The Vifl

but there’s a secret in St. Petersburg.

Good thing Mexico runs on 8 day weeks.

So I’ve been in Mexico for a little over a year. I work with Niños de México. At this institution I teach english and also just attempt to be a great example for the kids and let them know they are loved. I am ending my time here in December. I want to stay and work with this ministry but I think that I am to follow my passion of reaching Asia for Christ.
I am still currently single but considering a more active and aggressive search to find a suitable mate. I have realized through my time here in Mexico that I am not ‘gifted’ with singleness. Pray for this please.
I am in the best shape I’ve been in since maybe 3rd grade. I am around 160 lbs now. I have a hurt ankle, but I believe it will heal.
I have learned Spanish decently enough to get around most anywhere and have a somewhat normal conversation.
My older sister is expecting a son in November so I will be an uncle for the second time. (I know that’s not really correct but you know what I mean)
I don’t have a huge update because my last year has pretty much been spent ministering to the children here in Mexico and it’s a bit repetitive.
I had a bit of a dry spell with God but I am now actively seeking to deepen my relationship. I love God very much and He is the reason I do what I do each day.
Oh…and I appreciate all of you.

Hey guys….not sure if you got an e-mail so I’m gonna let you know. Being friends I thought you should know so you can pray for Matt and his girlfriend’s family. This is what I received:

“Hello everyone,

Last night we received a call that my girlfriend Erin’s mom was killed by a drunk driver in a head on collision in her home state of California. She was here in Tennessee when we got the news. Her youngest sister Kalcey who just turned 15 on Sunday was in the car as well and is in ICU but will be all right. Erin has an older sister and two younger brothers along with her sister who is in the hospital. She is flying back to California right now. Please be lifting her and her family up in your prayers. I also need your prayers.

Thank you guys so much,

Matt”

Be praying for them.

If Jeff doesn’t post by Friday then I’m gonna do my update. Be ready!

So…I need to make a decision within the next two weeks. Do I stay in Mexico or go to Asia?

In Mexico I help children who are pretty much orphans except for the fact that my organization legally adopts and raises them through adulthood. I teach English, help groups that come from the US, and try to be a good example to the kids. Pretty much a tour guide, teacher, babysitter at times.

In Asia I would go to college as a way to be involved in the culture and learn the language. Through that I would have an impact on teenage and young adults. This would be a much more evangelical type situation. Less of a taking care of people and more of a spreading the Word situation.

So I’ll be in the USA, mostly in the Missouri area, July 30th-August 17th. The second week in August is my best week to just chill and catch up with some of you if you have time/would like to. So let me know what is going on in ya’lls life. I wouldn’t mind driving a little too.

As time passes I notice a lot of changes in the exterior world and in the situations of my own life. Since this started, presumably back in 2002, we have been through and encountered a number of events in our lives. Some of them have been life changing on a grand scale and other events have simply been small changes that add up to things that change our environment around us and therefore also life changing. In this ever changing world and in our ever growing psyche there are some things that remain constant, at least in my life. We all have a bond that, for whatever reason, has remained between all of us. I am not saying it is a bond that draws us near and makes us weep at our distances from each other, but a bond that is deep within…a bond of loyalty and brotherhood. We are a very eclectic group of people. We have artists, computer programmers, preachers, students, and businessmen. When you look at our aesthetic appearances and our outward impact on this world it is hard to see what we have in common. What do we have in common? Honestly….I dunno if we really do have a lot in common or not. That is what is so amazing about this group. We do not base our relationship on these differences, but on our brotherhood that we somehow created. Through jobs, marriages, children, happiness, pain, success, failure, and distance we have survived as comrades. I am very happy to be a part of this group. A group that, I believe, would fight for its members when necessary. Will support itself through almost any situation. That though distance prevents direct contact and a daily visual reminder of this bond, we still impact each other daily because of the changes in our individual lives. I live in Mexico now and will probably be moving to Asia within a year and a half. I do not know how much longer I will be able to actually see many of you in person. Yet, as the years go by and even in death I pray that we are united. WE are united as men. I hope that we are united in the common denominator of Christ so that we may remain brothers once this life is over. I love all of you, even the few that I rarely saw/see. Life is good and I am glad to have had the opportunity to spend it with many of you. I hope to spend more time here on earth as the years go by with some of you. So why did I write this? Because I wanted to affirm all of you in your lives. Keep living and strive to be great men of God. As I make mistakes and realize how far I am from being a great man of God it inspires me to try and inspire others to grow greater in Christ as well. We are/can change the world for the better….and I think we can do it much more effectively if we do it together.