Ecuador in less than one week!

Hey all!

Just wanted to write a quick update letting you know what's been going on lately in my life.

Oregon Visit and possible next steps:

I had an amazing visit to Oregon filled with great times of catching up with friends and family, weddings, hiking, adventuring in downtown Portland, playing with my parent's new kitten and all kinds of other great experiences. The train ride from LAX to PDX was really enjoyable and I highly recommend it (even if it is a bit long). If you didn't already catch it, I made a video of my journey:

For those of you that I was able to see, it was a pleasure and blessing as always and I thank you for your time! For those of you that I wasn't able to see, I apologize, and I really hope to see you before too long.

If you haven't heard yet, it's looking like November will most likely be my last month working in the GRN USA office. My funds are running low and, even though I've been able to serve in many ways, I really don't feel like office work is what I need to be doing right now. So this trip to Ecuador will be my last big project with them (I'll add more on Ecuador later in this post).

There is a chance I may be moving back up to Oregon in mid to late November when I'm finished, but at this point, it doesn't make a lot of sense unless I have a job of some sort. I've also slightly considered working around here if I have to, so please be praying that God reveals part of His plan in all of this :)

Ecuador:

So a small group from the GRN USA office leave for Ecuador this upcoming Wednesday, September 26th and we could certainly use your prayers. We've been working diligently trying to get all of our gear tested and sorted for the trip and are quite excited for the Recordist Training Series that we will be a part of.

The Recordist Training Series that will take place while we are there is located in Shell, Ecuador and will take place for 6 weeks (though I'll only be there for 4) in order to update and train up recordists from around the world. They will be informed of new standards for creating GRN recordings and receive a bit of a refresher training session.

It will also be a time for many of us to meet new people working within the network and discuss any issues and concerns.

My Work in Ecuador will be to "film" (it's all digital now, but you know what I mean) much of the training series as well as capture some of Ecuador's natural beauty. I'm really looking forward to all of this, but at the same time am fairly nervous since it will be my first big video project. I've been doing a lot of research, but ultimately this is one area where I would love prayer for guidance while filming, a creative mind and good teamwork while communicating video ideas with our team.

Prayer Requests Recap:

• Pray that God reveals the next step for me in where He wants me to be working and investing my time
• Pray for the Recordist Training Series in Ecuador, that new recordists will be trained up well and that current recordists may benefit from the updated information.
• Pray for safe travels for all that are flying to Ecuador and for good health while on the trip.
• Pray that all equipment works flawlessly and that we don't forget anything :)
• Pray for any meetings that may occur over issues and concerns within GRN.
• Please pray for me for guidance while filming, for a creative mind and for good teamwork while communicating video ideas with our team.
• I'd also like prayer for an open mind while listening in on the recordist information, since this area of work is what interests me most about GRN (and has from the beginning). Pray that it may help me decide if this is what God has for my future or not.
• I'd also appreciate prayer for finding a job in November. Preferably in Oregon :)

Thank you all so much for your support, prayers and friendships! I know I've said it a thousand times by now, but it truly is invaluable to have such a great team backing me while I go through this journey. God bless!

-Matt

Future Plans, Ecuador, Oregon Visit, Praises and Prayer requests

Hey all!

I know it's been a little while now since I've posted an update, so I figured I'd toss some new thoughts and information your way.

Things have been rolling along quite well here in Temecula as I've been able to get my feet wet in a few different areas of service at GRN, as well as enjoying some time meeting new people and developing new friendships. God has certainly provided during my time here so far, and I'm sure He will continue to do so.

One of the things I've been pondering a lot since moving here is what God's direction might look like for my life, and what He has for me next. After a lot of thought and seeking council from various friends and family, I decided that a life in an office such as this is not where I feel led (though it has been a great way to serve temporarily). With that, I've been trying to decide exactly why God called me to this area: whether it was to just be exposed to missions in a different way, to prepare me for something else, to move me out of my comfort zone (and/or physical location)? Honestly, I'm still not sure, but I've still got a decent amount of time here for God to show me what He has next, and I've been given one opportunity in particular that should help reveal these things a bit quicker, which brings me to my next topic of discussion:

Ecuador:

I know, going into this experience we all (including myself) thought I would be spending some time in Australia. Well, things change pretty fast when you're a missionary and you have to go with the flow when opportunities arise.

There are several reasons why I've chosen to go on this trip to Ecuador instead of pursuing time in GRN's Australia office:

1. This trip is focused on a Recordist Training Series that GRN has put together for upcoming recordists (which was my initial interest when looking into this organization). So this should give me some good insight into whether I want to pursue that path or not.
2. I have been chosen to help videotape the training so that it can be made more accessible to future recordists. This should give me a nice creative outlet for a change.
3. The work that I will be doing there gets me out of the office (which I prefer), but if I choose to continue working with GRN in the future, it would also potentially prepare me for more "field" work. If I were to spend time in Australia, it would be preparing me more for a future in the office.
4. Financially it is much more reasonable for me to attend this trip.
5. Traveling :)

This trip will be approximately one month for me, from September 26th - October 24th. The rest of the team will be staying through the end of October, but I get to be back for a wedding here in Temecula on the 27th :)

***At this point in time, I am thinking the end of October might be when I start to transition back up to Oregon, hoping to find some kind of work in Portland. I'm certainly not writing off any sort of partnership with GRN and I will certainly always support them, but even if I do end up wanting to become a recordist in some other area of the world, I would still need to raise money and attend bible college for a year (a requirement for the position).

So right now, I'm looking towards a rainy, bicycle-friendly future (which I've oddly missed), at least for a little while as my current plan.***

Oregon Visit!

I'll admit I've had a bit of OSA (Oregon Separation Anxiety), but I am thrilled to say I'll be visiting from August 29th - September 8th for a good friend's wedding, and some family and friends time.

I'll be taking the Amtrak Coast Starlight up for the first time, which I'm very excited about, and will be flying back.

Praises and Prayer Requests:

• Praise: God is at work in His teachings and guiding
• Prayer: that I have an open mind and heart to where God wants me to be. I find that I'm a bit stubborn in my own ideas at times, so pray that I let God have His way.
• Prayer: direction for my future.
• Praise: I've been able to make a few good friends around here and am enjoying some great fellowship time with other members of my new church.
• Prayer: for joy and energy throughout some very tedious and (honestly) somewhat boring jobs in the office.
• Prayer: that God would prepare my heart and mind for the upcoming trip to Ecuador, and that I would be skillfully ready with videotaping. Also for travel and equipment logistics as others are putting everything together.
• Prayer: desire for time in the Word and prayer could use improvement.

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God bless you all! Thank you for your support and prayers!

-Matt 


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Thoughts from Washington DC

We're finally home from Washington DC!
It was a great week and a half trip and the Lord certainly used it in many different ways. I was personally very blessed and encouraged by the Florida team that we were able to serve alongside of and can confidently say I learned some new things about my role as a believer during my time working with them. It was also really nice to just get out of the office for a while, get to know my co-workers a bit better, and to see GRN materials really being put to use! Those things are powerful!

The team from Florida that we were working with were from Calvary Chapel St. Petersburg (and a few from Orlando), and are a joyful, encouraging and courageous group of young evangelistic believers. From them I learned what it looks like to always be prepared and willing to share one's faith:
1 Peter 3:15:
"But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect,"

As I was reflecting on what I had learned from this trip, I began to see some overlap with what I learned from my trip to Morocco in 2010. The concept in 1 Corinthians 12:20-27 is what specifically came to mind. It says:

20As it is, there are many parts, but one body. 21The eye cannot say to the hand, “I don’t need you!” And the head cannot say to the feet, “I don’t need you!” 22On the contrary, those parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable,23and the parts that we think are less honorable we treat with special honor. And the parts that are unpresentable are treated with special modesty, 24while our presentable parts need no special treatment. But God has combined the members of the body and has given greater honor to the parts that lacked it, 25so that there should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other. 26If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it. 27Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it.

This passage stood out to me because the teams on these short term trips always seem to be made up of a very diverse group of people with varying skill sets. God showed us how valuable each and every person's skills were to the overall big picture. One example of this was the Florida team and their excitement to street-witness to the people of DC. That's never been my cup of tea, but we were able to provide many recorded materials for them to use during their witnessing, which often made a big impact on the people being spoken to (especially when they didn't speak much english).

All in all it was a great trip... very hot and humid, but a great trip nonetheless.

And now, a few pictures for you all!

Most of these are of the sightseeing I did while I was there. Enjoy!

The GRN booth

Backside of the booth with the Capitol in the background

Me at the Capitol. We thought this was the front side at first, but then realized that the statue was facing the wrong direction for that to be right.

American Art Museum. The Smithsonian museums were our refuge from the hot, hot heat

Me at the Lincoln Memorial

Another shot of the Lincoln Memorial

Martin Luther King Jr. gave his "I Have A Dream" speech here

Represent Oregonians

Washington Monument on the fourth of July

Me at the front of the Capitol building

The National Archives building and the Fourth of July parade

National Archives building. We got to see the Declaration of Independence, Bill of Rights and Constitution later on after the fourth of July crowds had died down.

40 foot doors at the National Archives building

La Casa Blanca (aka, the White House)

The Smithsonian Castle

It was really cool to get to see Ford's Theatre! We didn't get to go inside, but it was still exciting.

Ford's Theatre

I'm not 100% positive this is the original one, but the American Art Museum had some incredible paintings, including the Van Gogh self portrait

The Old Post Office 

It was hot, and humid, and there were some really awesome lightning/thunder storms. There was even a warning call while we were in the National Archives, telling us to stay inside during the thunderstorms. Naturally, we went outside to check it out :)

I tried to get a shot of the lightning. This was the best I could do on my phone.

Quick Update!

So I now have confirmation that I will be going to Washington DC with GRN from June 27th-July 8th. That means spending the 4th in the country's capital! I'm very excited about that! The nice thing is that I'll only have to pay for food while I'm there. Everything else is well taken care of. That's good news for my support team, but prayer is certainly still needed :)

The event we are going for is called Freedom Fest (also known as Christ On The Mall). It takes place at the same time as the Smithsonian Folklife Festival so Christ can more easily be shared with the over 600,000 people that attend this celebration. In past years recordings in over 80 different languages were passed out. We hope to do the same, or more this year.

We will be setting up a booth on the National Mall, along with many other cultural and religious organizations. We'll team up with a group from Florida and one from Seattle, WA as well. Together we'll be handing out our recordings to anyone and everyone that may be interested.

Here's the website for more information about Freedom Fest 2012:

Freedom Fest 2012

What exactly do I do at GRN? Well, I'm glad you asked!

Hello again!

Today I want to update you all and make sure that everyone knows exactly what I am doing with my work at GRN.

First off, I'd like to share a little video I put together for my supporters/prayer warriors/family/friends. Basically everyone who has encouraged me in countless ways through all of this so far. Enjoy!

Vimeo might be better quality if you're into that sort of thing :)

Aside from the details provided in the video, I'd love to share more about potential upcoming opportunities as well as some prayer requests.

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POSSIBLE NEW JOBS/TASKS (within GRN):

Video Production:

After showing a few folks around the office this video, they were quite excited and ideas soon came up about promotional/informational videos that had been an idea for a long time, but never actually happened.

I personally love doing this kind of work as it lets me exercise my creative side a bit more, so I offered to head this up if it was alright with them. The response was positive so it looks like I'll be getting to do more of this type of work in the near future!

Social Media:

Lately, there has been a large need for someone to work with social media at GRN and it has often been put on the back burner. I offered to help in this area as much as possible also, and it looks like Facebook is going to be a big part of that job. In this day and age, we're pretty much all addicted to Facebook anyway, so that should be manageable.

More details to come on this :)

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POSSIBLE UPCOMING TRIPS:

Washington DC:

I was talking with our office director today and it looks like there is a distribution trip coming up near the 4th of July in Washington DC. Apparently there is a large international festival there where many organizations (including GRN) go each year to hand out materials/recordings.

I was invited to possibly attend in order to get a better and refreshing grasp on our outreach opportunities and to see how the recordings I've been working on actually effect people.

This would be approximately a week trip. It's in the early stages as far as me attending, so I'll keep you all updated as things progress.

Nepal:
Another possible trip is one to Nepal (where GRN actually has a base). As far as my knowledge so far, it would consist of a small team of 10-12 trekking around Nepal (it's called the "Trekabout") and sharing/getting to know people in various towns/villages. We will use GRN materials to assist in the process and experience the culture there as much as possible.

The trip would be closer to 4 weeks and would be led by one of the staff from Australia. The trip would likely begin on December 27th, 2012.

Still a lot of praying to do on that one, so more details to come.

Australia:
I know I've mentioned Australia many times, and it IS going to happen. At this point it's more of a matter when. But it's been narrowed down to either this summer (where I'd stay for a shorter time and return to the U.S. office after receiving some training), or closer to October (in order for me to better prepare for the Nepal trip and leave directly from Australia).

stay tuned on that one as well :)

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PRAYER REQUESTS:

• Direction for where God wants me investing my time while serving at GRN, and a continued passion and excitement while working in the office.
• Guidance for possible upcoming trips (Washington DC, Nepal, Australia) and which ones to really go after.
• Homesickness -- I do miss Oregon (how can you not) and I would love prayer that I would be looking forward and excited with the current path God has me on; That I wouldn't miss anything He has to teach me here.
• That I would be seeking God's wisdom and creative hand while working on videos and other new jobs around the office; that new projects would take off smoothly and ideas would flow at a healthy and happy pace.

PRAISES:

• New and fresh ways to serve during my time here. I'm really excited about these jobs!
• I love my new church and being able to serve on worship team here! I am getting to play drums with them at least one time a week and am finding some great times of fellowship from it.
• Fantastic weather, great roommate, serving God every day at work, bike riding, rock climbing, music fellowship -- many great things. GOD IS GOOD!

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Sorry these things get so lengthy, but I hope this gives you a slightly better glimpse into what's been happening around here lately.

God bless you!

-Matt

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GHAP (God Has A Plan)

So, I've got a cool story from this past weekend that I'd love to share with you all. Some of you may have heard that I found a church pretty quickly here in Temecula, but you may have not heard how it happened, which is the cool part :)

So here it is:

  Obviously finding a church was a big thing on my "To-do list" once I got all moved in, so naturally I looked around a bit online and talked to some folks, but didn't exactly come to a conclusion.
Well, this past saturday I was riding my bicycle around the area and decided to look up a church before I headed out. It was close by so I figured I'd stop by to see if I could gather any more information from the office as I cruised over to check it out. Well, when I arrived the offices were locked, so I headed around back to see if I could find a main entrance.
  When I walked my bike back, I saw that the doors were opened and when I peeked inside I saw a sign that said "worship team auditions". I got pretty excited seeing as how I really wanted to get plugged into a church as soon as possible, and typically playing drums for a worship team is that "open door" for me. Well God literally gave me an open door and as I walked in to check it out I began talking with some people that were helping organize the time.
  Eventually I got around to mentioning that I played drums and was looking for a place to get plugged in. After talking with David, the worship leader, he decided to let me try out near the end (since I wasn't on the schedule and am a lefty).
  I waited around a bit and my turn finally came. They were all gracious enough to let me rearrange the drum kit and we played one song together (with a little jam afterwards). Immediately afterwards, I received approval from the current team members and got a little more insight into God's plan:
I was told that one of the main reasons for these "auditions" was to hopefully find another drummer. GHAP (God Has A Plan).

God has such an awesome way of arranging these things in quite funny ways sometimes! He's always seemed to have a musical theme in my life as well. In one way or another, musical opportunities have heavily directed the paths I've chosen to walk down. He knows us so much better than we know ourselves and loves to see us smile and return the praise to Him!

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I just wanted to share more of the details of the story with you all, since it was so amazing to me!

Blessings,
-Matt

Here are a few more pictures:

 Love this poster at work; great reminder for us all, but especially for supporters!

Thank you for your prayers!

Welcome to GRN

The Cardtalk - A slightly older way of spreading the Word through audio

This is Quat (short for Kumquat), she's the resident kitty 

One of the most incredible places I've ever ridden my bike. This place is beautiful!

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