Matt in Bolivia

Speaking Engagements

mattjones81 — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 16:48:10 +0000

I have added the Speaking Engagements page onto my blog.

Please go on an find out where I am speaking, I do very much appreciate your prayers for these meetings.

If you have any space in the church diary please would you think about inviting me to speak about my future ministry in Bolivia.

Many thanks

Matt

My Future Ministry

mattjones81 — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 20:11:49 +0000

Dear Friends

I hope that you are well, many thanks for your thoughts and prayers over these past months.

Time is very quickly going past and there is so much to do.

As of the 16th Feb I will be speaking in my first church about future ministry in Bolivia.

At the moment I am getting everything ready for the meeting and God willing many more meetings in the future.

I am now looking for prayerful and financial support. If you would like to support me or would like me to take a meeting in your church, or even come and visit you please do get in touch so that we can fix a date.

These next months are going to be very busy but I am looking forward to meeting many of you.

Please remember me in your prayers as there is so much to do and not so much time. Yes I did say not so much time, God willing I would like to be out in Bolivia for the end of June.

On the 29th June the SIM Bolivia Spiritual life conference starts where all of the missionaries from around Bolivia get together for fellowship and spiritual food.

I really would like to be there for that as it would be a great encouragement for me and I am sure for the missionaries too as one more joins them on the mission field.

Many thanks again, the journey is only just beginning, I do hope that you will join me on it.

Every blessing in His awesome service

Matthew

Good News and Great News

mattjones81 — Thu, 24 Dec 2009 19:25:03 +0000

I want to start by thanking you for your thoughts and prayers, it has been a great year. I finished WEST in May and then was able to go through the interview process with SIM. I am now working in the YMCA, they have a café and I am cooking in the kitchen there. It is really enjoyable and a great atmosphere.
To start with the good news, as of tonight I am now a full member of SIM. The medicals have come through and I have passed everything, even the psychological, I assume that from some of the emails I received some thought that this would be a struggle!!
It really is a great blessing to know that I have now been accepted, it is all in Gods plan and timing.

The great news is that we have come to the time of year again to remember the Lord Jesus Christ and His miracle virgin birth. I think Christmas has so been taken over by materialism and how we have really forgotten the real meaning of Christmas. When you do open your presents remember the greatest gift that has ever been given. It was by the loving Heavenly Father to us. It was His Son, you can’t really get much more of a bigger gift than that! Also God doesn’t ask anything in return, He just wants people to accept the free gift of His Son.

January 4th-19th
My Parents and myself are going on a missions trip to Ethiopia, it has been organised for a while now and time just seems to race by. We are going to be running a feeding program like we did in Israel and I had done in Belarus. There will be 40 of us flying out for 2 and a bit weeks. It is going to be a real eye opener because there is such a need, physically as well as spiritually.
We will have the opportunity to share the gospel which is really great and we will be feeding about 1000 people a day. It is not a holiday and will be really hard work, but I know that it will be rewarding. Please will you remember us in your prayers .

I hope that you have a really great Christmas and you are able to spend it with loved ones and a great New year.

New and Improved Blog

mattjones81 — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 20:05:35 +0000

Please come and have a look around my blog…I have kept all of the old posts from my previous trip to Bolivia, but have added more pages and when things happen I will post them up on here.

I am still waiting for my medical and Psychometric testing.

Thanks for coming and having a look, also welcome back if you´ve been here before.

Please don´t hide if you have been on my blog please drop me an email and let me know what you think of my new blog.

Thanks

Matt

Newsletters

mattjones81 — Tue, 30 Sep 2008 13:25:56 +0000

I have now

added an extra page (next to about) to my blog so that my newsletters can be downloaded. I have added my most recent one and when more come out I will let you know.

Thank you

mattjones81 — Sun, 21 Sep 2008 15:10:56 +0000

Thank you for every one who has continued to read my blog and prayed for me throughout my trip in Bolivia, it was great to be able to keep people in touch with what I was doing. I am now at bible college, it has been a great couple of weeks but I still have a way to go yet. Every so often I will put updates on my blog and also sending out a newsletter, if you would like to recieve this newsletter please email me at mattinbolivia@gmail.com and I will add you to the list and also send you my most recent one. Please pray for me as I continue my studies into the third year, also as I apply to SIM for full time ministry. I am not going to delete this blog as I fully intend to use it in the future, but due to deadlines at college I won’t be able to keep it as updated as I was able to in Bolivia.

New Prayer Card

mattjones81 — Sun, 31 Aug 2008 01:27:34 +0000

I have had some more prayer cards printed, this time you can see more of my face in the picture. Whether that is a bad thing or not that is for you to decide. I have had them printed in both English and Spanish, if you would like me to send you one please email me at mattinbolivia@gmail.com with your postal address and I will get one out to you ASAIGB (As soon as I get back)

I have attached both photos if you would prefer to print them off yourselves. Thanks again for all your prayers for my during my time in Bolivia, I have really needed them and felt them whilst here. God has really been good to me and shown me many things during this trip which I will speak more about later. More than likely I will save it for my prayer letter or I will have nothing to say.

If you would like to recieve my newsletter please drop me a email at the above address and I can add you to my newsletter list. I dont always have alot to say during my studies but God willing if I come back out to Bolivia full time I will have alot more to say.

Packing process

mattjones81 — Sun, 31 Aug 2008 01:07:36 +0000

I have started packing, it is a bit of a process. Even in the short time that I have been here you can accumulate so much stuff and sometimes it is just junk. I am pleased the the majority of my stuff fits in my cases. Yes cases, some airlines are generous to let us have 2 cases but thats not all airlines so choose carefully if your going longhaul.

My cases mabye a little underweight but there surely is no space left in them. The thing is, when you’ve packed and you have no space left, people will come on the last day and give you a present to take home. Then you think where on earth am I going to fit this in my luggage. Some people have given me stuff already which is great because I have time to arrange my case, but we will see in the next couple of days whether I get anything else.

Hora Feliz

mattjones81 — Sun, 31 Aug 2008 01:00:35 +0000

Just to firstly explain that an hora feliz is literally translated happy hour, it is a childrens meeting that can take place anywhere. But usually it is either held in someones house or on a football court and sometimes in a church. Happy hour is not like it is in the UK there is no alcohol involved just in case people think that we are selling alcohol to minors.

This morning I was invited to go to Charlie and Tammi Thorsens hora feliz. The Thorsens are SIM Missionaries and they both teach at CCS (Carachipampa Christian School). On saturday mornings from 10am to about 12pm they open up their house for kids to come and play with the many toys and games that they have and then the have bible teaching for about an hour. One thing that I learnt from this hora feliz was preperation, they did alot of it and I could see that the club ran so well because of this. The kids were always interested in what was being said and it didnt seem like they were bored in any way shape or form. We taught them a song about God being all powerful, all the way through the story of the Israelites in the wilderness and God providing manna. Tammi was able to weave in the song about God being all powerful. I think that it was great that it was done this way because the children really take it in and remember it for later.

After the children had been coming for 3 weeks they are given a bible, I was really amazed to see the children coming to the club with their bibles in hand. esspecially when they had stopped the club for about 2 months because of the holidays. They had 42 children in their house this morning. It is a great ministry to these children that live in their area. It is also great to see missionaries opening their homes to the people that are living around them, it really shows that they are here for the people and not keeping themselves to themselves. I really hope that God really blesses their ministry because they are doing such a great job and really put alot of effort into what they do.

A Winter Heatwave

mattjones81 — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 18:42:33 +0000

I have been walking around Cochabamba today and it has been sooooooooo hot, Bolivia is in the middle of winter at the moment

but you would never have thought it if you saw the temperature. When walking past the big thermometer near the stadium it was showing 30 degrees. How can it be so hot in the middle of winter. Also why can the winter in the UK be like this, I think we would have a few more happier people if this was the case.