ARRIVAL and Other Updates and Prayer Requests!

The time has finally arrived: I am in Temecula, CA and I begin my work with Global Recordings Network tomorrow (April 12th)!

TRAVELS:
My Dad accompanied me on my drive down (which was a huge blessing) and is flying back to Portland, OR tonight (April 11th).

Thank you so much for your prayers! They were heard during the travels down south. Things went very smoothly for the most part. The only hang up (if you haven't already heard) were some brake troubles just south of San Francisco. The right, front brake began acting up, and once we got the car on a jack to check it out, the wheel had totally locked up. After some prayer, and a lot of waiting on the phone with the insurance company, a tow truck came out to help us out. Our insurance would cover the first $100, but it would be quite a bit more than that to get it towed where we needed to be. HOWEVER, God provided and as soon as we got the wheel back on, the brake let loose and we were able to drive down to Santa Cruz (our next stop) where we could find a shop on our own. The price of the tow company call-out was less than $100, so it was covered by insurance.

Anyway, that was a little blessing story during our travels. The rest of the blessing was just having safe and smooth travels the rest of the time, and a great time with family during the holidays.

OTHER UPDATES:

• I'm pretty much all moved in to my new home here and have been enjoying my time getting to know my roommate and his fiancé. 

• My Dad and I took a brief tour of the office today and I'm really looking forward to beginning my training at work tomorrow. There is a lot of need in the U.S. office, and they've been praying for extra help in this department for a long time, so I'm very excited to be able to help out and serve the best I can.
• We have a cat :)
• I've found quite a few bicycling opportunities around town and am really looking forward to riding to work.

Prayer Requests:

• That I would adjust and learn quickly with my work in the office, so that I will be most effective in serving with GRN.
• The workers in the GRN offices around the world, that they would stay excited, motivated and encouraged by the work they are doing in order to tell all the nations about Jesus Christ.
• Recordists and translators in various countries around the world, that they would stay safe, excited and encouraged as well.
• My roommate Kevin and Ruth as they plan their wedding and travels up to Canada.

**That's all for now! God bless and thank you all for your support! More updates and pictures to come :)

-Matt

And now... PICTURES!

 Oregon Caves

 Oregon Caves - Icicles on cave entrance

 Made it past the border

 Clovers amongst the mighty redwoods

 Redwoods

 Golden Gate Bridge

 Lighthouse - name unknown

 Lighthouse

Paraglider off the coast

On the road!

Quick travel update:

The truck is rolling at a healthy pace as my dad and I make our way down to southern California. Currently we are in Cave Junction, getting ready to check out Oregon Caves this morning, and will head down through the Redwoods later this afternoon/evening.

Just as a quick reminder, the plan is to arrive in Temecula on April 10th, allowing five days of travel time. We'll stop in Santa Cruz for two nights (saturday and sunday nights) over the weekend to be with family on Easter and will then carry on the journey monday afternoon. We'll then camp one more night on monday and arrive in Temecula on tuesday evening (this gives my roommate a little more flexibility).

I'm very excited to begin serving once down south. I had a dream last night that they wouldn't let me in unless I had some written letter of acceptance to present at the time of an "entrance interview"...haha! Oh the worries of starting new work... :)

Blessings!

-Matt

p.s. pictures coming soon!

Update #7: Funding Information and slight Schedule changes

Many exciting things have been happening lately, and I'm not quite sure where to start.

I've got about one week left in Oregon and I must say, this month has been packed full of learning experiences, challenges, blessings and adventures. First off, I want to continue to thank you all for being a part of this experience with me. I know I've said "thank you" about a hundred times already, but in all honesty, I wouldn't be doing this without all of your support and through the grace of God.

Schedule Update: Minor Changes
-Originally my plan was to leave on April 6th, but this has recently been changed to April 5th due to meeting up with family on the way down and just to allow for a more relaxed trip overall.
-I will then be arriving in Temecula, CA on the evening of April 10th.

***It's looking very possible that the Australia side of my trip could occur sooner than expected. After speaking with a new friend from GRN, it was suggested that some training in the Sydney office would be very valuable prior to digging in too deep in Temecula. More updates to come on this soon!***

Funding Progress and PayPal Access:
-Things have been going very well funding-wise and based off recent totals for living costs, I'm over 90% funded for the first phase of my trip in California, praise the Lord!

**If you'd still like to donate, but don't like checks or direct deposit, I've recently opened a PayPal account so you can give that way if you'd like. Here's a link to the donation site:

>>  Donate to my trip via PayPal! Thanks!  <<
enter my email as: matt.haide@gmail.com

Thank you again for being a part of this adventure with me! God bless you!


-Matt

Current location and brief update

Hello again!

I just wanted to update you all really quickly as to what I've been up to for the month of March.

I finished my job at the Corvallis Mac Store at the end of February and am currently living at my parent's place in Hillsboro, OR for the month of March. I've chosen this step in order to have a bit of a transitional time and so I could be with my family before moving down to Temecula. It has been a good time, full of rest, challenges and a lot of productive clean up (getting rid of tons of unnecessary old papers and junk). I've even been able to serve on the music team at my church here, which has been great!

I will also be visiting Corvallis from March 31st - April 1st and am extremely excited to see my Suburban family and other friends again while I'm in town. There will be a shindig on saturday evening at the church, so if you'd like to hang out one last time before I take off, I'd love to see you :)

*In this update, I'd like to focus on lifting up some audio scripture ministries in prayer.*

Global Recordings Network (GRN) globalrecordings.net

International Orality Network (ION) ION

DAVAR (translates into the "Word" in Hebrew) DAVARpartners.com

Audio Scripture Ministries (ASM) ASMtoday.org

-These are just a few that I'm aware of, and am excited to know that this form of outreach is growing.

Pray For:

• The people receiving the recordings, that they may have attentive ears and open hearts and minds.
• Scripture recordists that they are able to effectively translate different languages and communicate with various people groups. And that they would stay safe during travels.
• Follow-up, that these organizations would find powerful contacts in strategic locations in order to follow up with people who may have questions or want to know more about the Lord.
• Office workers, that their work may be effective and that they may not grow weary in their efforts.

-I'm sure there are many more things to pray for, but I hope this helps you direct your prayers in a more specific way.

~Blessings~

HOUSING!

Hey friends and family!

Fantastic news! God has provided me with housing in Temecula, CA! As suspected, it was just a matter of patience (which is often far more difficult than it sounds). Another volunteer from the area (and recent college grad) has had a room open and close a few times within the last 6 months or so, but none of those times lined up with my arrival... until now!

So this is definitely a huge blessing from God and I'm super excited to see how He's paving my way :)

Other good news is that the cost is much lower than I had anticipated, which brings me closer to my financial goal for what I am considering Phase I (the California stage). Phase II (the Australia stage) is still in the works and I will be working more towards that when I get to Temecula. I'm trying my best to hold that part with an open hand to allow God some flexibility.

So thank you for praying! He is listening!

:)

-Matt

Progress Update, Dates and Prayer Requests!

It's been a long time coming with all of this, but plans are finally starting to solidify and fall into place. As I mentioned in my last post, I have been officially accepted to work with Global Recordings Network (in Temecula, CA) as an intern, and am greatly blessed to have my church in Corvallis supporting me.

Since these things have been nailed down, I am glad to report I have officially completed my support letter as well and am working on getting those all sent out at the moment.

I've gotten some dates confirmed:

• I will be moving from Corvallis, OR to Hillsboro, OR at the beginning of march where I'll take some time off work to prepare for the transition and move.
• On April 6th, 2012 I will pack up my things and move on down to sunny Temecula, CA!

I am very excited, and still fairly nervous for this whole thing. Most of all I'd really love your prayers right now. I know God has always provided for me, and He will continue to, but peace and trust in this time has been slightly difficult.

Here are some ways you can be praying (if you're into that :)

• Global Recordings Network - Pray for the organization, that their work may be effective in sharing God's Word with every person.
• Spiritual Preparation - that I'm approaching this trip with a joyful, obedient attitude that pleases God, and that I don't hold onto my plans too tightly.
• Financial Support - This is an unpaid internship, and so raising funds is a challenge I face.
• Housing - I still have yet to nail down housing in Temecula as one of my options just fell through, unless I can move down at the beginning of Feb. (which is not possible with my current job)

Praises:

• Financial support has been rolling in and I already have enough for several months of living.
• God is teaching me new things every day and reminding me the power and importance of prayer.
• Humility checks from God and the softening of my heart through Mission Connexion
• Encouragement from friends and family.

I'm sure I'll come up with more, but those are some key things that have been on my mind and heart.

Thank you all so much for keeping up to date with happenings in my life, and for all of the encouragement that you've blessed me with so far!

-Matt Haide

Approved!

Hey all!

So great news (if you haven't heard already)! I was approved by my church here in Corvallis for my GRN trip and am very close to finishing up my support letter. If you have been checking up on me here, you're welcome to send a response email if you're interested in said letter. I would be more than happy to send one your way once it's all finished.

Also, I have decided at this point to continue forward with my initial plan to head to Sydney, Australia for the second half of my trip rather than a different location. The reason for this is because I felt I would be most useful there with the little training I will have. The other locations seemed great, but would require much more training in order for me to be useful there.

Anyway, this is just a quick update letting you all know that things are still moving in a good direction.

Blessings!

**p.s. my email is matt.haide@gmail.com if you'd like to request a support letter.**