. We have shared with Locust
Valley Bible Church, Cumberland Bible Church, Battlefield Bible Church, and
Boonsboro Bible Church. We are blessed
by these churches' interest in our ministry and how they have come alongside us
to share the Gospel with those who are still spiritually lost.
One of our biggest praises comes from our first-ever
Thanksgiving outreach in McDowell County West Virginia. You guys came
through in a HUGE WAY. A special thanks to Chambersburg Bible, Locust Valley,
South Mountain Bible, Lifehouse of Martinsburg, Cumberland Bible, Hagerstown
Bible, Calvary Community, Chestnut Grove, Lighthouse Baptist of Hagerstown, and
countless other friends. Because
of you, we were able to distribute over 150 chickens, 122 turkeys, 200 bars of
soap, 100 towels, 300 washcloths, 300 toothbrushes, 200 tubes of toothpaste, 150 combs,
67 shampoos, over 700 cans of veggies, over 1000 pair of socks, countless
hygiene items, LOTS of winter clothing, other food items, along with nearly 50
Bibles!!! Our family was joined by
our newest CiM mission family, the Cooks. We packaged 78 food boxes (along with hygiene
bags with Bibles and tracts). People
lined up an hour before our event! We
worried if we would have enough items to hand out but by God’s grace there were
exactly 78 families that arrived!! Steve
and Alicia (Cook) along with Matt shared the Gospel with the people on the
street. They
talked with dozens of people and prayed with many of them.
After
distributing food our families traveled to the Living Waters Ministry Center in
Welch to cook a Thanksgiving dinner.
This is a drug rehab center for women.
The focus is getting clean from drugs and clean from sin. The program is extremely Gospel-centered. We were able to talk with the ladies at the center. They shared stories of being trafficked, molested,
aborted babies, drug addiction, homelessness, etc. Our hearts broke as we heard the tragedy of
these ladies’ lives, but we rejoiced to hear them turn the conversation to
Jesus. Multiple ladies have put
saving faith in Christ. Most of them
have been clean for months. They are
regularly learning about the Word and serving their community. Pray for these precious ladies, especially
for a woman in the center who is in her second trimester of pregnancy.
We are thankful for all that God has done these past twelve months. We have seen him move in ways that are beyond description. God continually shows us how unfailing His faithfulness is. We also rejoice for each of you who regularly pray and give. We honestly couldn’t do this without you. But we don’t just look backward, but we look forward. We currently are in conversation to lead five mission trips next year, survey a new area in New York, one camp, one VBS, a mission conference, and countless other things. We look forward to another great year of serving the Lord together as a family. We would love to share what God’s been doing with your local church! One big note is that our family is transitioning most of our mission work to a new email address, mandtcim@gmail.com. If you would like to receive our prayer letters via email instead of snail mail please let us know. Also, if you would like to receive more regular updates along with devotionals please email us.
Our family wishes you a MERRY CHRISTMAS and a happy New
Year! May God bless you and keep you as
we serve together until He comes.
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