I’m Blogging.
Blogging is a way that I can keep my family and friends in the States up to date on where I’m at and what I’m doing. It’s a way that I can honor those who have financially supported my missions work by showing them what fruit their generous and faithful giving have born.
Blogging.
Blogging is something that I feel I have failed at. Consistently…
Despite whatever eloquence (or lack there of) in those blogs that I have posted, no one reads the blogs I haven’t written. No one hears the stories I haven’t taken the time to tell.
For my lack of posts, I am sorry. For failing to honor my financial and prayerful supporters in this way, I sincerely apologize. When I first started the world race, I planned on writing a blog at least every two weeks, and I have let y’all (and myself) down in that regard!
So, I want this to be the beginning of a NEW ERA OF BLOGGING for Matthew Alexander! Today is March 17th. If I haven’t posted a new blog within 14 days of now, by March 31st, I’d like you (YES YOU!) to let me know about it.
If you would, please set a reminder on your phone RIGHT NOW to check if I’ve written a blog or not. If I have, yaaaaaaay!!!!! You can read it and follow my journey! If there is no newer blog than this, message me and let me know I need to up my game! Here is a link to my Facebook.
Shoot me a message! You can also email me at [email protected]
If you aren’t sure how to set a reminder on your phone, here is a link to a two minute video on how to do it on an iPhone. If you don’t have an iPhone, you are on your own. Ask Google….
As a first step to making amends, here is a sort of highlight real of the past two months. Yes, it has been that long! My last post was for Christmas in Cambodia…..
So, let’s get these highlights rolling!
So, not long after christmas……
Me and my team departed our beloved Kampot region of Cambodia, saying goodbye to all our ministry partners, English students, and the assorted crawling and scurrying things that haunted our bedrooms. Two days later, we made it to Battambang, where we met up with the rest of the squad just in time for New Years, as well as saying goodbye to our alumni squad leaders.
During their 5 months with us, Carson, Danny, and Hope taught me so much about what it takes to live in healthy community with fellow believers, being intentional about speaking the truth in love (Ephesians 4:15), how to build others up and point them higher, and how to live in a community where people help each other each day to better reflect the character of Christ. They are some of the most amazing human beings I have ever met, and they are dearly missed!
After sending them off, I spent a couple more days on bus after bus as we all made our way into Thailand, where we spent a day in Bangkok, easily the largest city I’ve ever been in. The next day, we were all back on the road for the 10-ish hour trip to Chiang Mai where Adventures In Missions has their own hostel.
My month in Thailand was chosen as “manistry” month, so it was myself and the five other gents on my squad serving at an orphanage in the small city/town of Chiang Dao, another two hours north. We were helping to develope some land for a bigger orphanage to be built. It was good, hard work each day, and one of my favorite ministries so far. Spending our off time with the children each day was a blast!
In this room, we hung out with, worshiped alongside, and shared meals with all the kids.
This is a hole we dug for a future latrine…you never know what sort of ministry you’ll find on the race! Also, we had no shovels, just a post-hole digger….
For my fourth and last month in Asia, I was back with team Sozo in Myanmar. We partnered with a small home-church that shares the gospel with locals through English classes, which they host several times a week. In one room, we slept, had church, lead worship, and taught English! I absolutely fell in love with our hosts, Teacher Mang and Sister Ruth, and their adorable 8 month old daughter Shelly.
Myanmar: 91% Buddhist, 4% Christian, the rest divided between Islamic and various smaller groups. Being a missionary here is Illegal. Best case, you are deported and banned from re-entry. We had to be careful about how we shared the Gospel here.
And yet, I saw the body of Christ THRIVING here.
During our time here, several of us, including myself, had the opportunity to share parts of our testimony at a large church in Yangon, Full Gospel Assembly. Above is the clip I posted on Facebook!
This small space served as our bedroom and our living room. On Sundays it was our church, and on week days our classroom.
Leaving Asia was hard, especially leaving Myanmar, but I knew God had some amazing things planned for I-Squad in South America! So, 77 hours of flights and layovers later, I-Squad finally found itself in Medellin, Colombia.
And so begins my final four months on the world race: South America.
We stayed our first few nights at a large ministry in Medellin,to recover from the days of travel and the twelve hour time difference (yikes!). I typed out most of this blog during the 8 hour bus ride to the city of Armenia, where I will be spending the month partnering with a children’s ministry in the small neighboring village of Filandia. Here are a few pictures. This place and this ministry are amazing!!!
On our way back to the house from ministry.
Most of the kids at the farm school knew about Jesus, but had never really heard his story. Here I am teaching along with my translator Joan (pronounced Jo-on). I’m trying to get better at spanish, but I’m definitely not there yet!
If you were the returning prodigal son and your father prepaired a feast, what food would you want served?
Miguel and I! This little guy is a handful, let me tell ya, but he’s got a heart the size of my pack on a travel day. I see him every day at the Foundation’s after school program.
How is Matt doing???
That is honestly a hard question to answer.
The short version?
God is good.
The long version?
I’ve been away from the states for seven months now. Life has no routine, no predictability, no security. Any and all sense of consistency can only come from God. Some of my closest friends back home are going through some pretty rough stuff, but I can’t truly be there for them. I have to offer those situations and relationships to God, trusting that He will take care of the people I love most.
These days are hard, but they are also some of the best I have ever had. I’ve learned more about God and about myself in the past 7 months than I feel like I have in the past 5 years. God is good, He is faithful, He will provide.
He is El Roi, the God who sees me, and He takes care of me. Every step past my last, every ounce past what should have been empty, He is faithful.
I see his blessings each day, and I know, I KNOW that He is with me.
Praise report!
I am jus about fully funded!!! Last I checked, I am ONLY $100 short of my final goal of $18,100. By the time I post this blog, I may already be fully there. Honestly, I can barely believe it. This is so much bigger than anything I could accomplish, it’s so much bigger than anything I could do on my own. I can look at that number and know that God called me to it, so He provided a way through it. Every penny is proof that the Church, the body of Christ, is not as divided as the enemy would like. People in multiple different churches across the spectrum of denominations have supported my journey. So many people acted as the hands and feet of Jesus when they handed me a few bucks. Whether you gave me $20 or $1000, you were a part of what God is doing around the world. For being part of God’s provision in my life, I thank you from the bottom of my heart. My gratitude is greater than I can express in a few typed lines. I’d give you a big hug if I could reach you (hugs are the beeeest). Thank you.
Once again, I would like to invite you to make my journey your journey! Here are three simple ways:
1. The most important, PRAY.
2. Share. (If this blog has touched you in any way, feel free to share it on any and all social media.)
3. Subscribe. (If you want to subscribe to my blog and stay up to date on what God is doing in my life, click the orange “Subscribe for Updates” in the left-hand corner.)
