Hey guys!

So, I turn 40 very soon. Besides it being "over the hill," this age marks a really special occasion for me. It will be 20 years of following Christ. Given this, I thought I'd spend the next few weeks highlighting some takeaways about God's work in me as a Christian and as an artist. Check out the first five years here. Below is the next 5-year segment (age 26-30, or 2012-2016):

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💥 INSPIRED BY

Age 26 (2012)

2012 was JAMMED packed with travels, learning mission skills, practicing teaching, facilitating, and oral bible storying. I also lead our training team in Mexico each month. I lived with Pastor Una in Papua New Guinea for a week. I learned that I am naturally curious and enjoy make observations and reflections about new things.

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Age 27 (2013)

So much happened this year. Near the end of my mission training, I visited Papua New Guinea (PNG) again. This time, God opened an amazing door for songwriting with some lower Sepik-region believers. We shared songs with them. They shared songs with us. One night, they welcomed us to co-write a song they had put together. You can listen here. This experience would plant the seeds of Ethnodoxology in me. I ended my 2-years of training deciding that I would serve a missionary in PNG!

But...something felt off about that decision.

One of my best friend's and I (Joel) decided this was also the year to record an album. We both knew we were bound for the mission field, so we figured this would be the time to do it (Joel's family was heading for India). After much prayer, God brought all kinds of people to help with this project. I'm forever indebted to many for making this happen!

With the journey to PNG hanging heavy (conflicting) on my mind and heart, God was weaving together a larger story. As I worked on support raising, visa paperwork, etc. for moving, He brought Nati into my life. 2013 would end with saying, "I love you" while also realizing I might not be going to Papua New Guinea after all. Something in my heart was screaming, "NO" to PNG while simultaneously "YES!" to marrying Nati.

I remember being at the very first CrossCon. I had just declared my love for Nati while at the conference. At the same time, I essentially had my "bags packed" for moving overseas. There we sat listening to David Platt give the challenge to the roaring crowd, "Who will go to the nations?!" he asked. As countless college students stood up in response, there-I-sat, feeling like a coward for thinking that God wanted me to stay put in the States.

Something felt off about moving overseas to New Guinea. I would later realize that for ME to move to PNG was more like Jonah heading for Tarshish instead of Niniveh. I had a cookie-cutter idea of what a missionary was. I imagined PNG fit that mold. But God had specific gifts he wanted me to discover and cultivate. And PNG would not be the place for this (at that time, for me, at least).

The 2013 curtains closed on this note.

Exuberant joy alongside internal turmoil.

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Age 28 (2014)

In April, we released Against the Grain along with a single, The Valley of Vision (couldn't get the copyrights to put it on the album, so enjoy the free download!). In July, Nati and I married in Miami. These milestones would make such an incredible impact on my life!

After my PNG bust, To Every Tribe was gracious enough to let me work in their communications department where I did a bunch of graphic design, photo journalism and even book cover art.

As 2014 ended, the facade of the "ideal missionary" was still heavy on my imagination. I thought that by doing more "artsy" stuff for missions (instead of going overseas), I was sacrificing faithfulness to God. Little did I realize this internal dilemma would govern this 5 year block.

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Age 29 (2015)

I spent lots of time and energy enjoying marriage, leading worship at our church, and making art for To Every Tribe.

In 2015, I experienced much toil wondering if I'd ever be useful to God by not going overseas as I watched many of my closest friends and family make their own overseas move.

On December 31, 2015, I wrote in my journal, "Is Ethnomusicology on the horizon?"

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Age 30 (2016)

I attended my first ever Arts for a Better Future workshop in Dallas. God used this year to plant a fresh vision for what could be in a missions career. 2016 was also the year I completed my fifth Faces of the Nations portrait. See the below video for the Charles Wesley timelapse (please don't share the video below).

This five-year block ended with a double whammy: I became a first-time father to our sweet Ella! Second, my wife had a pretty serious health scare, requiring surgery just a few days after a super traumatic birth. These milestones certainly set the stage for the next 5-years.

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🛠️ EQUIPPED BY

Takeaways from 2012-2016

What I learned about being a Christian.

• Life can, at the same time, bring forth heavy and joyful realities.
• "Disciple" means learner.
• I asked a lot of "What is Sunday for?!" during this season.
• There are other Christians to imitate besides the puritans.
• "We have the bible in one hand and a machete in another" (PNG Pastor's on their hard work ethic)
• When you boil it down, ministry is about people.
• Biblical theology provides the storyline(s) for systematic theology.
• I, once again, learned to depend on Scripture alone as my source for comfort, anchoring me to truth amidst a difficult season.
• Fear the investor more than the harvest (Jason Petty).
• Many friends, mentors, pastors, best friends, companions came and went during this time. Faced with the reality that in missions, it can feel like me, my family, and Jesus. Was faced a lot with the question, "Is Jesus enough?"

What I learned about being an artist/missionary.

• In this second 5-year block, I was faced with the devastation of my missions-idol.
• God broke down a lot of my faulty frameworks about ministry, missions, and arts.
• I learned that I enjoy training others in Scriptures.
• This concept of "Missionary Helper" really opened my eyes to new ways of serving the mission.
• As an artist-missionary helper, my goal is to assist missionaries in their persuasion efforts among other cultures to turn from false gods to the living and true God.
• Revisiting what a pioneer is during this time. Perhaps I was wrong to measure it by doing hard things/extreme circumstances rather than wisdom and strategy.
• Evangelism: imagine everyone as elect, future, missionaries.
• Bad stuff happens when we don't have a mission to do.
• Creating artistic assets will compound for years and even generations to come.

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🎨 WHAT I MADE THIS WEEK

With the weather changing, I was finally able to get outside and try whittling. My sister got me a starter kit for Christmas, so I've been eager to try this. I had TONS of fun making this bird.

What did you make this last week? (email me and I'll share it with in my next newsletter!)

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🚀 SENT WITH

Joel Nash, Small Faith​

-Matt

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