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:

June Adventures

In our last update we mentioned how it was getting hotter here, well it is still hot, but we thankfully have been able to take a couple of quick weekend trips during Memorial Day and our Anniversary to some of the nearby hill/mountain towns. In these areas we are close to 5,000 ft above sea level and only about two hours from our city, but at that elevation the climate is much cooler.

Our first trip was to Darjeeling, world famous for tea. It is a busy little tourist area full of tea shops everywhere, good mountain views, and a nice zoo. This trip allowed us some much needed relaxation, some time with close friends, and a chance to cool off a bit.


The next trip was to Kalimpong, which is less touristy of an area, but also has some great mountain views,  places to do outdoor activities, and provided a nice relaxing anniversary get away. This was the first anniversary with Elliot included, but we loved having him with us as he brings us much joy.

Aside from these two mini-trips we have been very busy the last few weeks. Matthew has started weekly traveling to our focus area to spend time with and network with leaders. These trips have opened many doors and provided upcoming training opportunities. In fact he led his first broad training this past weekend that although had some cultural setbacks, it provided him with many learning opportunities.

Our team had the privilege of hosting a short-term team from Humble, TX this past week. This team conducted a leadership training conference for those out there doing the work in our focus area. Overall the conference went well and it was an encouragement to have them in town. They also made it feel like Christmas as they delivered packages to us from our family members. We also received a large package, pictured above, from a partnering small group from the Summit Church, love this group and their partnership with us. Thank you all so much for the love through care packages.

Andrea was involved with helping the other part of their team within the red light district. They threw a birthday party for all of the women working the red light district as nobody knows their actual birthday, nor is it likely ever celebrated. In these parties they loved on these women, washed their feet, and served them as Jesus served us. Andrea also did a Bible story in the art form of Henna, which is very common here.


Now that we are close to reaching the mid-point of June we are working hard on getting further into our work here and also mobilizing teams to come out in partnership with us in the next six months. If you or a group would like to come and out be a part of the work here, please send us an email and we will get you connected.

As your summers are getting started please take time to remember us in the following ways:

• Continuing to look for a regular translator for Matt.
• Wisdom/Discernment in who to work with in ministry.
• Wisdom in decision making.
• Continued spiritual growth as individuals, a couple, and a family.

It's Getting Hot!

Welcome to May where the land in S. Asia starts warming up rather quickly! So the hot season has officially arrived and it is feeling like the middle of summer on most days. We thankfully live in an area of the country that does not get as hot as many parts, but it is still hot. And it is not that it is hotter than most areas in the US, but the key difference is that most homes and cars that you travel in will not likely have an AC.

Our bedroom that we are currently using as a family has an AC so we run that at night, but the reality of no central AC is starting to kick in. The car that we are using also has no AC so I (Matt) usually wear one shirt to drive in and change to another when arriving. Unfortunately for Elliot he sweats like I do so he is usually uncomfortable by the time we arrive at a place, which can always be a lot of fun with a one year old!

The past month has been a great month of networking with national partners in both our local city and our focus area in our bordering state. These relationships have helped open up many doors for different ministry opportunities and also provided some friendships that we were strongly desiring.

Andrea has more clarity now as to what areas of ministry she wants to focus in on in order to make the best use of her time. She will continue to meet in neighbors homes as often as possible using creative ways to build genuine friendships and to use that as a platform for sharing the gospel. In addition she will soon be able to use her artistic skills in the painting of a home for women that are leaving the red light district and lifestyle.

Matt has continued to stay busy travelling, but he is getting a better grasp on setting up a routine travelling schedule. It looks like he will spend two nights a week away from the home in order to lead trainings and spend time with the group of guys that he is investing in. Just in the last two weeks he has also been given more clarity in regards to the specific areas that he is looking to target. It looks like he will target three districts, all made up of three million plus people. The key district where he will spend most of his time is considered an education and business hub for the area, so Matt's pursuit is that it will one day too be known as a church planting hub.

Life here seems to get easier and harder at the same time. Easier as we get to know the culture and language better and in many ways lower our expectations of daily living. Harder as we know that more time has past since we have seen our families and friends and the reality that life is moving on without us. Setting up times to Skype with family, friends, small groups, etc. has been one of the biggest encouragements to us as it shows us that people back home not only care about us, but they are truly partnering with us in different ways to see the gospel go forward here.

Please remember the following in lifting us up:

• Regular translator for Matt.
• Filtering process of obedient men for Matt to invest in.
• New language helper for Andrea.
• A part-time helper to watch Elliot so Andrea can focus on language and ministry.

What it looks like to be a women here in SA/ Que es el ser una mujer en AS

American mother's day celebration is coming up and that is why I (Andrea) am getting my inspiration for writing this post, so you all could find out by my perspective in what it means to be a women in S. Asia.  As somebody that has lived in a country for 4 months and doesn't speak the language fluently yet, I will only focus in what I have seen so far and the general factors.

La celebracion del dia de la madre en USA es este domingo que viene y por ello (Andrea) me estoy inspirando a escribir este post, para que uds puedan saber un poco lo que es ser una mujer en AS desde mi perspectiva, como alguien que solo ha residido 4 meses en el pais y aun no habla fluidamente el idioma. Por este motivo solo hablare de lo que he podido observar hasta ahora y de factores bien generales y llamativos.

First of all let me tell you that for those ladies that love shiny, colorful and over the top type of clothing; this is the place to be! From the top of their head to the bottom of their feet, most woman (middle and old generation, some times little girls too) will put on them all what it is in their closet: bangles, dupata, saree or kurta, pants, sandals, etc, etc; and everything will perfectly match.

Primero, dejenme decirles a todas aquellas mujeres que les encanta lo brilloso, colorido y las llamativas vestimentas; este es el pais donde deben vivir! Desde la cabeza hasta los pies, las generaciones mayores, del medio y aun las mayorias de las ninias se visten con todo encima, agregando todo tipo de accesorios (pulseras, aros, dupata, sandalias, etc) que siempre hace juego con el resto de sus vestimenta.

                                     The beautiful lady in yellow, she is even matching her flip flop with 
                                                 her outfit. La hermosa mujer que esta en amarillo, hasta coordina el 
                                                                         color de sus ojotas con el de su ropa.

The cast system plays a big part on the dressing code. Women that have traveled outside the country dress in a modern way with less accessories but with expensive type of clothing. The other ones with money but that never have been outside the country are more traditionalist in their dressing code but you can tell the social status by the expensive type of fabric and the high quality accessories that they wear.

El tema de la casta (clase social) juega una gran parte en la vestimenta. Muchas mujeres que han viajado mucho y vivido en otros lugares se visten modernamente y con menos accesorios, pero aun asi sus ropas son de marca y salen vestidas a la calle con lo mejor de lo mejor. Las mujeres de dinero que no han salido del pais, son mas tradicionalistas en su vestuario, con telas bien caras y de alta gama.

In the construction site, in the cleaning of the streets and many other jobs; you can see the women working and all of them are dress with the traditional sarees. It doesn't matter the weather, the place or the type of work, all of them are dress like that.

En la construccion, limpieza de las calles o cualquier otro trabajo; se puede ver a las mujeres trabajando y todas estan vestidas con sus tradicionales sarees. No importa el clima, no importa el lugar o tipo de trabajo, todas estan vestidas asi.

The young generation has been modernize. It is very normal to see at the church, shopping mall or in the streets; the girls wearing T-shirts, jeans, blouses, skirts and even shorts and that is not seen as an offense, only while they are wear with modesty and discretion.

La juventud se ha modernizado. Es muy comun ver en la iglesia, el shopping mall o en la calle, a las chicas vestidas en remeras, jeans, camisas, polleras y hasta bermudas y no es mal visto por los demas, 

siempre y cuando sean ropas decorosas y no reveladoras. 

                              This is our sunny day walk kinda of style. My umbrella is colorful and it shines. 

                                       I will not use an umbrella like this in USA or Argentina, but here... why not? / Este 

                                       es nuestro estilo de caminata en un dia muy soleado. Mi sombrilla tiene muchos 

                                       colores y lentejuelas brillosas. En USA o Argentina no usaria nunca algo asi, pero 

                                                                                            aqui... por que no?

        

Happy mothers day! to my friends here and the ones in USA (in Argentina mother's day is in October) I thank the Father for allow me to be a women, a wife and a mother and for place me in this country at this time. Love isn't something that we learn, it is a gift that has been given to us and that can touch to many other lives. Here is a short passage from the Bible to all of you dear mothers.

 "An excellent wife who can find? She is far more precious than jewels.  Her children rise up and call her blessed;  her husband also, and he praises her: “Many women have done excellently, but you surpass them all.”  Charm is deceitful, and beauty is vain, but a woman who fears the LORD is to be praised.  Give her of the fruit of her hands,  and let her works praise her in the gates." (Proverbs 31:10, 28-31)

Asi es! Feliz dia de la madre para todas mi amigas aqui y en USA (en Argentina es en Octubre). Yo agradezco al Padre por haberme dado la oportunidad de ser mujer y madre y por haberme puesto en este pais en este tiempo.  Amar no es algo que se aprende, sino un don que nos ha sido dado y que puede tocar muchas mas vidas que las que uno puede imaginar. Aqui les dejo un pasaje para uds.


"10. Mujer virtuosa, ¿quién la hallará? Porque su estima sobrepasa largamente a la de las piedras preciosas...28 Se levantan sus hijos y la llaman bienaventurada; Y su marido también la alaba: 29 Muchas mujeres hicieron el bien; Mas tú sobrepasas a todas. 30 Engañosa es la gracia, y vana la hermosura; La mujer que teme a Jehová, ésa será alabada. 31 Dadle del fruto de sus manos, Y alábenla en las puertas sus hechos."                                                      Proverbios 31:10, 28-31

April Madness

Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all of your might, for in the grave, where you are going, there is neither working nor planning nor knowledge nor wisdom.

Ecclesiastes 9:10

Well as mentioned last month there were some transitions on the way for our family that have turned into "April Madness" with all of the travelling Matt has transitioned into. We knew coming here that his role would involve a lot of travel, but instead of slowly transitioning into it as we thought he jumped in head first!

These trips have been some great opportunities for him to get to know our teammates better and to both observe and be involved with some training/equipping of national believers here to be sent out to plant. Matt took two trips in a row that led to him being away from home a total of eight nights. In these trips he has been able to see much of the eastern part of the country and also get a better idea of his role here. 

We are so very thankful that in the last month God has provided some new teammates for us that have been in country for two years, but just transferred to our team. The husbands name is also Matt so we are now joking that they are "Team Matt." They are a very sweet family and we look forward to working together to advance the Kingdom here.

Most of you are aware that we had a brief medical scare with Andrea upon Matt's return from his trip last week. Local doctors would simply guess at what was going on and were contradicting each other in their diagnosis. This led to our on field medical coordinator suggesting that we leave immediately for our capitol city to get everything checked out.

So with a one day turn around we left on flight to get everything checked out. Thankfully with no appointment available Andrea was able to get into the doctor the afternoon we arrived. The doctor diagnosed two benign tumors that were slowly becoming active, which he expressed it was good that we came in. The same afternoon the tumors were able to be removed with a fast procedure using laser technology. We praise God for this report and for the finances to travel to the capitol city as our city does not have the proper technology to either diagnos or remove the tumors.

They say that there is "No rest for the Weary," and we are starting to believe it. We returned from our medical trip only for Matt to turn around and  take a day trip to our focus area to network with some pastors. Overall a good trip with some promising partnerships.

Upon returning home from this trip we received another praise! Of our team made up of three families, only one family has a vehicle. We found out yesterday that a used vehicle with no AC has become available for us and the other family to share. We had been praying about a better means of transportation to become available as this will help cut down transportation cost and assist in Matt's travels to our bordering state.

Once again Matt is leaving on an overnight train trip to a large city twelve hours south of us to pick up a Maruti Suzuki Omni E Van. We will post a picture of a similar vehicle from google images, but we are not sure of the actual condition of the one we will be driving.

Here are a few needs:

• Continued adjustment to travelling so often.
• National Partners for Matt to invest in.
• Andrea and Elliot as they are at home.
• For Andrea to be able to narrow her scope of ministry in our city.

Transitions on the Way

Month three of living here is in the books, which is hard to believe when we realized last night that 25% of 2012 is already over. It has been a fast three months in our initial phase of being here. These three months have been filled with setting up house, learning language, and getting to know the people that we are living amongst and ministering to, which we are especially looking forward to sharing about Easter this weekend.

Although all three of those are still in process and two of those will only continue, there are some transitions on the way, especially for Matt. He has slowly started to travel more to our focus area for a mix of vision trips and as a way to network with the existing believers already there to see what the Holy Spirit is already doing. In the next month he will probably be gone 10-12 nights from home, which will only continue each month from there.

We are excited about this transition because it means that he will finally start doing what we came here to do; but we also know that the transition of being away from home for as much as up to two weeks a month will change our family dynamic. Especially since he will be traveling anywhere from 3-8 hours away so he will not be able to get home quickly if needed. We appreciate your prayer as we embrace this transition in pursuit of seeing some of the most lost areas in the world no longer staying that way.

Here are a few immediate needs that you can be lifting up:

• As mentioned for the transition of Matt traveling more often.
• He is also dealing with car sickness on some of these trips so pray against that.
• For opportunities to share this week of Easter.
• Continued language learning.
• For Andrea to be able to further the relationships with the many women that live nearby.

Our temporary mode of transportation.

Hills/Mountain view from our porch.

Another hill/mountain view from the neighborhood.

 *Note these views of the hills/mountains only happen on a clear day, which unfortunately hasn't been often since we arrived here, but we love it when they do.*

Our South Asian Home/ Nuestra Casa en SA

So we have been here three months and just now getting around to posting photos of our house. This is in part because it has taken us this long to get everything as it is pictured (Andrea painted something in each room so the walls are not empty) and we still do not feel like we are finished with the set up phase as the AC's will be getting installed this week and we are still in need of a few other things. We are very thankful for this house being provided for us and although it has its flaws, we are making it feel homey. We hope you enjoy and look forward to your visit!

Ya hemos estado aqui por tres meses y recien pudimos postear algunas fotos de nuestra casa. Esto es en parte porque nos ha llevado bastante tiempo el poner la casa en orden hasta lo que se puede ver en las fotos y Andrea pinto en cada habitacion algo para que las paredes no esten tan vacias. Sentimos que esta etapa no se ha terminado ya que los aires van a ser instalados esta semana que viene y aun faltan otras cosas. Estamos muy agradecidos por la provision de esta casa y aunque tiene muchas fallas, estamos tratando de hacerla mas como nuestro hogar. Espero que les gusto y esperamos su visita!

The Front of our House

Side View

Back View                                                                   

Elliot's Room

This animals were painted before Elliot was born by Andrea and brought from the States for his room.
Estos animales fueron pintados antes de que Elliot nazca por Andrea y fueron traidos para su habitacion.

The chocolate wall was pink and the light blue was orange. Matthew painted it and Andrea did the final touches with the white tree! La pared de color marron era rosada y la celeste era naranjada. Matthew pinto y Andrea le dio los retoques con el arbol blanco.

Changing stating (is an old desk table)
Cambiador de paniales (es un viejo escritorio)

His bed mosquito net
Su cuna con la tela mosquitera

Guest Room

This bed is made by 2 twin size beds, but it is very comfy and waiting for you!
Esta cama esta hecha de 2 camas, pero es muy confortable y esta esperando por tu visita!

Kitchen

Living Room

This is in the top of our front door, "Jesus is Lord"!
Esto Andrea pinto arriba de la puerta "Jesus es el Senior"!

Dinning Room

You might be wondering: why they have curtains on the wall? Is because  our house has a humidity issues.
Se estaran preguntando porque hay una cortina en la pared? Es porque nuestra casa tiene problemas de humedad. 

   

Master Bedroom