To download the prayer letter in a printable PDF format with picture and graphics, please click HERE

“ The LORD is good unto them that wait for him, to the soul that seeketh him. It is good that a man should both hope and quietly wait for the salvation of the LORD.”

~ Lamentations 3:25–26 ~

Ever since the Lord made it clear to us that He was leading us away from ministry in Siberia, our desire has always been to get to Newfoundland as quickly as possible. As we look back at the very specific direction that the Lord has given, it is also very clear that He has orchestrated both our travels and our furlough schedule — down to the smallest detail.  Although it would be very easy to get impatient, past history has taught us that God’s way and timing is perfect, and we do not want to circumvent His plan by trying to do things our own way or in our own timing.

As I sit down to write this prayer letter, it doesn’t quite seem possible that we are actually coming to the end of our furlough travels, but we are.  As it stands right now, we have just 6 more meetings scheduled and then we can turn our full focus towards packing and preparing to move to Stephenville.  

In March we had a wonderful time visiting many of our supporting churches in Florida, some of whom we had not been to since early on in deputation almost ten years ago!  It was truly a sweet time of fellowship, getting reacquainted with these folks who have faithfully prayed for and supported us for all these years.

April was a month for new churches as we were able to present our ministry in five new churches — including one near Vancouver, British Columbia, and one in California.  The amazing thing about these meetings is the fact that I did not initiate contact with four out of the five churches — they contacted me about coming!  One of the five churches immediately took us on for support after the evening service, and the others have expressed interest in partnering with us as well!  We are truly amazed at how God has worked and is continuing to work to provide just what we need in order to be able to serve Him in Newfoundland.  

Lord willing, May will be our last month traveling to meetings in the southern US, and we will finish up with our last four meetings in Maine during the month of June.  July will be busy with packing and preparing all of our documents for immigration and, by God’s grace, we will be able to move to Stephenville the first part of August.

Health Update

Thank you to all who have been praying about my (Matt’s) neck and shoulder issues.  As we shared in the last update, the scan came back perfectly normal and the doctor is pretty sure that it is something neurological like a pinched nerve or something like that.  As a result, I have been seeking treatment from things like regular chiropractor visits and massage therapy.  These have seemed to help some, but they will not be a quick fix, so time will tell if they will be of long-term benefit.

Katie has also been struggling with some health issues for which we ask your prayers.  For some time now, she has been dealing with some pretty severe acid reflux and digestive issues that cause her a lot of pain.  She was recently able to get in to see a gastroenterologist and, after having an endoscopy performed, he said that the constant reflux has caused some inflammation and damage to her esophagus.  We are awaiting some further test results from the procedure before we can know how best to proceed with treating her.  Please pray that God will give the doctor wisdom both to be able to find the root cause of the issue and to know how to treat it.

Furlough Travels

Elliot and Kara have enjoyed the travels this furlough as we have been able to visit many new places and do many new things such as seeing the Golden Gate Bridge and the Pacific Ocean, enjoying their first “hot and ready” Krispy Kreme donuts, and meeting many new friends along the way.  However, the most exciting thing is to watch the Lord at work in their lives.  As they have seen the other field presentations, met other servants of the Lord and listened to the Bible preached and taught, the Lord has used all of these to shape and mould their live.  Please keep them in your prayers as well that they would continue to be tender to the Lord’s working in their lives and desire to love and serve Him.

Thank you for your faithful prayers and support. We are truly blessed to be His servants and your representatives to the people of Newfoundland.

Please be sure to download the PDF version of the prayer letter HERE to see all of the pictures and graphics in the print version.