Paraguay
About
Since 1998, St. Matthew has been involved in mission work in Paraguay. Medical teams and construction teams travel to the South American country each year to help the Methodist Church of Paraguay reach people with the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
Throughout the entire country, you will find church buildings, parsonages, and camps that were built by people from St. Matthew. There are people in that nation whose very lives were saved by medical treatment from St. Matthew’s medical team. There are many today who know Jesus Christ because of the missionaries and mission work that the church supports.
Current Mission
Every year the people of St. Matthew send a team of medical professionals loaded with supplies to care for the local population in one of the poorest locations in Paraguay. Every person who receives medical treatment also has a chance to be prayed over and to receive Jesus. Our team not only shares the gospel but provides bibles to everyone who comes.
These capable doctors, pharmacists, nurses, dentists, optometrists, and chiropractors need your prayers. There are so many hurting people both physically and spiritually, and they want to reach as many people as possible for the Lord!
Guatemala
Saint Matthew is excited to take its second mission trip to Guatemala this summer. Our missionary friends, Carlos & Heidi Fernandez are serving God in Guatemala as God put on their hearts to start a non-for-profit organization “Welcome to My Father’s House.” Their vision was to reach the very poor people in Mayan villages with the gospel of Jesus Christ and to empower these underprivileged people to grow in Christ and flourish in their God-given potential. This organization continues to support the Guatemalan people in evangelism, education, community development, medical, construction, and sports through creating partnerships with work teams from U.S. churches who come to work on the mission field. St. Matthew will be serving these precious people with a medical team and a team who will share the gospel with the youth through songs, stories and activities.
Operation Christmas Child
Samaritan’s Purse/Operation Christmas Child (OCC) is a volunteer organization that reaches millions of children each year with the Gospel of Jesus Christ and a box of goodies to demonstrate God’s, and our, love for them. With your help, packed shoeboxes are shipped overseas to more than a hundred countries. The boxes are distributed at parties where the children each receive a shoebox gift, and they hear the Gospel presented in their own language. Every year, children made decisions to follow Jesus because of your efforts in packing boxes.
Shoebox packing season is October – November. Saint Matthew is a local collection site for Operation Christmas Child and each year our children and youth ministries sponsor a shoebox packing drive. National Collection is the second week November. Help us fill the church gym with shoe boxes to send around the world. Look for more information and shoe boxes for you to fill towards the end of October and the beginning of November each year.
If you would like more information about this ministry, contact the church office during those months or you can contact Tom Belter (618-960-7331).
For more on how Samaritan’s Purse uses and distributes the shoe boxes visit their website here.
Love Packages
Love Packages collects Bible donations as well as donations of Christian books, Sunday School materials, and more from people and publishers across the U.S. and ship it all over the world. They ship over 1,500 tons of recycled gospel literature to the mission field every year. St. Matthew has donation bins near the entrance to the Vine Café (Fellowship Hall) for you to drop any donations. For more information, please call Bob Bruss (618-910-8345).
Other Global mission We Support
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The Epworth Project
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Midwest Mission
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The Bridge Teen Center
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Victorious Children’s Home
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Welcome to My Father’s House