So I have in the works a new site coming soon. It will be my blog/website for my ministry that includes speaking and missions/humanitarian work. Check it out and let me know what you think:
My pal Bush took the pics and Micheal Pool is designing the lay-out…mattsetliffe.com should be up and going soon. In the mean time feel free to check out the progress!
Peace!
I am writing this post from a cramped ER room in Brandon Regional Hospital. We had an awesome weekend up until now…we spent it in H-town. We went there for a freinds wedding, as we got up early this morning to catch our flight back Rach informed me that she had been up all night sick. I soon realized it was pretty bad and she was in alot of pain. So bad that we almost did not get on the flight, but I thought it would be better to get home. Rachel is pretty stubborn when it comes to going to the doc, and she was telling me she thought she needed to go to the hospital. So I arranged for her dad to pick her up at the airport and take her straight to the hospital, while I got the bags and our car. So now we are here at 5pm, and still not sure what is wrong. Rach is having really bad stomach pain, nausua, and some other not fun things like being super dehydrated. The doc seems to think it is either a really bad case of stomach flu or some type of food poisoning. So pray she gets to felling better and we can go home soon.
So today at 5:12pm I, Matt Setliffe turned 28 years old. I don’t know why but that feels older than any of the other twenty-something ages, probably bc/ it is. 28 is like I am on the downhill slope to 30…wow. Anyway, enough lamenting, today was a great day! This morning I was awakened to Ava dumping balloons on me in the bed, just like I did on her B-day. Then we all loaded up and headed to Cracker barrel for B-day breakfast, YUM!!! After that we drove up to Orlando to hang for the the day. We got to spend some time with our good freinds Brannan and Christie Duncan. Brannan is one of the missions pastors from the church I most recently worked at in Houston. I love being around him because he has search a heart for missions and people in general, and he is not all churchy. They were vacationing in Orlando, so we hooked up for lunch. It was great to see them again.
After that we headed to the Mall of Millenia in Orlando. What a name, well it lives up to it! This mall is freakin’ huge and had everything you could imagine. If materialism was an official religion, this place would be Mecca. If anyone knows me they know I love Urban Outfitters. If you know me, you also know I don’t make the kinda money to be droppin’ in that place alot, so when a b-day, Christmas, MLK Day, Presidents day, or arbor day roll around I usually ask for an Urban outfitters gift card. In fact for all you who were wondering what to get me for my b-day, there you have it. So my parents graced me with one and it was burning a hole in my pocket. So we shopped for new threads with our b-day money, ate good food, and had a relaxing day as a family. So tomorrow, back to reality, but with cool new threads!!!
Well some of you may or may not know, but we are in the process of switching our adoption from El Salvador to Ethiopia (for more details on why check out my wife’s blog at www.lifeunabridged.wordpress.com). Basically, the El Salvadorian government is not adopting out and our agency did not know when it would pick back up. They gave evryone in the El Salvador program the chance to switch to another program for free if that is what they wanted to do. Rachel and I were torn, but after much prayer we felt like God was leading us to Ethiopia. We were going to adopt from there eventually, so it seemed like an obvious choice. We are confident and at peace with this decision. If you have helped us in someway on the El Salvador adoption financially or bought one of our t-shirts, don’t worry we will not lose any of that money and it all goes to our Ethiopian adoption! The crazy thing is that if we hurry in getting our new paperwork done we could have a little girl as soon as November or December from Ethiopia. One of the things I am most excited about in all of this is I will be doing alot of ministry in Ethiopia in the coming years in Ethiopia. I can’t wait to take her back to her home country and let her have a chance to love on and minister to her people!
So the past few days we have been struggling with a name. Even though we have not met her and she is probably being born as we speak, it helps us to give her a name now. We did not feel like keeping the name “Bella” was what we should do. So we have been throwing names around alot and we have landed on one. So drumroll please………her name shall be JANE! It took a while to grow on me, but I love it now. It may not seem like the kind of name you would give an Ethiopian girl, but for some reason it seems to fit. We plan on keeping her birth name as a middle name, so that she stays connected to that in some way. So please join us in praying that we can bring Jane home soon. I am going to Ethiopia March 30th-April 5th. I may try and go to the orphanage that she will be and visit with some of the workers while I am there…who knows! Keep posted for more on Jane!
I was thinking today about how recently it seems God had put some key men in my life who are a little farther down the road of faith, life, and ministry. Most of these that I am thinking about are in thier 50’s or 60’s and seem to be extremely on the cutting edge and out of the box. These men have decided that retirement is not an option for them and so they push on for the Glory of God, with the energy of a twenty year old. I am honored that I have people like this to look up to and do ministry with. Some of us young guys in church and ministry are way to emergent and hip for our own good. If we are not careful we can become arrogant and think we are the first to feel passionatly about those who need Christ, about injustice, about poverty, and about God. There are those who are a little futher down the road than us, and they have paved the road for our passion, ideas, and creativity. We would do good to stop and listen everyonce and a while. It does not mean that our generations will always agree or see eye to eye about how things should be done, but we can learn from one another! I am grateful for guys like Jerry and Kelly who have taken me under thier wing, given advise, and been a freind! Who is it in your life that is a little older that God has used in your life to shape you? It could be a family member, co-worker, pastor, mentor….whoever it is how have they made a lasting mark on you? I pray that someday I can be what these men have been to me….
I have hesitated even posting this blog simply for the reason that I would not want these people’s sacrifice to be boiled down to a blog, but I thought it good to tell thier story. It has been said that the blood of the martyrs, is the seed of the church. My prayer is that the gospel is further unleashed through thier sacrifice to go to those who have never heard. Below is a press release on some of my new heros:
Update: Feb 26th, 2008
We are deeply grieved to report the apparent deaths of Muhammad Hadi and Cyd Mizell, Asian Rural Life Development Foundation workers who were kidnapped by gunmen Jan. 26 in Kandahar, Afghanistan.
Although we have no confirmation of their deaths, we have received information over the past few days indicating that our two aid workers have been killed. .
Hadi, a resident of Kandahar, had served as an ARLDF driver for two years. Known by colleagues as a “kind, loving man,” he was the father of five children, ages 6 to 15.
Mizell, 50, a native of Eureka, Calif., dedicated her life to serving the people of Afghanistan. Since 2005 she had lived in Kandahar, where she taught English to high school students and helped women learn income-producing skills such as sewing and embroidery. She also assisted in other ARLDF-related efforts in the area, which include food-for-work projects, irrigation, rehabilitation, health care and restoration projects.
We are thankful for the efforts of local government other authorities during this crisis.
Our prayers are with the families of Hadi and Mizell. We regret that we are unable to respond individually to your calls and e-mails of concern. We will continue to post more information on our Web site (www.arldf.net) as it becomes available.
ARLDF is a humanitarian development organization with offices in the
Philippines and Thailand that works throughout Asia helping to provide a
better quality of life for the poorest of the poor, mainly through community
development projects. ARLDF works in about 12 Asian countries, with most of
its programs focusing on small-scale efforts. In the Kandahar area, ARLDF
personnel work in education and projects that help people learn skills to
better their lives and the lives of their families. Aid efforts in the
region also include food-for-work projects, irrigation, rehabilitation,
health care and restoration projects.
So today was Ava’s 2nd B-day and we spent the whole day makin’ a big deal about it. I was out of town in Houston Friday-Monday so it was great to be back in time for BIRTHDAY MADNESS ( insert voice of the dude that does monster truck rally commercials). So this morning we started the day by waking Ava up by dumping a garbage bag full of balloons on her. She loves balloons and went crazy…then we had a special b-day breakfast muffin. Then all of us including Babaw, Aunty Emmy, and Uncle “whas that” jumped in our “go’s” and headed to the zoo. The Tampa zoo is amazing and has been rated as the top family zoo in the country. I’m not sure what zoo would not classify as a family zoo??? Possibly they have alcoholic monkeys or something at those zoos?? Anyway, it lived up to the title in everyway…below are some pics from our day. Enjoy…
It is hard to believe we have had her for two years now. I can’t imagine life without her though…she brings so much joy, excitement and laughter into our lives! She has also taught me so much about how God sees me as his child, how He loves me, and the patience He has with me.
I thought this was interesting. I actually saw it on another friend’s blog and thought I would throw it up here. The truth is at first it is a little sad, but then you realize how true it is and then it is really sad. Don’t get me wrong I love my country and I am grateful for all that have fought to secure my freedom. I do think sometimes we are extremely selfish and ego-centric. If you are a Christ-follower the reality is that our country is not your first allegiance. Your first allegiance is to a bigger Kingdom and the King that is behind that Kingdom. As believers we should have a world view like nobody’s business. The sad thing is that some of the people who are actually doing stuff around the world are not followers of Christ and out there getting it done. The problem is they cannot carry the life changing message of Christ because they have not been delivered from the domain of darkness like those of us who have embraced Christ. I pray for the church to rise up and go to the hard places. What do you think? Is this image a true statement?
Today was a great day! It was rachel’s b-day and because of that and the fact that I will be out of town all weekend we had a massive family day. It went something like this…
1) Ava wakes us up early screaming “mommmyyy” and singing the abc song.
2) daddy feeds Ava, giving mommy the morning to sleep in.
3) Daddy and Ava go get mommy breakfast at the awesome little coffee shop down the street (much better than bucks)
4) Go to the park…Ava was like all over the place and dancing thw whole time. I think she has some soundtrack in her head!
5) Back home for naps…all of us!!
6) Ava goes to Babaw and Popeye’s (that’s her names of choice) and mommy and daddy go on a real date.
7) Dinner: Moes (YUM), Movie: 27 dresses (predictable), desert: Cheescake factory (double yum)
Pick Ava up and go home….
The movie tonight was pretty lame, but it made me think alot about Ava. About how someday she will be a bride and I will get to walk her down the aisle. Part of me does not want her to grow up at all. The other part of me cannot wait to see the woman she turns into…I will cry alot that day.
This is the first of our three b-days…Ava’s to come next week and then mine the next week. I accept all major credit cards, or just urban outfitter gift cards.
This weekend I had the awesome opportunity to go and speak for Revolution Weekend at FBC Euless. I have spoken for this group before at camp and some other events in the past. I feel like this time though I was able to connect with more students. I love going and doing events like this. I love getting to meet students and see them embrace Christ for the first time.
I also had a blast hanging out with the worship band- Joey Witham and the gang!!! These guys are amazing worship leaders and all around great guys to hang out with. They have a genuine love for God and are more concerned about leading students to worship God, and less concerned about being rock stars. Check out thier stuff at www.myspace.com/joeywitham .
To all at FBC Euless…you guys rock and I hope to come see you again soon.