March Madness

Partners in ministry, we want to fill you in on the past month of life and ministry. At the beginning of February we were able to spend the weekend in big D-city for some medical purposes, but also to visit with our campus pastor Daniel Simmons and some other friends from our sending church, the Summit. The time with them was enjoyable and encouraging as we were able to share life with them for a few days. We especially want to send a shout out of thank you to the individuals that sent goodies over with the team.

Matt was able to finish up his capstone project for his M.Div this month, so you could say that he is "mastered," although he knows his journey in ministry is just getting started. And though he said he was going to take a break from any further degrees, he is already looking for his next class to finish a second masters degree in the next year.

In addition to finishing up school work, Matt has also been able to meet with some of his guys from his discipleship group in order to further develop them as leaders and church planters. Due to some unforeseen circumstances the last training with his entire group was cancelled, but will be taking place at the end of this weekend. Please continue to lift up these men of God as they push back darkness in one of the darkest places of the world.

Andrea has continued to stay busy with her ministry involvement this last month as there have been more short-term teams come through to assist in the work she is involved with than one can count. She is currently spending a few days in the capital of our state where she is interviewing students at two different Spanish schools as she is finding translators for Spanish speaking teams. God has really opened the doors for Spanish speakers here and now he is providing translators from our own state.

Last week we had the privilege to  celebrate Elliot's second birthday with a mix of close foreign friends and some close national friends. The party was a big success, thanks to Andrea for all of her hard work to make it extra special. Now that we are officially parents of a two-year old, we need all of the prayer that you can send our way!

Moving forward we are making plans for a very busy spring. We thank you all for your continued prayer and support and ask that you would remember us this next month in the following ways:

• Opportunities to share during the Easter season.
• Matt's training this week and two more within the next month.
• Continued energy and health for Andrea as she is now 7 months pregnant.
• Elliot's allergy issues.

*If you would like to receive our monthly newsletter written by Andrea please send us your email address or leave it in the comment section below.

Boyd Family Update

Friends, family, and partners is ministry we wanted to let you know that 2013 has started off extremely busy, but it has also been a great start. To start out the new year we spent two weeks in Taipei, Taiwan for Matt to finish up his final two courses for his M.Div. He is currently finishing up his final writing assignment and although he will not walk to graduate until we are stateside, as a family we are proud of him and all of the other guys in his international church planting cohort.

The time in Taipei was also refreshing as we were with 15 other families that are serving internationally. Andrea was able to spend time with all of the other wives where they were able to study God's Word, fellowship, and shed a few tears. You do not fully realize how much you need to step outside of your current state sometimes until you actually get the opportunity. Elliot also enjoyed his time of playing with all of the other children and we want to express our gratitude to the volunteers that came out the first week and provided free childcare as a blessing to us all.

Returning from Taiwan we hit reverse culture shock as Taipei is a very modern city and perhaps the cleanest that we have ever been to visit. We hit the ground running by playing catch up on our life in S. Asia. Matt started organizing his next training and also took up some local opportunities to teach in a church that is in a nearby village. It is amazing how God will bring different leaders into Matt's life that our desperately desiring assistance in the equipping of their people to be sent out on mission.

Andrea is progressing along in her pregnancy and in case you missed our announcement, we found out that baby number two is going to be a boy! We are very excited as a family and Andrea grew up with four men in her house so she is fully prepared for three. She is continuing to disciple women in the red light district and teach one rescued lady art as a possible way to generate future income. God continues to deepen friendships with neighbors and we ask that you would pray with us for one particular lady as she is reading the Bible and asking many questions.

Please continue to pray for us as we desire to be very strategic in 2013 in our ministry here. Matt is working on fully developing his intense discipleship group of church planters, and at the same time working towards the goal of working through his close national partners so that the work never depends on him. We are excited to see the people of S. Asia continue to respond to the gospel and make disciples of them that will continue to advance the Kingdom of God here.

Thank you for your prayer and support, we ask that you remember us in the following ways:

• Friend of Andrea's asking questions about Jesus.
• Matt's development of his discipleship group and national partners.
• To be strategic in 2013.
• Elliot's allergies.

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!