I´m Back!

So we are back in black!
We are back in Ahunao and we are very excited abotu this upcoming year! We have three new guys with us and we are looking forward to this new year, if you are interesting in following eith er of us five just go to the Family Missions Company website there you can find us!

Will be keeping you all in our prayers, Matthew

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

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

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

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

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  

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!