Here are some highlights from our recent progress on the house. We have the footings poured! We praise God for each step.
We want to especially thank all who helped: Jeff Robinson, Chad Hollopeter, Andrew Elliot, Nathaniel McRae and John Mathias.
Hello loved ones ~
We are thankful to be approaching spring! We had about a week that felt like spring before the giant storm with record-breaking snowfall! Now we’re anxious for it all to melt so that we can get to work on the house!
For those who maybe didn’t know, we have been hoping and planning to build a new home on the property God blessed us with about two years ago. We began digging last summer and collecting some materials. We’ve been getting excited about deals on doors, windows, siding, shingles, and more, but we’re about to get down to the real work! Chuck will soon be finalizing the house plan and getting the Insulated Concrete Forms that we will use for the exterior walls! This is the main thing on the horizon for spring / summer, but in the meantime…
We’ll finish up this school year at Frontier School of the Bible. It’s been a good year with Chuck teaching more missions classes, Connie teaching English and Christian Women’s Practices, Connie directing the FSB Choir and Drama team, and as a family hosting lots of students for Indian food nights and game nights (times when it has been abundantly obvious that we need a bigger space)!
We’ll wrap up our own year of homeschooling a 10th-grader, 7th-grader, and two 4th-graders!
Chuck will complete his first year as director at Tentmaker’s Bible Mission.
AND we’ll get to spend more time with family as Chuck’s brother (with his wife and four daughters) will be moving here to LaGrange!
Also, this summer, we will do just a little traveling. Chuck is the speaker for two weeks at a Bible camp in Colorado in July. It might be hard to step away, but by that time we may need a break from working on the house anyway!
We would appreciate your prayers for the ongoing ministry here as well as for our new house project. It’s already been amazing to see God provide and we’re trusting Him as we move forward to attempt each next step while staying free of debt. And just a note – we love input (as this is all new to us), so if you have interest in or experience with home-building, we’d love to hear your advice!
Thank you for praying with us, and for your support of us in every way! As always, write or call with any questions and also to share with us about your lives, and ministries, and prayer needs!
In Christ ~ chuck, connie and family
Please pray for…
Praise God along with us for…
Hello loved ones!
Thanks for your prayers regarding the new property!! We closed on it last week, and we are so thankful for this provision. Two lots adjacent to our current property is a huge blessing! We will update as plans progress and we figure out a plan for this new place.
Also, thank you to all those who helped with expenses of sending ALL FOUR kids to camp this summer. It’s hard to believe the twins are “camp age.” They all had a great time at Pioneer Bible Camp.
We are currently busy prepping for the coming school year. Homeschool for our kiddos is always interesting. This year we venture into new territory… High School! Also, we’re always revamping/improving our material for our classes at Frontier School of the Bible. Chuck will teach OT Survey this semester, and I will be teaching English.
Another new endeavor at FSB is (possibly) leading a small group choir. Since the choir director moved away to pastor a church a few years ago, the school hasn’t had a music group to visit churches and share about FSB. I’ve been asked to head it up, providing we have student interest. I’m excited for the opportunity. It will be a challenge, but I look forward to working more closely with a small group of students, and giving them a place to use their gifts!
Chuck continues his weekly business meetings in Cheyenne, reaching out to many within that group. It has been a great venue for making connections and having great conversations. (Though it has left him with more website requests than he can take on!) There are others here in LaGrange we have a desire to minister to, and we’d love prayer for these “casual” friendships to blossom into solid relationships where God could really use us in the lives of others.
Chuck is busy at Tentmaker’s Bible Mission with his role as assistant director. He’s been helping to facilitate some short term missions trips for several who are exploring the mission field right now. The International Training Program is also still in the works. Please do pray for the development of this program to be completed as we foresee it being a great tool for TBM missionaries all over the world! He’s getting a better picture of what being executive director will look like including visiting churches that support TBM missionaries, and working with missionaries facing different challenges in their fields.
Finally, since reading, studying, and finding excellent resources is such a part of Chuck’s life and work… I thought it would be fun to add to our updates some recommended reading or resource that we have appreciated. It could be a classic, or something we’re currently using, or have recently discovered! This time we want to share the book…
This is an excellent Bible study tool that puts the big picture of Scripture into sharp focus. Excellent to use with someone with little/incomplete Bible knowledge who needs to see how it all points to Christ! You can download a free copy at: free.goodseed.com/btn
Thanks for the love and support. We are so blessed by your faithfulness and for the knowledge that we have you “in our corner.” God bless you as you enjoy the rest of your summer!
~ Connie (for The Mathias Six)
Hello Dear Ones ~
We wanted to send a quick note to update you on a recent development. As many of you know, we’ve been praying about long-term housing arrangements since the decision to stay in LaGrange. We fixed up and moved into a single-wide trailer home almost two years ago. Since that move, we’ve actually been praying about the possibility of acquiring the lot next door.
This week the owner spoke to us and quoted us a great price! We have been awed by this specific answer to prayer! It’s been amazing to see how God continues to provide!
As this is new territory (literally and figuratively) for us, we would love prayers for wisdom in all the decisions. Of course there are also financial needs involved, and we’re hoping / praying / dreaming that some of you who are skilled in various ways related to building a home might like to partner with us at some point, to visit the lovely LaGrange, and be part of the process!
We are hoping to move ahead and purchase this property that has a small, old house on it. We’ll have some decisions to make regarding whether to put a huge amount of work into renovating this old home, or possibly to tear it down and make use of just the basement to build on!
GOD IS SO GOOD!
Hello all!
Just a quick update on Mathias life so far in 2019 and a look ahead at the next couple months. We’ve survived the crazy March blizzard! The roads are mostly cleared and open after three days with massive drifting and terrible conditions. We were able to wait it out at home in comfort!
Thankfully, the storm hit between road trips for us! We just returned from a brief trip to Frisco, CO where we visited Rocky Mountain Bible Church and celebrated our 19th (!) anniversary. Next week our family heads to Montana. In Helena, our oldest – Anjali – has a speech and debate competition. Then, we will spend a couple days in Bozeman visiting Montana Bible College. Chuck is going to speak in chapel, and share with the students about Tentmaker’s Bible Mission.
More on Tentmaker’s: TBM is part of the Association of North American Missions, so our family is traveling to the ANAM conference in New Mexico in April. Chuck will teach a class on “Media and Ministry.” Being in NM will allow us a chance to visit some family as well, so we’re definitely looking forward to the April trip.
Frontier School of the Bible graduation is early May, so Chuck is wrapping up his NT Survey class. Hard to believe we’re coming to an end of our fourth year teaching at FSB! This year, we’ve especially enjoyed a Wednesday Bible study with a group of students as well as quite a bit of one-on-one mentoring.
Thanks once again for your prayers and support. Chuck will update soon on the progress for the training program he’s developing for TBM missionaries. We’d appreciate your prayers for that work, as well as for all our travels in the coming weeks.
Hello all ~
We want to thank you again for your prayers for us this summer! It has been a lot of driving back and forth from LaGrange to Utah / Idaho. After being able to put a new engine in our Suburban (thanks to some generous supporters), the car has been running well and we’re SO GLAD it has been getting us everywhere we’ve needed to go this summer.
We’ve been thankful for the opportunity to work in VBS, time to visit family, for the chance to say goodbye and be there for my Aunt Joy’s funeral, for the privilege of visiting our Utah and Idaho church families, and various other ministries. We’ve had visits from old friends, family camping adventures, our older girls each got to attend a week a Pioneer Bible camp, and we’ve entered the strange new world of orthodontics as our oldest (Anjali) had braces put on in July!
We’ve been encouraged as we visit with people who have a like-minded passion for the gospel and passion to see the transforming truth of the gospel reach into dark places. As Chuck moves into a new role with Tentmakers Bible Misison as Assistant Director, it’s been especially neat to start getting to know more TBM missionaries and become familiar with what they do. Chuck is still working on the International Training Program for TBM, and he plans to have the first section of the program ready for use in several different fields within a few months.
As we near the end of the summer, we’re gearing up for the new school year. We’ll have all four kids back to homeschooling this year – a great challenge and a great blessing! Our homeschool will kick off the same week as Frontier School of the Bible. Chuck and I will both be teaching again this fall semester. Please pray for Chuck’s Old Testament Survey class (Freshmen) and my English class (Juniors). Also pray for us as we have opportunities to mentor students as we host prayer groups, have them in our home, and as Chuck works with a number of students to oversee chapel music ministry.
We would love to hear from you about your summer. Let us know anything we can pray about for you and your family. Remember, too, to send our way any students (high school age and beyond) who might be interested in a Bible education. Our campus survey weekend called Frontier Focus is September 27-29.
Thank you for your ever-faithful love and support. We’re so grateful for all the opportunities God gives to serve Him, and so thankful to partner with you. What a great God! May he bless and keep you!
~ Connie (for Chuck, Anjali, Asha, Elijah, and Diya)
Prayer Requests:
– for Anjali who will have oral surgery in August for impacted canines – for comfort for her and for successful surgery and orthodontic treatment
– for Fall classes to get off to a great start
– for relationships with FSB students – opportunities to encourage and mentor singles and married students
The past few weeks have been exciting as we look to our future ministry with Tentmakers Bible Mission.
During our TBM board meeting at the beginning of May, I was surprised by a request from the board. They asked me to step into the position of Assistant Director with the intention of transitioning into the role of Executive Director in three years. That will allow me to finish the training resources I am working on now. I am also excited to see how God will grow and develop me during this time, preparing me for this next step in ministry.
Connie and I strongly feel God’s leading to accept the board’s proposal for me to become Assistant Director. We are humbled that a group of men we so deeply respect would see potential for me to take such a role in the mission.
Connie and I are so grateful for this opportunity and will seek to walk worthy of His calling. Please pray with us as we plan and prepare for this new task before us!
chuck and family
Download a letter from Ron Thompson and Charlie Hornik
The latest picture of our TBM board members. I am excited to serve with such incredible, godly men. I am confident of the future of TBM with an amazing board that spans multiple generations.
Hello from Windy Wyoming. So much has happened already in 2018. Here is a quick rundown of what is going on and (more importantly) ways you can pray for us.
Life at Frontier rarely slows down. It is always exciting. In February we had our Spring Mission Conference. Since then, I’ve been meeting with various students who are participating in Spring Break Mission trips. My New Testament Survey class has gone really well. I am very impressed with this group of Freshman students. We’ve had fun looking at New Testament literature and geography. We’ve also spent a lot of time singing. This year I have three songs: the Chronology of Acts (to the tune of Gilligan’s Island), the Number of Chapters in each book (to the tune of the Addam’s Family), and the NT Book Summaries (to the tune of Happy Days). Needless to say, I’ve had fun.
Connie has also been busy. She had the opportunity to speak at the student wives meeting. She also leads a weekly prayer group and meets with students numerous times during the week, working with students who have specifically approached her for discipleship.
This past month we became members of LaGrange Bible Church. Being a part of this fellowship has been a blessing to our whole family. We’ve had the privilege of leading worship and I am currently working on redesigning their website (please pray that I can wrap it up soon).
Much of Connie’s day is spent teaching. This past year she has been teaching a weekly reading and English class for many of the homeschool kids in town. There are about 14 young people, ages 11-15. They call themselves the “Inklings” in honor of the influential authors (including C.S. Lewis and Tolkien) who gathered under the same name.
Connie, Anjali and Asha also had the opportunity to take a field trip to Gilette, Wyoming where they attended a speech and debate competition for the NCFCA. This time they were observers. Next year they will hopefully participate.
We also had the joy of having Connie’s Uncle Larry and Aunt Joy with us for a few days. The video of Larry singing the Super Chicken theme song is a taste of how much fun we had.
Most of my time has been spent working on our Tentmakers International Bible Training project. It is incredibly exciting, and a bit overwhelming. If you want to know more about the project you can check out our newly updated website TrainingChurchPlanters.com.
The picture is of my office. The flags are of the five countries (on five continents) where we want to start church planter training programs.
Thank you for your faithful prayers. Here is a short list of things we hope you will pray for.
Hope you all have a blessed Christmas and a Happy New Year. May the greatest blessing of God’s presence be seen in every moment of 2018!
Here are some pictures from our Christmases in India over the years.
