Dear Team Members, Sept. 18th, 2008
“There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the sun.” Ecclesiastes 3:1. Typically when it comes to the seasons in our lives, we have somewhat of a numerical order in how these seasons should come into play. We have the scraped knee, cap gun, cowboy hat, barbie doll and action figure season typically coming first. A season filled with its fair share of tears and laughs, and all around some pretty quality moments. Yet as these days draw to a close, the school bus soon arrives for first day of school, and a new season begins, one that is also filled with many chapters which contain a new assortment of emotional highs and lows; not necessarily more significant highs and lows then in the first season, just different (As I will be the first to say that I had plenty of life changing emotional highs and lows playing with my Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle action figures and stomping in the mud.). The school years are filled with successes, with failures, moments to learn, moments of change, and definite challenges present themselves over the years for both the children and the parents alike. And as the climax of the school years arrives, and the backpacks and binders are exchanged for a grad cap and a finely fashioned certificate, the arrival of yet another new season is just around the corner. Following graduation, some choose one path, while others choose another, and each embark on their own unique journey. Once we arrive at this stage, we then have college options, career choices, weddings, families begin to grow and develop, job successes as well as failures, many moments of joy with loved ones, family vacations, and soon retirement sneaks up out of nowhere….
So probably by now, if not within the first three or four sentences, you were thinking, “this sounds more like a graduation address than a newsletter.” I will agree with you on that, however, surrounding the whole idea of seasons in life, I have been really challenged on this as of late, especially with regard to the order they fall into place. While the wedding season has begun to arrive just on time, and two of my good friends have recently been engaged, I have come to realize that the way we order the arrival of seasons commonly doesn’t match that of Gods. And while many of you back in Canada will know this in terms of the weather this year, and the lack of transition there was between Winter and Summer, in terms of life’s timing, God has really been teaching me that His timing is so often different then ours. In the last couple of weeks, as many of you were aware, the family that I have considered my family over here in Spain, recently had the father of the household pass away very suddenly. So suddenly in fact, that within five days of being at his sons soccer match on the Monday night, joking around and making plans with my roommate and I for lunch that week, we attended his funeral. The loss of him came as an incredible shock, and it has been an incredibly challenging time over here in Spain in light of this whole situation. The family has had a very difficult time over these last couple of weeks, yet in all of this they hold firm to the hope they have, due to the fact that they know their earthly father is with their Heavenly Dad. My roommate Phil and I have been spending much time with the family, and it’s been a very busy and stretching time. I suppose in all of this, it’s often so hard to know how to pray for those who have lost so much, and in this, God has been teaching me, and growing me with regard to His timing, and His ways.
Aside from all of this difficult time, things have been incredibly busy over here in Spain. The prison ministry has started up again for the year, as well as our local club team. We also recently completed the annual Spain soccer school (video and photos available on my facebook group and blog), which was yet another opportunity to see God moving like only He can, here in the hearts of the people of Spain. Phil and myself, have also begun to coach a local U-15 boys soccer team, and we are both excited about the opportunities we have to get connected with Granada’s soccer community. And coming up quickly here, I will be heading down to South Africa and Mozambique on the 12th of October for a soccer tour, so I am beginning to get geared up for that, something in which I am really pumped up and excited for.
The work here in Spain continues to grow, yet it is a slow process that requires patience. Our prayer as a ministry this year, is that God would bring forth leaders from the country of Spain to eventually take over the ministry. Please pray that God would rise up the right leaders and bring them to AIS Spain. I ask for your continued prayers for physical strength as that always seems to be a challenge, as well as, that God would continue to teach me how to pray.
Thank you guys for all of your faithful support prayerfully and financially.
Love you guys! You are AWESOME!
Much Love,
Matt Hama
matt_hama9@hotmail.com
http://matthama.blogspot.com/
(P.s the blog has been changed so that anyone can now respond to the posts, so I would love to hear from you.)
