Celebrating Christmas in S. Asia

Here we are with Christmas Eve upon us and although tomorrow we plan to celebrate Christmas primarily as a family and with a few other close friends in a very American way, we wanted to share what celebrating Christmas over the last month has looked like for us in S. Asia.

Local Nepali congregation caroling

Elliot in his first Christmas dance competition 

Playing Joseph and Mary for the red light district ministry

Decorating the house for our party with neighbors

Another local church caroling

Traditional Nepali song and dance

A mix of Indian food with American sweets 

Matt telling the Christmas story to the children

Playing games

Time to get our grub on!

Elliot with his new buddy

The beautiful woman that helped make all of this possible!

Elliot opening an early gift from a friend.

To think all of the above has happened in the last two weeks and we still have a Christmas eve dinner to attend, a Christmas day dinner with two other families, and one more Christmas party. We pray that this update finds you all well as we celebrate the birth of our Savior into the world! Merry Christmas from the Boyd family!

Latin Americans Serving in S. Asia

This past week we have been extremely busy as we moved from our house into a new apartment (pictures to come soon) and we immediately hosted our first team completely by ourselves. This team was made up of five Spanish speakers that all now live in the Chicago area. It was an exciting trip as they are just now exploring how their Spanish congregation can be involved with God's greater mission around the world.

During their time here we spent two days doing evangelism out in nearby villages and saw many people come to follow Christ. This was exciting to see and we are already planning follow up as we want to see these new believers get baptized and start getting discipled.

We also were able to partner with a national to start a new church planting training set, which had over 40 people attend. We spent Sunday morning worshipping along side these brothers and sisters on a dirt floor with a tarp over our heads. Worshipping together really impacted the team as they saw how God is moving in this part of the world.

Aside from that we were also able to take a fun day up into the famous hills of Darjeeling (Queen of the hills) and see some amazing views of Mt. Kangchenjunga, the third largest mountain in the world. This allowed for a little down time as we ran hard the first few days and it also was a good place to debrief what the team had witnessed their first few days in town. This church is just now knocking on the door of internationally service, but we can already tell that God is going to use them in mighty ways.

We want to thank you all who were lifting us and this team up during their time here. We saw God move and look forward to see what he does through this group in the future. As you enter into a new week please remember us in the following ways:

• Hosting a Christmas Party for friends and neighbors 
• Our first Christmas away from family
• Decision making in regards to ministry here this upcoming year
• Upcoming travel to Taiwan for Matt's modular classes

Following the Light of the World

"Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, "I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life."

John 8:12

In recent days we have continually returned to this verse as this week one of the largest Hindu festivals of the year, Diwali, has been celebrated all over the world. It is popularly known as the festival of lights and is typically a five day festival celebrated with parties, dancing, food, lights, and fireworks. For Hindus this is one of the most important festivals of the year and is traditionally celebrated with ones family. In honor of this holiday, lights are strung up everywhere, appearing similar to Christmas, and candles in clay pots are put all over ones house. The oil from the candles are supposed to represent the triumph of good over evil. In addition these lights are left on over night as a way to make Lakshmi the Hindu goddess of wealth, prosperity, fortune, and beauty to feel welcome in ones home. 

In addition to the lights everywhere, fireworks is another huge part of this holiday. Going off during the day some and all through the night. In our city fireworks typically started at dark, 5:30, and continued into the early hours of the morning. The main reason for fireworks is that it is believed to drive away evil spirits, especially ones that would interfere with Lakshmi finding her way. 

On the surface level this holiday seems like a lot of fun and in fact if I (Matt) were a Hindu I think that this would be my favorite holiday based on the lights and fireworks alone. But the truth is that this holiday represents the 1.1 billion Hindus in the world that are still walking in darkness as they have yet to follow the true light of the world in Jesus.

Our prayer has been and will continue to be that during this holiday season that the light of this world (Jesus) would make himself known in this dark place. The people are searching, they are already worshipping, but are left with no hope for their future. This has been an eye opening time for us being that it is our first Diwali and we hope that as we live our daily lives that we are able to show the people the light that we follow in Jesus.

Vacation/Summit Retreat

In part 2 you will find just a sample of pictures from our vacation and retreat in October. Also at the bottom you will find a few ways that you can remember us as you get ready to enter into the holiday season in the US.

River in Buenos Aires

Good friends.

Family photo, Elliot is not so happy.

Anticipating our last flight to our final destination.

Elliot meeting family for the first time.

The men.

Bhopal, family picture.

The End.

Please remember us in the following ways:

• Matt: Upcoming meetings with nationals and to use wisdom in choosing a discipleship group.
• Andrea: Continued conversations that lead to sharing the good news.
• Elliot: Complete healing from an ongoing chest infection due to moldy conditions.
• As a Family: Wisdom in creative ways to share during a huge festival season here.

Update Part 1 of 2

The last two months have been full of highs and lows as is the norm living and serving in S. Asia. Due to our skipping a blog post in September, we are going to make this update a two parter. We sincerely hope you all enjoy and at least read the highlights of the last two months.

In September, Matt was able to lead a full-three day training in our city. This was different for him as most of his work and trainings are conducted outside of our city. Although the training had less attendees than initially anticipated, we believe that God brought the people there that he desired. Many of these were new in their own walks, which allowed for some great learning/discipling opportunities.

Three weeks later, there was a one day follow up meeting to see what God had done in and through the trainees since the training. Over forty people had heard the good news for probably the first time and at least three responded in belief/faith to follow. This was great news as God continues to make himself known here!

In addition to these opportunities, God has been opening doors for Matt to share right where we do our daily lives. The construction worker that has been mentioned before is now following and expressing a desire to want to go *swimming underneath the water along with the desire for discipleship and fellowship. Matt has also been sharing with a local cell phone shop worker, where he will spend a lot of time sipping on tea as he shares. Recently Matt gifted him a Bible in his mother tongue, which he greatly welcomed and is now reading.

Andrea has had some great opportunities within our neighborhood that at times she did not foresee. Although Elliot helps by opening many doors of opportunities, he at times can make it difficult in our own minds as any parent of a 19 month old feels at times. One day as Andrea was visiting with a neighbor she felt as if she could never share because she was chasing Elliot around the house. Just as she had that thought the woman started a conversation with Andrea that quickly turned spiritual, allowing her to share her faith. This neighbor is very interested and now reading the Bible in her mother tongue for the first time.

These months have brought their challenges as well. Most of you know that Matt was in a bad car accident early in September. Thankfully God protected him and he is almost at 100% from the physical effects of the accident. We all three have dealt with some sickness, but Elliot has continued with chest infections, which we believe are due to mold allergies. Regardless of our struggles/challenges, we know that God is ultimately sovereign and good!

Most recently we have been blessed with a couple of weeks away from our work as we took a vacation to Andrea's hometown in Argentina. This was a great way to relax and visit with family and friends, many of whom Elliot had never met. Upon returning our sending church, the Summit, also hosted a two day retreat within S. Asia that was both refreshing and encouraging.

In tomorrow's post you will mainly find pictures from our trips and ways in which you can remember us in the coming month, so be sure to check it out!

Testifying to the Gospel the Grace of God

I do not account my life of any value nor as precious to myself, if only I may finish my course and the ministry that I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of the grace of God.
Acts 20:24

Meditating on this verse this past month has caused us to reflect on our lives to see if we can truly proclaim this along with the Apostle Paul. As a family, if we are transparent, we honestly are not there on most days. In fact this month has been difficult in many ways as Elliot has continued to deal with a severe chest infection, fever, etc. It has caused us to reflect on God having us to respond to being in S. Asia at this time in our life, but Elliot really had no choice.

In God's sovereignty we are here as a family and He is using all three of us in many ways. We thank you all for your encouragement and lifting him up to the Father. Although we are trusting God and seeing how he wants to be glorified in every situation, we also feel as if the enemy has been attacking us where we are the weakest, our son.

Elliot posing for the camera

This month has also been profitable for the work in many ways. Matthew has continued to have gospel-centered conversations with the construction worker next door and believes he is on the verge of following. Matthew has also led three vision casting meetings in his focus area, which have all opened many doors.

These meetings have allowed him to build stronger relationships with national leaders and start to train some of their people. There is also a specific language group that he has been targeting and just in the past two weeks he has come in contact with twelve mother tongue speakers of this language. This will allow Matt to form an intense discipleship group in the coming month to help equip these guys better to be sent out to reproduce and advance the Kingdom.

Vision Casting

Andrea had the privilege of attending a women's conference with other women in similar life situations over here. This allowed her to open up and share her own experience and also to learn from many other ladies. She came back encouraged and ready to try some new techniques with her ministry to ladies in our city. She also continues to meet with a lady she met at the mall who is a follower, but has never been discipled.

Neighborhood Friend

We have mentioned many times the struggle it is to learn a language in our city where there are easily four languages spoken and no Hindi teachers. We have recently been blessed with the language learning tool of Rosetta Stone. And since it is best to learn a language within its host culture, we feel that Rosetta Stone will give us the framework we need in learning language and the culture will offer us the practice we need in thriving in it.

As a family we are excited to be planning our first real vacation in over a year. We will be taking a long trip to Argentina, where Andrea is from, and visiting with her family and friends. We are looking forward to getting some time away and hope to be able to share some of our experiences, mobilize some Latinos, and come back refreshed.

So as your summers come to a close would you please take time to remember us in these ways:

• Elliot's complete healing and ongoing health.
• Andrea's ministry and discipleship to local ladies.
• Matt's upcoming meetings/trainings with nationals.
• God would draw the construction worker to himself.
• Preparing for travel and logistics to Argentina.

What Does Rainy Season Look Like?

We thought we would take just a minute to share with you all as to what exactly rainy season has looked like for us here. Obviously it includes a lot of rain, but that also means a lot of mold throughout your entire house and all over your belongings (Furniture, pictures, shoes, books, toys, etc). Not included below is the pictures of us spending half a week cleaning our entire house and everything in it with straight vinegar.

 A picture of our road after a downpour.

 Elliot longing to play outside.

 Andrea giving in and dressing up with Elliot to play in the rain.

 The effects of rainy season on our dining table, mold!

 This is one week after cleaning it the first time!

 The inside cement walls also start to grow mold and puff out.

 The outside walls start to do the same.

 The backs of the few family pictures we had hanging in the house were destroyed by mold.

 This is all of our shoes that were previously growing mold that were in the sun to dry.

 Our driveway starting to moss over from rainy season.

And the number one helper who helped clean it all by spraying vinegar on our entire house and belongings!

Summer/Monsoon Fun

Attending our first wedding

Well folks, the rainy season has officially started here! And it has rained at least once everyday in the last month, which has kept us inside a lot. And for any of you that have ever had a one year old, you know the challenge that being inside all day can bring. Along with the rain comes mold (everywhere), book lice, and other critters looking to stay dry. This past weekend we experienced so much rain at one time that the sewage flooded up through the drains in our neighborhood...yes I know that is very gross!

Inside entertainment to stay away from the rain

We hit a milestone this month as we have crossed the sixth month mark of life in S. Asia. It has not been easy by any means, but we have just taken one day at a time and looked to the Father throughout to sustain us. In these six months we learned some language, a lot about the culture, and dove head first into the work here.

This month Matthew has continued to travel more frequently to his focus area. In recent weeks he has been discouraged as he has dealt with some setbacks in both of his recent trainings. These setbacks are a mixture of things, but it really all comes down to the fact that the enemy is at work and does not want us here. Although he is discouraged he has continued to push through and take every opportunity to meet with leaders in the area whether that be for breakfast or lunch as a way to make his face known.

We have challenged our team to be more purposeful in their praying and fasting about the work here. We mention this for two reasons. First, we recognize that the work will never go forward on our efforts alone. Second, we ask that some of you would join us in this task and would commit to take one lunch break a week for the next month to fast and pray on the behalf of the work here.

Andrea is continuing to build relationships and share with ladies near our house. We attended a birthday party for a two year old recently where Andrea was invited to at least three ladies homes. She is looking forward to taking advantage of these opportunities as a way to be friends and share the Fathers love. Work in the red light district also continues with Andrea getting different opportunities such as discipleship opportunities with some of the ladies.

Elliot hit his own milestone this month as he is now officially walking. This has been a fun stage for us as parents, but he is now getting into everything, climbing the stairs, and keeping us on our toes. He still gets the most attention in the family when we go out, which opens many doors.

Birthday party fun

As a family we attended a retreat in Kathmandu during the first week of July. This was a nice get away for us as it was at a nice resort near the hills. We were able to catch up with many people that we find dear to us that we do not get to see often. We especially enjoyed catching up with some of our friends from NC that just arrived here. Overall the week provided some much need relaxation and time away.

NC friends

So life here continues to move on with lots of exciting things happening and new doors constantly opening, too much to mention all on here. We would love to hear from some of you personally so please drop us a message sometime as we would love to catch up with the people we love both in the US and Argentina.

As you move on with your day would you please remember us in a few ways:

• The advance of the Kingdom here.
• Against Spiritual Warfare.
• Against Discouragement.
• Opportunities to share with neighbor ladies.
• A man that Matt has been sharing with you read NT in 3 weeks and now has questions.

Here are a few recent pics of the hills taken from my iphone: