A Heart For The Nations

Dear Family and Friends,

We hope this letter finds you rested up and well after this past Holiday season.  We hope that Christ is your goal and sought after treasure for this New Year. 

As some of you know, Kait and I have contemplated and wrestled with our place in the Great Commission – Making Disciples of all Nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you – since we were married in May of 2010.  The Church (believers around the globe) is God’s defined plan for reaching the nations, therefore every believer who makes up that body has a part to play in this mission. 

About five years ago, the Lord began stirring Kait and I with a heart for the nations.  Over these years there have been a few times where we wondered if God was calling us to go.  Each time we considered going, God made it clear that it was not the right time.  Since God calls all believers to take part in His Great Commission, as we have stayed home, we have pursued being faithful senders of others. While being incredibly blessed in this role, we have never been able to shake a conviction on our hearts to consider going ourselves. 

Over the past several months, the Lord has graciously opened up doors for us to consider joining a team that is in Chiang Mai, Thailand.  As we walked through the process of making our decision to this opportunity, we thought of many reasons to say no.  We are comfortable with our life here, I (Matt) have been blessed with a dream job and get to work with family and many great friends, we are part of a church that blesses us week in and week out through the teaching of God's word and meaningful relationships, we get to serve alongside amazing friends in ministry here and we are surrounded by faithful believers and mentors that consistently speak truth and grace into our lives. 

As we have spent time praying, seeking counsel, considering our future, and praying some more, God has given us peace to move forward (in faith) with a "YES" to Thailand! Even though saying “yes” to Thailand means saying goodbye to many amazing opportunities and people here in Kansas, we feel compelled by the Gospel and are excited to obey Christ in beginning our family’s journey as a goer.  We are excited to introduce our future teammates to you, Brett & Liv Steffen (4 kids) and Evan & Emily McCall (3 kids). 

Brett, Liv, Obadiah, Zion, Hutch & Knox

Evan, Emily, Benson, Lucy & Nora

Psalm 67 – May God be gracious to us and bless us and make his face to shine upon us, that your way may be known on earth, your saving power among all nations.  Let the peoples praise you, O God; let all the peoples praise you! Let the nations be glad and sing for joy, for you judge the peoples with equity and guide the nations upon the earth.  Let the peoples praise you, O God; let all the peoples praise you! The earth has yielded its increase; God our God shall bless us.  God shall bless us; let all the ends of the earth fear him!

Psalm 67 has been a rock in our life as we consider the correlation of how our lives intersect with God’s love for the nations.  We would be lying if we didn’t say that we were raised with blessings that we don’t deserve.  Most importantly, we were taught God’s word from childhood on (many in the world don’t have access to God’s word), and were exposed to Gospel truths which ultimately led to the Lord drawing us to Himself through repentance and faith.  This chapter points out that God is gracious and He blesses us, but it isn’t for our own comfort and it isn’t even (ultimately) for our own good.  It is ultimately so that “His way may be known on earth, and His saving power among all nations”.  When we are born again to a new life in Christ, we have a new purpose for life.  That purpose is to glorify God with our lives and doing everything we can to see God glorified in the lives of others, both near and far.  

The best way we have ever heard this put is by author and pastor, John Piper – “Missions is not the ultimate goal of the church.  Worship is.  Missions exists because worship doesn’t.  Worship is ultimate.”  We consider missions because we have seen the glory of God in His word and we desperately desire for God to receive the worship that He rightfully deserves and warrants in Thailand and in every nation on earth! 

Romans 1:18-20 – For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth.  For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them.  For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world in the things that have been made.  So they are without excuse.  

Another passage in Romans 10:17 says that “faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of God”.  Verse 13 in Romans 10 states that “everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord will be saved”, but “how will they call on him whom they have not believed?  And how are they to believe him of whom they have never heard?”

This is a terrifying set of scripture when we consider the nations and the multitudes who have never heard the message of Jesus Christ and the hope we can have by placing our faith and trust in His perfect righteousness, death, and resurrection.  The first chapter of Romans is one of the most motivating chapters in the entire Bible for us as we consider going to the nations.   This passage says that all men are without excuse before God due to him showing himself through nature since the foundation of the world, even if they have never heard the Gospel.  We also know from Romans 10 that it is impossible to call on the name of the Lord unless we hear the good news.  Many men, women, and children around the world are born, they live, and they die with a knowledge of God that is enough to make them without excuse before Him, but not enough to save their souls from eternal damnation. 

Finally, we find confidence in going to the nations and find sweet rest in the promise of Revelation 5:9, ‘they sang a new song, saying, “Worthy are you (Jesus) to take the scroll and open its seals, for you were slain, and by your blood you ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation,”.  We can go to the nations with confidence that God has people there who will respond to this message in repentance and faith.  Are we promised to see this fruit ourselves?  Not necessarily.  However, whether we get to see it ourselves or not, we stand on the promises of God that there will be brothers and sisters from every tribe, nation, tongue and language singing worship songs to the lamb who was slain for eternity.  What a day that will be! 

In summary, we are excited to say yes in joining the Steffens and McCalls in Thailand in an attempt to see Thai lives transformed by the power of the Gospel.  The avenue in which the team is seeking to reach the Thais is through BAM (Business as Mission).  This is done through teaching employees the biblical values of character, worldview, and excellency while inviting them into our lives to share the true, eternal hope that can be found in Christ alone! 

We would love an opportunity to sit down with you individually or in a smaller setting to share a more detailed vision of this opportunity sometime in the future.  For now, we ask for your prayers as we begin the process of transitioning our lives in the direction of Thailand.  Our target date to leave for the field is January 2017 (1 year from now) and then we will spend the first 18-24 months in full-time language & cultural acquisition.  

Specific Prayer Requests: 

• That we would truly trust in Proverbs 16:9 which says, "The heart of man establishes his way, but the LORD establishes his steps."  Pray that our life would reveal us strategically planning our lives in a way that puts Christ and His work first, while entrusting our exact place in that work to Him.  

• Pray for our humility - that along our journey our hearts would long for Him (Jesus) to increase and for us to decrease (John 3:30) 

• Pray for our journey of adoption.  Pray for our hearts to trust in God's perfect plan and timing in this and that we would rejoice in Him throughout the journey.  

• Pray that we finish strong here.  Whether that be with work, family, friendships, ministry, etc.  We want our lives to reflect Colossians 3:23-24, "Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward.  You are serving the Lord Christ." 

Thank you for being a part of our lives, and we pray that ‘you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God.’ (Col 1:9-10)

With Love and Thankfulness,

Matt, Kait, and Judson