My Last Week in Utah

I dont know how time has gone so fast but it is officially the final week of my internship here in Utah. So much has happened over the last ten weeks its honestly insane.

God has used my time here in so many incredible ways. He has allowed me to connect with an incredible number of pastors and ministry workers spanning Nevada, Utah, Idaho and Wyoming. God has developed friendships in my life that are rooted, lasting and incredibly meaningful. He has also used my time to bring me along an amazing spiritual journey personally. There is no way to put into words everything that God has done in only a short time. There is one thing that has characterized my summer overall however.

The theme God has continued to stress in my life this summer is listening. Listening in a few different ways. First of all listening to those Ive been here to share Christ's love with. Although I 'knew' the importance of listening before, I have been challenged to deepen my listening skills when it comes to sharing Christ with people who need Him. (Nobody cares how much you know unless they know how much you care. Thanks Ken) Secondly the importance of listening to those in ministry ahead of me. There has been SO MUCH wisdom dumped on me (for lack of a better expression) this summer. Its pretty humbling to have had the opportunity to sit with men that have been active in service on the Utah field in some cases for longer than I have been alive. To be able to spend time with them, not in a classroom or seminar setting but at their home, experiencing life with them, what an incredible opportunity. I have gained an absolutely invaluable amount of knowledge from these men. And finally (as well as most importantly) the practice to listening to the Holy Spirit. This has been by far the most difficult lesson for me to learn this summer, and I am by no means done learning in this area (this is a lifetime learning course of study). I have however thoroughly enjoyed the adventure of hearing the voice of the Lord and obeying, even when there doesnt seem to be any rhyme or reason behind what the Lord may be leading me to do (like going downstairs to read, sharing certain aspects of my testimony, asking a certain question, making a certain phone call, the list is pretty much endless). If there is one thing that I can take away from this summer (obviously there are millions of things for me to take away) it would be that God loves us down to the tiniest of details. He knows exactly the perfect plan that He has for each and every one of us. And a life lived in obedience to His majestic whispers is a life lived in the fullness of the freedom of Christ.

I hope that made sense...

My last official summer prayer request: that God would provide opportunities for me to spend time with the people who have played an important role in my life this summer here in the Utah valley area. That God would bless my friends with safe travel to and from Utah this upcoming week. And that He would be preparing each of the EMI team members for our ministry this upcoming school year. (And of course anything and everything in-between that I didnt mention)

Thank you all so much for your faithful prayers over the course of this summer. I cant wait to see many of you soon!

St. George

I dont know where my summer went but I have officially arrived at my last full week in Utah. Totally crazy. Today I drove from Springville down to St. George, I will be spending the week down here with Southland Bible Church's youth pastor Jason. Basically gonna be going around doing different stuff that needs to be done, checking out some areas down here that dont have any Christian churches and talking ministry as much as possible. Im really looking forward to what God is going to do this week!

Sorry that its been a while since my last posting. A ton has happened during the in-between time! Last week we had three youth groups from Colorado come out and put on a VBS at Grace. I got to help out with that and had a great time getting to know each of the three pastors as well as their kids. Last Monday we took them to temple square and did that whole bit, it was really cool to see God working in each of the high schoolers, eyes were definitely opened that first day to the spiritual situation here in Utah.

On Thursday I had the opportunity to meet up with an LDS friend of mine that I met over last Spring break. We got lunch and had an honestly RIDICULOUSLY awesome conversation!!! We went back to the LDS institute after lunch (he is an institute professor) and God opened up more doors for conversation. I ended up talking with four LDS profs, through their questions about my summer, my schooling and my involvement with EMI God allowed me to flat out share the Gospel with them. It was pretty nuts. And by "it was pretty nuts" I mean it was totally and completely off the chain God working in Utah craziness.

As far as prayer requests go, I would ask that you all be praying for each of the institute professors that I got to talk with. That God would be working in each of them, calling them to Himself. That He would open more doors for me to continue to share with them (they want to get together and have a dinner for me before I leave for California). Also that God would continue to guide my heart and my actions towards the ministry He has set before me. And finally, obviously that God would use me here in St. George this week and that His will would be done!

Thank you everybody so much for your prayers. I cant wait to see you all and get to tell you all more details about what God has done this summer!

Eagle Mountain

On Sunday GBC had the Christian band VOTA play a show with two other groups. It was a great show, lots of fun music and lots of people! It was around 100 degrees outside and with about 200 people in the church building it was about 90 degrees inside even with the swamp cooler running. The concert was such a cool opportunity for people to bring non-believing friends to a neutral(ish) setting and have them hear the Gospel. The band laid out their faith and shared the Gospel very clearly and openly. It was an awesome night!

On Monday I drove out to Eagle Mountain to work with a pastor out here. We have been hanging drywall in his basement in the mornings and going to help out at a VBS in Lehi about fifteen minutes from his house.

It was so cool to see how God worked in the VBS yesterday! On Monday Paul and I walked around Lehi with a team from Florida handing out info cards to advertise the VBS. We just went door-to-door and told people about the upcoming program. Although I truly wanted kids to show up to the VBS, in my mind I automatically assumed that we would be putting on this program for only kids from the small local church. I guess in my California mindset I just figured that no parent would ever drop their kids off at a park with complete strangers for a few hours. But I was quite wrong in my assumption. We had around fifty kids show up, it was pretty insane.

So today we will be going door-to-door again and putting on another day of VBS. We'll see how the turn out is today.

Thank you for your continued prayers! No new requests for now, just the same good stuff from before.

Back From Camp!

Wow, it has been a while since my last post. So much has happened over the last two weeks, it has been absolutely incredible!!!

I spent the last two weeks at Grace Haven Bible Camp. My first week at camp I had the privilege of counseling a group of seven high school guys (age range from 12 to 17). We spent the week living in a huge tent, playing ridiculous camp games (cow tongue volley ball for example), not showering and learning about God. It was smelly and awesome. God opened up huge opportunities for me to share with my guys in both our tent devotion times and our one-on-one meetings. One afternoon I got to hang out with two of my campers and explain the doctrine of the Trinity, it was an awesome time to share key verses and help them see the importance of having a right Biblical view of who God is.

My second week at camp was with elementary school kids. I didn't have to be a counselor that week (thank you Lord!) but instead got to be the camp rec guy. It was so much fun! That week at camp God presented me with some amazingly valuable conversations with pastors out here. One of the guys said the week was more of a career fair for me than a week at camp. (he said it jokingly but the funny thing is he was kind of right).

This morning I got to take part in one of GBC's ministries called Saturday Grace. Basically church and community members donate stuff all the time and then every third Saturday of the month the church opens up its doors and has everything from food to clothes there to bless people who have need. The stuff is simply out for people to take, no questions asked. The entire purpose of the ministry is to show Christ's love and grace to people in a very tangible and practical way.

Thank you for continuing to pray! Over the last two weeks I had the privilege of seeing numerous children enter into a relationship with Christ. Please pray for spiritual support for them as well as a hungering for truth and fellowship. Being a Christian child in Utah is not an easy thing. Please also continue to pray that God would lead me in where He wants to place me (both to the city and potentially to the mission organization He would have for me). If you are feeling spiritually brave... pray for revival in Utah! This state needs Jesus and they need the fullness and truth of His Gospel of Grace!!! Thank you so much for your support!

4th of July... on the 3rd

I left Idaho this morning and made the drive back to Springville. Along the way back I got to stop by and see my high-school lacrosse buddy I met in Manti. It was a pretty funny time, I met the rest of his family, helped he and his dad move an old water-heater, and lit firecrackers with him in their backyard.

After that little detour I got back on the interstate and finished the drive to Derrick's house. Once I made it to Springville, the Smothers family and I loaded into their Ford and headed out Provo Canyon to Midway for what has become their family tradition fireworks show. (because the 4th of July lands on a Sunday this year they celebrate on the 3rd or 5th here in the Ute-to-the-Tah) It was great, we spent the evening hanging out, grilling, playing bocce ball and talking about anything/everything ministry. It was legit.

The fireworks were fantastic, they honestly were some of the biggest explosions I have ever seen! One of them actually was so huge the fallout lit the hill on fire where they were launching them from. Clearly the highlight of the show.

Tomorrow I'll be going to Grace Bible Church and then hanging out for the rest of the day. Then Monday we head out for youth camp, I get to be a camp counselor for the next two weeks! And this is actual camping, not staying in cabins with all the Hume perks. Im stoked! Camp ministry is also something I care a lot for, so combine Ute with camp and you get Matt's dream week. Whats more, God is giving me two weeks of it!

Please be praying for the kids that I will be responsible for over these next two weeks. There will be both Christian and LDS kids at these camps so please pray specifically that God would be preparing their hearts for His truth, that I would be able to share the Gospel through both actions and words, and ultimately that God would be glorified.

Day With God

Idaho has been absolutely crazy you guys! Bill and Gloria are completely amazing people! Every moment that I spend with them if its working or just hanging out is a total blessing.

Yesterday Bill, Brady (another intern), and I moved/organized a pile of wood that the previous owner of their property had left behind. At lunch we took a break and got to talk with Bill about his ministry experience. He laid out a great outline using 2 Corinthians 5:18-20 and shared his heart with us about the joy and commitment of life in ministry. It was so cool to listen to this man share about roughly thirty years of ministry experience, the ups, the downs, the in-betweens. Brady and I got to ask him literally anything we could think of. I picked his brain on church planting, church leadership, and a bunch of other stuff. I wont type out every detail simply because that would take way too long but basically, the time was amazing and such a huge blessing.

Today Bill is working in his office at church all day so I got the official instruction to spend my day reading and praying. Im so stoked. I really need this time with my Savior and the Lord brought me this opportunity just at the right moment.

Please join me in prayer today, for my time today, for the EMI trip over interterm, for God's guidance in my life, for the ministry God has for me. Basically whatever God lays on your heart to pray I would appreciate your prayers! Thank you so much you guys.

Hello Idaho

Yesterday I drove from Springville up to Preston, ID. It is absolutely beautiful up here! This week will be more or less a spiritual retreat for me before I get back to work down in Sprinville. Im staying in my own cabin... its kind of insane, I have a desk to write/work at, a tv, a refrigerator, an amazing chair to read in and my own bathroom. Kind of overwhelming but insanely awesome at the same time.

Today I got to hang out with Gloria and have chai tea while talking about books, ministry, and God's plan. Pretty much a fantastic morning in every respect. Then I was able to sit outside and read a few chapters of "The Pursuit of God", once again Tozer is rocking my socks off. Finally this afternoon Bill and I went and dug a hole for a clothes line they are putting in and moved dirt. After that we went for a bike ride and talked about life, ministry and God. Again, a fantastic way to spend time!

This week is going to be an awesome time for me to glean as much knowledge and wisdom from these amazing people as I possibly can! I'll post more of what happens as it happens.

For now, please be praying for God to use this time to continue to transform me and remove the veil of my "self-life" as Tozer puts it, which separates me from living in the presence of God. Also please continue to pray for the conversations that were had in Manti, that the seeds that were planted would grow and that God would bring about continued interaction with those He wants me to keep talking to. Thank you so much for your support!