The downward slant has begun. We made it through the middle hump and now have 2 days left to love the socks off (or in their case flip flops off) these kids. in the last 2 days, matt, Colin, Ryan, and Ty have all spoken and/or shared their testimony. God has been and continues to be so good. All of us did great. I was so proud of our guys. Besides general coolness...they are really gifted as well. They spoke clearly, creatively, and confidently. The Lord was glorified for sure in their effort.
Tomorrow we have tournament day! Final games along with an all star game in the afternoon (all the team mvp's vs. the counselors). should be fun. Then Friday morning is the kids championship game in the the big city arena. the whole town turns out to cheer them on...pretty cool. We then begin the journey home, from driving to kigali to boarding the plane saturday afternoon. Then it is back home for a ton of stories and pictures. Wo
Prayer Requests:
1) We have made it this far with only minor cuts, strains, and sick tummy's...pray we finish the race well
2) Salvation of students. Tomorrow especially! Last year, there was significant spiritual warfare on the last night. tomorrow we are doing the crucifixion skit along with a bold gospel.
pray pray pray! Neat story tonight....the entire city we are in lost power tonight ACCEPT for the building we were in for our klife. the Lord clearly wanted something communicated.
with love...and sleepy eyes :)
matt and the team
Weekly thoughts from Mosaic Student Ministries
Wednesday, July 29, 2009
Rwanda Update #6
Friends and family-
We are into the second day of camp now and things are finally smoothing out. There is definitely challenges you don't expect to face (kids sneaking into camp, coaches recruiting for their team from kids not at camp, beans and rice for 17 meals straight) but as a whole, things are going really well. Our basic schedule is:
8-breakfast
9-athletic principles with fun activies (taught by my dad)
1130-lunch
1-leave for soccer fields, skills and games
5-back from games, short break
6-dinner
7-k Ubuzima (klife)
9-devos with cabin
10-bed
it is a good full day...and we are having a blast
Moving moment: yesterday, the doors to camp opened at 9. yet at 6:30 400 kids were waiting in line to get in. you can imagine when only 150 are called...the look of disappointment that the other ones experienced. I walked through the crowd a bit just to try to lift some spirits when i encountered a group 0f 10 or so girls. they said in very broken english: "big problem! they not let me in!" "didn't know had to sign list. where list?" as we closed the big metal doors they began pounding on the doors hoping maybe we would allow them in too. you can imagine how hard it was.
it was also convicting. it sent my thoughts instantly to heaven, with a different kind of gate, and a different kind of list. let our friends not be the ones saying...i didn't know how to get in, nobody ever told me!
prayer requests:
1) matt and Colin speak tonight for klife. pray for strength, and time to prepare!
2) Ryan S. has had a sick tummy. He is recovering well and will be back in the mix shortly. Pray for his and the rest of the teams health
3) Energy-we are getting tired. Pray for deep restful sleep and spurts of holy spirit energy throughout the day
4 more days! keep praying
matt and the team
We are into the second day of camp now and things are finally smoothing out. There is definitely challenges you don't expect to face (kids sneaking into camp, coaches recruiting for their team from kids not at camp, beans and rice for 17 meals straight) but as a whole, things are going really well. Our basic schedule is:
8-breakfast
9-athletic principles with fun activies (taught by my dad)
1130-lunch
1-leave for soccer fields, skills and games
5-back from games, short break
6-dinner
7-k Ubuzima (klife)
9-devos with cabin
10-bed
it is a good full day...and we are having a blast
Moving moment: yesterday, the doors to camp opened at 9. yet at 6:30 400 kids were waiting in line to get in. you can imagine when only 150 are called...the look of disappointment that the other ones experienced. I walked through the crowd a bit just to try to lift some spirits when i encountered a group 0f 10 or so girls. they said in very broken english: "big problem! they not let me in!" "didn't know had to sign list. where list?" as we closed the big metal doors they began pounding on the doors hoping maybe we would allow them in too. you can imagine how hard it was.
it was also convicting. it sent my thoughts instantly to heaven, with a different kind of gate, and a different kind of list. let our friends not be the ones saying...i didn't know how to get in, nobody ever told me!
prayer requests:
1) matt and Colin speak tonight for klife. pray for strength, and time to prepare!
2) Ryan S. has had a sick tummy. He is recovering well and will be back in the mix shortly. Pray for his and the rest of the teams health
3) Energy-we are getting tired. Pray for deep restful sleep and spurts of holy spirit energy throughout the day
4 more days! keep praying
matt and the team
Sunday, July 26, 2009
Rwanda Update #5
Friends and Family-
The kids come tomorrow! wow...in less than 12 hours, 150 kids literally expecting the best week of their life will be coming through our doors. they will be given shoes, balls, jerseys...it is going to light up their world and be a fantastic platform of loving them with the love of Christ. Get excited!
We had our final coaches clinic session today. it was a fun day: church this morning, then to a city wide soccer semi final game that was absolutely CRAZY. like the world cup without fences, meaning when they won, 10,000 people charged the field and carried off the team on their shoulders. It was so fun. We then practiced our night time program with games, skits, bible stories and more...all done by rwandans! pretty neat seeing life transference take place minutes after it was taught.
Moving moment: While at the game, one of the players (john Paul) leaned over to me and said: "on this field, during the genocide, they rounded 100,000 people and killed them in a one day massacre". how do you respond to that? it is daily shocking how everything is so connected to the pain, and therefore also so connected to the redemption. Even to see the people celebrate on the same field that their worst memories exist upon...something meaningful about that.
Prayer Requests: 1) Strong Stomachs-we have become very prophetic when it comes to predicting the next meal. We have had beans, rice, and potatoes for 10 meals straight! I think some of the guys are getting a little burned out on it, and their tummies are getting sick because of it.
2) Registration tomorrow-we will have to make massive decisions very quickly and with authority. Pray for a keen sense into the nudging of the Holy Spirit
3) The kids! This is why we have done everything we have for the past 4 months. Every dollar raised, every mile road, everything...for these kids to experience a clear and love filled gospel of Jesus christ!
We love you all...thanks for you prayers!
Matt and the team
Rwanda Update #4
Friends and Family-
In so many ways it is very hard to believe that we have already been here for a week. Then again...i cannot remember the last time that i have had a meal that did not have rice, beans, and potatoes as 95% of it. So it seems in some ways we have come a long way. We have been in the coaches clinic now for 2 days. The missionary honeymoon is definitely over :) We are taking shower"s" (i plural it because it won't happen often) with buckets, mowing fields with machetes, and getting pretty familiar to how we each smell. it's great! We played the coaches in a soccer game tonight, and although expecting to get absolutely smashed... we tied them! it was actually very good for the sake of earning their respect in the soccer department. Where at one point there may have been a sense of "don't tell me these white guys are going to teach me soccer", now they are connecting with us as equals in many ways. Praise God! Play of the day: Ryan Schatzman was playing goalie and made an unbelievable one handed save over the top of 3 Rwandan headers...i had to look under his jersey to see where he was hiding his jet packet. pretty awesome
Tomorrow, we will go to church at the bishop of Rwanda (Bishop John-neat Christian) church, then drive out again to the KAA-Rwanda property, go to a city soccer game, and then have a Klife practice (our night time program with song-skits-and messages). After that, the kids come monday! wo--and we thought it was intense now? add 150 kids ages 12-18 to the mix. That's why we are here though...and we are loving it.
Prayer Requests: 1) continual safety and health for our team...especially with some of our fields being in pour condition (not kidding-we built a soccer goal today out of 3 trees and there is massive volcanoe rocks holding it steady. good luck goalie!)
2) Coaches-there is obviously a language barrier. There is a spiritual barrier as well though. 3 coaches left the first day because they were muslim, and one still remains. He is the head coach at the school we are operating at, so it is a bit of a sensitive situation. We need him! but he is challenging in these regards. His name Hevuna...pray for his salvation!
3) half way point lull: We need the spirit to energize and unite us. our naps are getting longer and our bed times earlier. We won't even have these luxuries though as of monday. Pray the spirit + an adrenaline dose kicks in.
We love you all! i will keep doing the best to update as often as possible.
Matt and the team
Thursday, July 23, 2009
Rwanda Update #3
Hello friends and family-
We had a great day today! the last one before the coaches come and then it will be a beehive of craziness. You would have all been so proud (especially all you biking fanatics-lawson, are you reading?) we went on a 30 mile bike ride today to the property that KAA-Rwanda is going to be built on. it was georgeous! got some unbelievable pictures. Our guys are doing great. Ryan Schatzman and poppa Newms both pushed it a little hard with the riding and had to take extra long naps when they got back...all around pretty impressive though. Everybody is still feeling safe and doing great. I am so proud of our team...wowsa
Moving story to share: yesterday, we went to the churches of the genocide. churches were the place alot of people fled to as the attackers were coming. Unfortunately, they then became the large group killing points for the attackers. Many pastors and priests gave up their congregations to the killers to save their own necks. some absolutely awful stories. We talked to a 25 year old man named Charles who was one of these that ran to a church (when he was 8 years old). 10,000 people ran into this tiny church and were literally laying on top of each other. He watched as his twin sister and mother were raped and murdered in front of him. his oldest brother picked him up and ran him through the crowd to the back of the room. (this gets graphic...i apologize). while running, his brothers arm was cut off with a machete. Only thinking about charles, the brother used his own blood to cover charles, making it look like he was already dead. He then hid Charles underneath a concrete slab with a hole in it. While shoving him in, he was stabbed through in the back with a spear. in his last breath, he fell on top of Charles to protect him from the grenades that were at that moment flying through the window. Out of 10,000 people...7 survived. Charles was one of them. Talk about an image of Christ on the cross...taking his last dying breath, to give it that we may live. I will not forget that...
Prayer requests
1) continued health and rest. schedule will now get alot harder while beds and food much more "missionary mode"
2) 150 kids and 20 coaches get here this weekend (coaches tomorrow). Pray for spirit led quick reactive decisions to spontaneous needs...and that we would continually "lead out of the overflow"-great quote by Mark Schatzman
3) Speaking and ministry. Matt and Colin will speak on Faith tuesday night for the whole group, while Ty and Ryan Schatzman will be giving there testimonies each 3 times to 50 kids at a time on wednesday ( i believe)
God is so good! protecting us and giving us great hope. Thank you for supporting us with your thoughts and prayers! Spread the word that God is moving!!!
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
Rwanda Update # 2 - Day 3 and no sunburn yet!
Rwanda is amazing friends...so many pictures and stories can not be captured in this short paragraph, although i hope you are anxious for the long debrief when we return. i did think you would like to hear these 2 stories:
1) Our Driver, DiaDonye...is one of the coolest guys ever. yesterday we went to the genocide memorial which honestly, was brutal for all of us. At one point I asked him how his story fit in, and he told me that both of his parents, his brothers, and all of his cousins would killed by machete. I was shocked! surely all of the movies, books, pictures, etc...wouldn't include this man that has now become my friend. EVERYBODY is effected. EVERYBODY has lost somebody. at the end of the tour, i sensitively inquired how he handles walking through the memorial. What he said moved me: "Matt, it is very hard every day...but every day i must choose to forgive again". Wo-i have never experienced a truer picture of Redemption than what i have seen and heard here. Just wait for the story tomorrow about Charles! Bring the kleenex...
2) Today as we were driving into the mountains to get to our camp, where we will spend the second half of the trip, we stopped by a nearby village off of the highway to play a soccer game with the locals. we all wore the same bears soccer jerseys, and sang loud as we ran down to the field. the ENTIRE village came out to play. we were hopeful we would be playing against 10 year olds, but would not be so lucky. there was a team of 20 year olds already on the field. therefore, the entire village go to see us get whooped 3-0. it was great...lots of cheering and laughing. in fact...somehow i have gained the nickname everywhere i go of: Yao Ming. Since i am the tallest person they have ever seen, obviously i am connected to him...right?
Collin-Ryan-and Ty are incredible. What young men of God...servants to the core. Schatzman has carried a box with a projector in it now for 72 hours straight. Still leaning in to hear complaining, never will happen though. I love these guys! Be proud fellowship.
I will continue to update the blog! Keep checking and praying. Tomorrow we tour the land, scrimmage a local team, and go on a 12 mile mountain bike ride. Translated in rwandan: who took the oxygen and why didn't i pack the icy hot.
With Love,
Matt and the team
1) Our Driver, DiaDonye...is one of the coolest guys ever. yesterday we went to the genocide memorial which honestly, was brutal for all of us. At one point I asked him how his story fit in, and he told me that both of his parents, his brothers, and all of his cousins would killed by machete. I was shocked! surely all of the movies, books, pictures, etc...wouldn't include this man that has now become my friend. EVERYBODY is effected. EVERYBODY has lost somebody. at the end of the tour, i sensitively inquired how he handles walking through the memorial. What he said moved me: "Matt, it is very hard every day...but every day i must choose to forgive again". Wo-i have never experienced a truer picture of Redemption than what i have seen and heard here. Just wait for the story tomorrow about Charles! Bring the kleenex...
2) Today as we were driving into the mountains to get to our camp, where we will spend the second half of the trip, we stopped by a nearby village off of the highway to play a soccer game with the locals. we all wore the same bears soccer jerseys, and sang loud as we ran down to the field. the ENTIRE village came out to play. we were hopeful we would be playing against 10 year olds, but would not be so lucky. there was a team of 20 year olds already on the field. therefore, the entire village go to see us get whooped 3-0. it was great...lots of cheering and laughing. in fact...somehow i have gained the nickname everywhere i go of: Yao Ming. Since i am the tallest person they have ever seen, obviously i am connected to him...right?
Collin-Ryan-and Ty are incredible. What young men of God...servants to the core. Schatzman has carried a box with a projector in it now for 72 hours straight. Still leaning in to hear complaining, never will happen though. I love these guys! Be proud fellowship.
I will continue to update the blog! Keep checking and praying. Tomorrow we tour the land, scrimmage a local team, and go on a 12 mile mountain bike ride. Translated in rwandan: who took the oxygen and why didn't i pack the icy hot.
With Love,
Matt and the team
Selah Update
During the month of July, Saturday night students have been gathering on Tuesday afternoon for Selah, a time of teaching and training on worship and worship celebration. It has been a special time of growth for all of us. We have spent time in the Word studying what worship is, and we have also spent time working as a group to learn how worship expresses itself in music and how to lead others in that.
This last week we talked about the mystery of what is at the center of our worship. We often walk away from a worship service and judge the “success” of the service based on how it affected us emotionally. Worship is “good” when it stirs up something within us. Some feel that there is something very wrong with this kind of statement. It is very popular to say that worship should not be about us at all, that it is only about God. Is this the case? Is worship more about the worshipper or the worshipped?
Though this difficult question is one that I believe I will continue to wrestle with for the rest of my life, I believe scripture does have a few very clear things to say about it. Time and time again, scripture teaches that at the core of a pleasing offering to God is the state of our heart. Specifically, our worship is a response to something God has done or revealed about Himself. In Psalm 90:14 Moses prays “O satisfy us in the morning with lovingkindness/That we may sing for joy and be glad all our days.” Our hearts matter! God satisfies us and we respond in joy. God is glorified when we are satisfied in Him and joy spills out of that.
However, there is another side to that. Notice that it is God’s lovingkindness that satisfies us. Not gifts from Him. Not wealth or health or prosperity but God. Colossians chapter 1 says that Christ is “the image of the invisible God… he is before all things, and in him all things hold together… He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent.” Christ is the center of all things. He is the center, the focal point of our worship. He initiated the relationship by dying for us “while we were still sinners” (Romans 5:8). He sustains us as we abide in Him. He fills and sustains us. Because of Him we receive the Living Water, which is the Holy Spirit (John 4:13-14, John 7:37-39). When Christ is at the center of what we do, His glory and our joy because the same thing as we celebrate His saving work in our lives.
Still working it all out…
Grace and peace,
Nick Roland
This last week we talked about the mystery of what is at the center of our worship. We often walk away from a worship service and judge the “success” of the service based on how it affected us emotionally. Worship is “good” when it stirs up something within us. Some feel that there is something very wrong with this kind of statement. It is very popular to say that worship should not be about us at all, that it is only about God. Is this the case? Is worship more about the worshipper or the worshipped?
Though this difficult question is one that I believe I will continue to wrestle with for the rest of my life, I believe scripture does have a few very clear things to say about it. Time and time again, scripture teaches that at the core of a pleasing offering to God is the state of our heart. Specifically, our worship is a response to something God has done or revealed about Himself. In Psalm 90:14 Moses prays “O satisfy us in the morning with lovingkindness/That we may sing for joy and be glad all our days.” Our hearts matter! God satisfies us and we respond in joy. God is glorified when we are satisfied in Him and joy spills out of that.
However, there is another side to that. Notice that it is God’s lovingkindness that satisfies us. Not gifts from Him. Not wealth or health or prosperity but God. Colossians chapter 1 says that Christ is “the image of the invisible God… he is before all things, and in him all things hold together… He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent.” Christ is the center of all things. He is the center, the focal point of our worship. He initiated the relationship by dying for us “while we were still sinners” (Romans 5:8). He sustains us as we abide in Him. He fills and sustains us. Because of Him we receive the Living Water, which is the Holy Spirit (John 4:13-14, John 7:37-39). When Christ is at the center of what we do, His glory and our joy because the same thing as we celebrate His saving work in our lives.
Still working it all out…
Grace and peace,
Nick Roland
Monday, July 20, 2009
Rwanda Update #1 - We Made It!
We made it! After an absolute marathon of travel...we made it to Kigali safe and sound today around noon (rwanda time, which is 7 hours ahead of Central time). It brought back reminders of 35 hour bus rides to Mexico, although this time...we had our own seats, pillows, great meals, movies (when they were working :), and bathrooms that worked. It really was one of the most comfortable flights i have ever been on. Why Ethiopian air fly from NWA to Cincinnatti? that's my real question...
Today was a day of rest. We have definately not entered into the "roughing it" state yet. We have been eating at good restaurants, staying at a hotel, traveling in a great bus. It really has been calm and pleasant...good thing too because we are pretty wiped. All day has felt like we stayed up all night at a lock in, and then took a 2 hour nap. the rest of the day is this endless haze of weird tiredness. thats us. Definately motivating us to go to bed early (new record! Colin Jackson, Ryan Schatzman, and Ty Nafziger in bed by 8:30!) They said it could never be done...anything is possible in africa though.
I will continue to check in daily with a brief update of how the day went via the blog. that of course assuming that the internet is going to be working great and always available (good luck with that one).
Keep us in your prayers for the next 2 days. we are in the team training and educational piece of our time where we are going to the genocide museums and genocide churches. Both of these are horrible, yet important things to give us accurate perspective.
We love you all! Pray for us!
Matt and the Team
Today was a day of rest. We have definately not entered into the "roughing it" state yet. We have been eating at good restaurants, staying at a hotel, traveling in a great bus. It really has been calm and pleasant...good thing too because we are pretty wiped. All day has felt like we stayed up all night at a lock in, and then took a 2 hour nap. the rest of the day is this endless haze of weird tiredness. thats us. Definately motivating us to go to bed early (new record! Colin Jackson, Ryan Schatzman, and Ty Nafziger in bed by 8:30!) They said it could never be done...anything is possible in africa though.
I will continue to check in daily with a brief update of how the day went via the blog. that of course assuming that the internet is going to be working great and always available (good luck with that one).
Keep us in your prayers for the next 2 days. we are in the team training and educational piece of our time where we are going to the genocide museums and genocide churches. Both of these are horrible, yet important things to give us accurate perspective.
We love you all! Pray for us!
Matt and the Team
Monday, July 13, 2009
Antidote
“You see, the prayer that Christ taught us to pray is the antidote to sin”.
I know I sin. I am that puddle pusher C.S. Lewis so eloquently describes as peddling in the mud while living in view of the ocean. Lets be honest…we all are! Somewhere between Paul’s “I die daily” (1 Corinthians 15:31) and “Put on the Lord Jesus Christ” (Romans 13:14) we find ourselves attempting active response to the Lord’s Prayer. For it is not to be by our kingdom that we live and move, but by His: His timetables, His agenda, His pre-eminence. For if God is before all things (Colossians 1:17) than I play the humble role of follower. I wait to see Him move…and I Follow. I do not instigate His will, beckoning it to submit to my own. But rather, the banner of my life is to remain: “THY Kingdom Come, THY will be done, on earth as it is in Heaven”.
Amen?
~Deep thoughts by a shallow guy…
mn
I know I sin. I am that puddle pusher C.S. Lewis so eloquently describes as peddling in the mud while living in view of the ocean. Lets be honest…we all are! Somewhere between Paul’s “I die daily” (1 Corinthians 15:31) and “Put on the Lord Jesus Christ” (Romans 13:14) we find ourselves attempting active response to the Lord’s Prayer. For it is not to be by our kingdom that we live and move, but by His: His timetables, His agenda, His pre-eminence. For if God is before all things (Colossians 1:17) than I play the humble role of follower. I wait to see Him move…and I Follow. I do not instigate His will, beckoning it to submit to my own. But rather, the banner of my life is to remain: “THY Kingdom Come, THY will be done, on earth as it is in Heaven”.
Amen?
~Deep thoughts by a shallow guy…
mn
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