To all my supporters and encouragers,
It seems an impossible task to sit down and write to you. How can I even begin to thank you? Or express and do any justice to all that I have seen and experienced this year? I feel completely incapable… I’m still trying to wrap my own mind around it…
But first off… Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. And this thank you is not just coming from myself… it is coming from the hundreds and thousands of men, women, and children who have no way to say thank you to you. They don’t even know you exist… but they know me, the one whom you sent. As I was sharing the love of Christ with them, it was you who they felt, it was your seed bearing fruit through me. Because you prayed, because you gave, because you believed in me and in the love of Jesus, countless lives were forever changed! So… from myself and all those around the world, both big and small, thank you!!
Briefly, what did God do through me this year? I had the absolute privilege to serve the Lord for a month in each of these countries; the Philippines, Cambodia, Malaysia, Thailand, Rwanda, Kenya, Tanzania, Nepal, India, Romania, and Ukraine. The ministries that I was apart of were many and varied. My service included preaching, leading worship, street and door-to-door evangelism, teaching english, loving orphans and street kids, doing manual labor, helping with prison, gang, college, and prostitution ministries, planting churches, feeding the poor, and working with those devastated by aids and other illnesses.
What did God do in me this year? In one word, He crucified me. It was a year of heart surgery, God revealing and ripping out layer after layer of sin within me. Things I never knew were in me… things I thought I had dealt with; self-pity, self-hatred, self-sufficiency, self-righteousness. He showed me deep currents of unforgiveness, judgmentalism, and fears that I had in my heart. But above all, and through all the junk, it seems that God took me to the other end of the world to proclaim one simple message to me… “I love you!”
And now to share with you the most exciting news to come out of the trip… I’m getting married to the beautiful, wonderful, Ashley Elizabeth Robichaud!! God sovereignly brought us together this year and we will be tying the knot November 13, 2011 in Savannah, GA.
Once again, thank you so much for supporting me this year. Your investment in and through me has not been in vain, and I, as well as so many others, deeply appreciate it. I wish I could sit down with each and every one of you… I would also like to know what’s happened in your life this year. How would you answer that question?
Please visit my blog at matthewpoole.theworldrace.org if you are interested in stories from the year, or if you have any specific questions please call me at 919.815.2772 or email me, [email protected] and I would love to talk to you.
Be blessed, and may Jesus meet all of your needs according to His riches in glory… to Him be all the praise, honor, and thanks, forever and ever!!
Sincerely,
matthew
