Monday, December 9, 2013

Presentation Dates!

Hey everyone! So good to be in the states again at long last! 

So i have my dates and times put together for my presentations.
Thursday December 19th, 6:30 pm 
Friday December 20th, 6:30 pm
The address is 112 Michelle Circle Lafayette, LA 70503
It will be at my parents house, please make an effort to come! 

Dinner will be provided for all who come, and all are welcome bring one bring all i will be showing pictures and talking about my time in Ecuador so bring your notepads, just kidding!

You can reach me at my cell phone: 337-257-9904
Also at my parents home phone: 337-264-1558

Look forward to seeing you all, 

Matthew





Saturday, November 23, 2013

Coming home!

Hey everyone i know it has been a while, but here i am!
Ready to let you all know that i will be coming home the 26th and will be in Lafayette soon!
I will have parties at my parents new house! The dates will be emailed out, and put up to my blog, and on Facebook as well! Stay tuned

Matthew

Saturday, October 19, 2013

The man from Argentina


I remember about four months back when we had our last mission trip come to Misahualli for a week, we had just come back from a community and I remember at that particular community there were some tourists at the community, and they came in when we had our reunion with the community. They ended up leaving during the talk, so we left and got back to the town and I ended up running to into both of them in town.
The man ended up giving me a note from the Muslim bible; I read it while I walked into town to get some things. I was a little confused; I walked back to the hotel and saw them sitting on the steps that led up to the hotel and they started to ask me about my faith.
The guy ended up telling me that I was wasting my time being a missionary and that I’m doing everything wrong, and that I would be better off if I was handing out toothbrushes rather than singing and sharing GOD’S word with the people, and that I was pushing religion on people and that I didn’t understand the culture. At first I was a little down on myself, and I felt sad. But then I realized that this was a sign from the LORD confirming that my presence in Ecuador is needed, it encouraged me more than anything!
I hope that this story has helped and encouraged you all, GOD bless!


Matthew

Sunday, October 13, 2013

Sundays!

It never ceases to amaze me how despite whatever happens thought every week that i live here in Ecuador, among people i never knew before and no matter what happens Sundays renew everything! I want to encourage everyone out there is your week seems longs, and you want to give up just wait for Sunday it TRULY is renewed! You cannot make anything new, but HE can, give it to him, leave it UP to him!

Don't give up on love-Sanctus Real is a great song to listen to it talks about not giving up n love.
Just as love, JESUS never gave/gives up on us we shouldn't ever give up on LOVE!

I encourage you all to listen to the song and remember that you all are always in my prayers!

Matthew

Sunday, June 30, 2013

Calling all men, answer your call!

For this post i wanted to talk a little bit about how missions has made me, and continues to make me into the man that i am today!
First off when i entered Intake (which is the formation that every missionary goes through) it was very tough for me and it was a real everything tester! It was an intense time, but a time for great growth, experiencing missions, and being purified.


Because the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and he chastens everyone he accepts as his son."

Hebrews 12:6

knowing that the LORD chastises those whom he loves is a very encouraging thing!
Now being in Ecuador for over five months, and being able to look back and see what all we have done,
is very sentimental in a way. But in the same respect i can see the things i have struggled with, things that have been a sacrifice, and things that are just down-right weird, and so different.
The way missions has formed me as a man, and continues to form me is probably just the day-to-day stuff, the issues, sacrifices, people, weather, trips, public transportation, and the list goes on and on. The fight against the evil one on a daily basis, having my time with the LORD i have come to see is vital to my life on a daily basis without it i will FAIL! I have come to see how much i relied on material things and less on GOD, as compared to now i rely more and more on JESUS  everyday, he is my food daily. Taking it day-by-day rather then thinking too much about the future, which i think is the most helpful thing i have decided to change in me!

Thinking of my call to missions i remember going to a come and see and being overwhelmed by all of the commitments that i was required to make, and obviously keep. 
Also i think back to those days before intake started (i joined intake 2 days before it started) and feeling conflicted, ultimately these are the reason i joined: i was just so interested, i knew it would be a challenge, i knew that it would make me grow as a man, i needed to serve the poor again, i had to be humbled, i needed a change, and GOD just kept knocking at my door i couldn't just slam the door in his face again! GOD was calling me deeper most of all and i knew that i would hate the commitments, and that would be a tough thing for me to do, but as i look back on them (i am not finished with them though) i realize that no internet, drinking, smoking, and girls was a great thing to form me, and to make me obedient to my Directors, but more than that to GOD which is so much more important than any material desire i could ever have! 


I hope whoever reads this thinks about joining FMC, it will change your life, and you will not regret it! 
This is a call to all men everywhere, be radical and complete GOD's calling to be his servant fully! 
JESUS told his disciples when he appeared to them  in the upper room, peace be with you, and assured them that he was a human! GOD wants to send out humans to minister to his people! People with flaws, people that are broken, hypocrites! 
Bring GOD your trials, your pain, hurt, and insecurities and answer when he calls you! 

BE A MAN, answer the call you have in your life! 

"Be not afraid. Do not be satisfied with mediocrity. Put your nets down for a catch!" 

Pope John Paul II  


Friday, May 10, 2013

Pictures, Communites

This is a little boy that i met at a community and he was very hungry so i gave him a piece of bread. In these communities they get very little bread it is mostly chicha, fish, yuca, and occasionally juanta (meat.) 

 This was a little Kichqua boy that was outside of the mass and kept filling up this canister looking container with the water that is in the bucket behind him. He looked like he was really having a blast i enjoyed watching him have fun! In the container that you see is what the men will put their chicha when they go work.


This is just a picture of a blind man (the guy in the purple shirt) and Father Jose took the collection and decided to give it this young man, then he got different members of the community to give some of the money from the top of the water container as you see here in this picture, to this young man! This one just so happens to be a first communicate. It was a very awesome, moving thing to see, and later he gave me and Father a big hug! He was very moved and was very gracious to us!  


This was a little kid at a community and at one point during the mass it started to pour down rain i thought the sky might fall down, but it didn't! You could hardly hear the mass at some points, and this kid was just soaking it all in enjoy the rain. He reminds me of my brother Paul with that big belly! 


A first communicate! 

Another girl receiving her first communion, what an awesome thing to be able to witness! 

These kids met us before we even entered their community and we took a picture with them so cool!

These kids wanted me to take a million pictures of them, i am surprised that they all fit into this shot they were so close that i had to keep backing up and almost ended up falling down! 

This is where some of your money has been put, i contributed $200.00 last month to the building of this church and it is almost done it will be ready for mass this Tuesday! 

 A lot of people showed up, and continue to show up for the building of the Church in Chonta Punta! 

 Another view of the beautiful church there will be a mass celebrated soon by the Bishop in it! 


Saturday, April 13, 2013

What say you? De verdad

Just the other day i was thinking on being cool, and all that it entails. Basically you have to conform yourself to the standards of whatever cool means. Later on i was musing on what the LORDS sacrifice meant to me, and what i was really to give up, leave behind, and say no to for HIM? Would i be ashamed to say that i spent X amount of years serving HIM, spreading the good news? Will i be proud of JESUS, or ashamed?

If you think of what all our GOD has done for us, and really, seriously really, really think about it what it honestly means to you, do you just not care, not want to acknowledge it,or not want to think too deep about it? But your answer, and you just can't leave GOD hanging, he wants you to answer HIS love, his call to you!! But the LORD is not going to force you to believe in Him, or make the decisions that are right, and to give Him your heart. these things are for your benefit! You ultimately have to chose between good or evil, GOD won't make the decision for you, no one else can or will make it for you. You have to chose!

Lastly just thinking about how fleeting things such as; popularity, money, and fame are. What would it be worth  to give your all to something and to lose your soul in the midst of gaining the 'world'? If you get to the gates of heaven and GOD asks you if you read his love letter to you AKA: -The Bible- and you say "well....no". The few things that GOD has asked us to do and we find them so hard to do it is just one  book, we read so many things that mean next to nothing and yet we cannot find the time to pray or read the only book that the LORD has given us how important is our time here on this earth we need to acknowledge GOD, and give a witness to our world who desperately needs GOD, and needs their savior now more than ever, we are the ones to bring it to them!

Do not be afraid HE is with us, there is nothing, nothing that can separate us from the love of CHRIST! How encouraging are these words! The disciples were willing to give up everything for JESUS, and for what: fame, fortune, or popularity? None of these things yet they knew what hey were living for, what are you living for..?  The apostles were willing to pay the ultimate price for their GOD because they knew that JESUS was the only thing worth living for what else would they want to live for, if not the man who died for them?? What do you want to sculpt your life around, what do you want to stand for, what will people say about you when you are gone? Think on JESUS' parting words as you read this passage from Matthew.

Matthew 28:18
 And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, to the close of the age.”

Sunday, March 17, 2013

Hey Everyone!

I know it has been a while since my last blog post but i/we have been very busy with many things, i will just list a few of them!


  • Preaching before mass in the communities 
  • Giving the homily when Father asks me to come up and talk about the gospel 
  • Giving testimony 
  • Visiting the kids at the nurseries 
  • Youth groups
We recently were giving three hours with the High School kids (they were having a day about drugs, sex, and alcohol talks etc) so we were able to talk to them about the wages of their sin and what they will get by sin; death. Then we talked about the mercy of GOD in the end. 

We have really been able to bond with the youth here, and make some great connections, and have times of mentoring here and there. Being able to raise strong young people up in this community of Ahuano. 
Pray for them, and for all of our youth groups! 

Matthew 

Monday, February 4, 2013

Ecuador, Ahuano, discernment, callings, living conditions, and the need.



So we are finally in the great country of Ecuador! Our missionary “installers” (who are two full time missionaries, who flew down to Ecuador with us to help install us) left us about two weeks ago so we are finally settled in!

We had a four day retreat to discern what the LORD has in store for us during our time here in Ahuano, Ecuador. It was probably the most fruitful retreat I have ever been a part of. We each took turns giving talks. We summarized Pope John Paul II encyclical Redemptories Missio and discerned how the theme in each chapter could be applied to our mission here in Ahuano. We came up with a few themes from all of the discernment time.
·        We are here to unify the family
·        Promote vocations
·        Testify to the vocation that we are living

We are very excited about our mission here in AHUANO, ECUADOR!

Some ministries we are going to be involved in while we are here include the following: Youth Group, giving talks at the different villages, visiting the shut in’s elderly, Bible study, and children’s bible study.
I would like to talk a little bit about our living conditions so you all can get a feel for what we have here in Ahuano.

We have two rooms, one room we use for storage-clothes, shoes, showers, basically a place for all of the stuff that we have.
We have one other room in this room we-sleep, and study. We compiled three beds so it is a little crammed. For cooking we cook everything ourselves. We can pick from a list of food items-bananas, pantans (grilled typed of Banana), patacones (too ripe bananas that are grilled taken out then smashed and then grilled again), rice, tuna, and various fruits. Occasionally a meat as well!

We live simply, we are trying to be one with the people in-cculturating as Pope John Paul II states in mission of the redeemer in-culturating can take sometimes a lifetime.
There is great need here for the youth to be rescued from bad influences of drugs, sex, and alcohol. So we try to always be good examples to the youth. Pray for them always.
Pray also for our health as a team we are going through a spell of sickness, and all your prayers would be appreciated!

One last thing I want to say; I just want to thank all of those who support me financially 
I appreciate everything that you do to support me, in prayer, and though finances!

GOD Bless you all!

Matthew

Wednesday, January 16, 2013

From The U.S. To Quito in mere hours!

Yesterday morning we left for the Houston airport, and we flew out at 4:15. Our flight was roughly 4 1/2 hours. We all managed to cram into a five Seater taxi when there were six of us including the driver! It is always an adventure enjoying every moment! Everything went smooth, and we got to our hotel roughly at 11:00. We woke up refreshed and we began our morning in prayer! It has been so nice to put my all, and my whole trust in GOD!

The town of Quito was beautiful at night, but even more beautiful in the daylight! The smells are amazing, the people at our hotel are very hospitable, and we are just enjoying everything that is out in our paths daily!

We will be meeting with the Bishop of Tenna today in the afternoon to talk about our mission, and some of the tasks that he has in mind for us.

I am so excited to see what all my Savior has in store for me, Ryan, and Luis! I am so ready to get out and spread the gospel!

"Singing is praying twice!" Saint Augustine