Tell us a bit about yourself
My name’s Matt, and I’m finishing up my grad studies in civil engineering in a week or two. Super excited to wrap up the academic portion of my life and get out there ahaha. I’m a raging extrovert and love to meet anyone and everyone. Nothing fills me with more life than big rowdy gatherings with loved ones, whether at karaoke nights or potlucks.
When I (must) slow down, I like to hermit with my guitar, get lost in a bookstore, and indulge in my nerdy obsessions.
Been a Christian for most of my life and have been blessed to have some amazing people walk with me and encourage me in my faith and missional journey. Been a joy to have gone to school at UofT and be connected to the Missions Hub early on as well as the amazing work being done there. MH was key in helping me discern about the missional heart that God had been preparing me for!
What was a favourite moment or memory of your summer?
Early on in the summer, God used some pretty coincidental and divine ways to send me and a couple church friends to Vancouver to learn from a pastor and church movement who offered to take us in and show us how God was at work on the other side of the country. We were expecting it to be a more formal type of a visit but were surprised when the pastor and church leaders then proceeded to speak into our lives. They helped us each discern deeper about the season of life God had called us to and the people that God wanted to form us into, with the logic that our leadership of churches in Toronto would benefit more from our personal development rather than just a series of workshops. We left Vancouver feeling refreshed, not just from the moments of sightseeing and rest we had, but more so from the prayer, prophecy, and blessing we received from some really great role models.
What did it look like for you to live missionally this summer? How do you practically practice this?
The microchurch that I am a part of, Global Community, has regular rhythms of missions every week, in which we engage with international students through outreach and personal hangouts. God has been using my experiences with church to learn so much about cross-cultural missions, all starting here at home. Through the outreach events it’s been such a pleasure to throw myself into the different cultures present and meet all our international friends while getting to show and exemplify God’s love and community along with my church, and it’s through the personal hangout times that we plan where we get to really dig deep and learn more about their backgrounds, worldviews, and get to share the gospel with them.
How have you seen God at work this summer in your life / community / this world?
In church, I’ve seen God work through the way that He opens the hearts of our international student friends to hear the gospel. This past summer we’ve been able to welcome 1 or 2 of our friends into our church family as new believers, and after hearing the stories of how God led them through life and eventually to hearing the good news, I’ve been really encouraged and inspired. In addition, seeing the way that all the other international student friends are so open to listening and asking questions shows me that indeed the harvest is plentiful, just as God says.
In my own life, God has been using a couple different ways to teach me new things that were all kind of tied together in crazy ways. I’ve seen Him use everything from a car license plate to indicate what day to fly out to Vancouver, to using me breaking my arm in an arm wrestle as prophecy in my life. In each of these circumstances, trusting God has led to unexpected blessing and healing, for which I am very grateful.
As summer comes to an end, what are you hopeful for moving forward?
Really looking forward to the next semester, where I will be spending 5 months in Southeast Asia for a mission/intern trip where I’ll be doing civil engineering work alongside getting involved in ongoing ministry there. I’m grateful for the opportunity that God has given me to get exposure and a bit of experience in overseas mission, and I hope to learn so much about what missions in my life might entail, everything from learning a new culture to discerning what value I can bring to a context.
