Walls Down: Tales and Trials
Dear brothers and sisters,
This season on the road has been full of unexpected turns, hard providences, timely provision, and many reminders of the Lord’s care.
I set out to visit churches, supporters, friends, and Bible study attendees, hoping to share more about ROOM’s work and encourage the people God has placed in front of me. Along the way, the Lord has made His hand clear again and again.
Unexpected Outcomes
While I was in Nebraska, I planned to meet with the elders of a close friend’s church and share more about ROOM. Then a snowstorm hit on the day of service. Instead of gathering in person, we watched the sermon online, opened hymnals together, sang, and closed in prayer.
The meeting with the elders still happened online, which felt fitting, and a little funny, given the nature of this ministry. Even when the weather changed the plan, the Lord still provided the opportunity.
Later, while traveling to Hampton, Virginia, I stopped at the Virginia Welcome Center to call Jezza so we could have morning worship together. Just before pulling in, I saw a sharp rock in the road. I swerved enough to miss it with the rear tires, but it gashed through my front driver-side tire.
What a welcome to Virginia.
I parked, pulled out the spare, and immediately two men and a woman came over to ask if I needed help. They quickly removed the torn tire and replaced it with the spare. I thanked them and drove about eleven minutes to a nearby tire shop. While I waited for the repair, I had worship with my family and prayed for the people who had helped me. Within about an hour of hitting the rock, I was back on the road.
While in Virginia, I hosted ROOM’s board meeting and spent time with Brandon (shown below), one of the men from our online Bible study. I was able to attend church with him, answer questions, help him connect with several people there, and encourage him toward faithful growth. We talked about healthy living, discipline, learning, and preparing to rule his household well with joy. He left encouraged to do hard things and to grow as the bold, capable, godly man that God calls him to be.
On my way out of Virginia, another providence came, though it did not feel like one at first.
As I approached the Tennessee Welcome Center, I began to smell something like a burnt Reese’s cup. Then came grinding. Then smoke began billowing from the front of my car. I parked and turned the engine off.
My AC unit had seized, and the belt was grinding against it and melting. AAA sent a tow within an hour, and I made my way back home. During the tow, I met Austin, the truck driver, and was able to share my testimony with him. He had experienced some of the same church struggles I had, so we connected well, I left him my number in case he wanted to talk more.
Later, I found out how much worse things could have been. If the AC unit had not failed when it did, my engine likely would have been destroyed. The oil was bone dry after only two weeks, and the warning light never came on. The AC repair was expensive, but the engine work needed to stop the oil leak was under warranty.
What first looked like a breakdown was also protection.
Soon after that, I made another trip to Nebraska. My former elder Andy and his wife (shown above) had recently moved into a new home and offered to cover a plane ticket, a place to stay, and help with the trip. While there, I was able to meet with several people, share what God is doing through ROOM, and talk about and share with people the resources I have been developing and teaching.
Now I am in Florida, staying with my mother and family friends, with expenses covered. I also had the opportunity to meet Amanda and Levi in Orlando (shown above). We shared a meal, walked together, talked, and prayed over them and their baby boy, Titus, who is due any day now.
Even more encouraging, Amanda and Levi plan to start attending their local Calvary Chapel church next month and begin covenanting with that community.
That means every one of our online Bible study students will soon be connected to a local church and growing with the help of a local body.
Praise God.
Praises and Prayers
God continues to provide. No matter how low my bank account gets, He gives what is needed at the right time so I can be cared for and continue tending to the people He has placed before me.
Please pray for Amanda, Levi, and Titus, especially for a safe birth. Titus is already over eight pounds and still growing!
Please pray for Bryson, Brandon, and Josh, the men in our Bible study, that the Lord would give them courage, discipline, conviction, and strength as they seek to honor Him as bold and capable men of action.
Please pray for ROOM’s board as they continue learning how to raise funds more effectively and help sustain this work.
Please also pray for my health and endurance. With so much travel, driving, and sitting, my body and mind have been feeling the strain. I have not had much opportunity for regular movement or time in the gym, and I can feel it.
Finally, please pray that the needed funds come in and that the remaining paperwork is completed before I return to the Philippines.
Call Beyond The Screen
“Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go.” (Joshua 1:9)
“The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness; ‘The LORD is my portion,’ says my soul, ‘therefore I will hope in him.’” (Lamentations 3:22-24)
Every time I go out, I go with confidence that the Lord is with me.
He has been gracious to remind me of that again and again. Through unexpected meetings, strange providences, sudden repairs, timely gifts, open doors, and conversations I could not have planned, He keeps showing that He is present in the work.
The people we meet online are not outside His reach. The people we meet on the road are not outside His care. The breakdowns, delays, bills, meals, prayers, and conversations are not random pieces floating loose in the world. They are all under the hand of the God who sees, provides, protects, and sends. And he is writing a magnificent story with all of it.
We labor because Christ is worthy.
We endure because He is with us.
We are encouraged because His mercies are new every morning.
So let us be strong and courageous, not because the road is easy, but because the Lord our God is with us wherever we go.
Praise His name.
Peace be with you,
Matthew Boyer