Cleveland Update #1

Greetings from Cleveland,

We have been joyfully serving in Cleveland for 2 months, and we are excited to share with you everything that has been happening! Because of your support, Colin and Marianne have both been able to work part-time for the church! This has allowed them to open their home several times a week. They are currently hosting a weekly staff meeting and a community group.

Colin was ordained, and is now officially a pastor and elder at Gateway Church Old Brooklyn! He has begun serving the church by not only leading a small group each week, but also by creating and providing a training program for the other small group leaders. Colin has also come alongside Tony and Mike to help with leadership and vision. Since joining the elder team, Colin has created a staff and elder training plan, is leading the team through that training, and is working with Tony to map out the current sermon series.

Marianne was brought on staff as children's minister. In addition to providing administrative oversight to Kids Time, she has begun writing curriculum for Sunday morning. We would like our children's curriculum to match what is being taught in the Sunday morning service. Our hope is that this will equip parents to talk about the Bible with their kids. Marianne has also begun meeting regularly with a new believer, Dwana, to study the Bible. Dwana will be baptized and become a member of Gateway on October 25!

We also wanted to share some praises and prayer requests from Gateway Church Old Brooklyn and the Mattoon's.

Praises:
Gateway recently brought Bill Bader on staff as music minister!
Gateway will have its first baptism service on October 25
We have had 2 successful youth nights. Our October youth night had 14 kids!
We are thankful that Colin was able to find a part -time job as a hospice Chaplin.

Prayer Requests:
The church asks that you pray for our upcoming fall festival on October 24
Pray for Colin as he prepares to preach on October 25
Pray for Marianne as she makes plans to reach out to the community at Estabrook Rec Center.

Thank you for your continued prayers and support as we serve in Cleveland. Be on the look out for an email that will provide you with instructions on how to subscribe to our monthly newsletter through mailchimp.

Colin and Marianne Mattoon

We are moving to Cleveland!!!

Dear Friends,

We have big news. We are moving to Cleveland! We are very excited to announce that Colin has been asked to become a Pastor at Gateway Church – Old Brooklyn. 

Gateway is a church that was planted by Tony Loseto, a former member of Crossing Church, where we have been members for the last four years. Gateway began by meeting in a home in January 2014 and has been holding services in a local high school since January 2015. You can learn more here: http://gatewaychurcholdbrooklyn.com/

Here’s why we are excited about this opportunity and want to be a part of this church:

First, the church needs help in areas we are able and gifted to help. Tony is currently the only pastor and only staff member. The opportunities to reach people with the good news of Jesus are far beyond what one person can do. Colin will be able to serve as a co-pastor who does all of what a Pastor does including preaching, shepherding, counseling, discipling, outreach and evangelism, and leading the church. Marianne will also be able to serve by helping plan and execute outreach programs (especially to youth and families at the local recreation center), discipling women, and helping with children’s ministry. God shows in His word that ministry is a team sport, not an individual work. Jesus sent out the disciples two by two, the apostles worked in teams with other apostles and disciples, and the church is to be governed by a plurality of elders. We want to use our gifts to serve Gateway Church, support Tony and his wife, Beth, and help provide stability for the church that can only be found through having a team of leaders.

Second, the need is overwhelming. Gateway is located in the Old Brooklyn neighborhood which is five miles south of downtown Cleveland and home to 32,000 people. It is a working class community that is middle to lower income and has a good mix of older adults, younger couples, and families. In this neighborhood, there are not strong churches that believe and preach the Gospel. A lot of people have little or no access to biblical teaching and the gospel of Jesus Church. Simply put, this is a community that needs to hear the good news of Jesus and is not being reached by other churches.

Third, we want to help the church do more of what’s already happening. Pastor Tony and the members of the church are already reaching the community and seeing a great response. Last year, four volunteers from the church put on a block party at the rec center and over 500 people from the neighborhood showed up. The church has seen more successful events since then, and while this is extremely encouraging, more ministers are needed to serve to reach the people who are showing up at this type of event and others. As Jesus said, the harvest is plentiful but the laborers are few. We want to be a part of what God is doing in Cleveland so more people come to know, love, and worship Him.

So what’s next? Our hope is to move to Cleveland later in the summer. To make this happen we will be meeting with, calling, and asking individuals to consider how they can partner with us in this ministry. We are currently working to raise financial support, so we can work at least half-time for Gateway Church. We need individuals to commit to partner with us through prayer, through financial support, and for some through coming to serve with us in Cleveland on a short-term team or permanently. 

Will you consider partnering with us in each of these ways to bring the good news of Jesus to Old Brooklyn and its surrounding neighborhoods in Cleveland?

If so, please contact Colin at Mattoon.Colin@gmail.com or at 971-285-7881. You can also contact Marianne at Marianne.Mattoon@gmail.com or 503-926-2882

Thanks,

Colin and Marianne Mattoon

PS - We are also currently looking for jobs. If you have any leads or contacts there, please share them! 

Welcome Back

Well it has been quite a while since I last blogged here. A lot happened since I last posted. My wife had a liver transplant. She spent six months recovering from that. I was named Director of the Connect Ministry at Crossing Church and am also leading a community group, a coach to three other group leaders, and am counseling individuals in the church. My wife is also running the Children's Ministry and is doing great health-wise. So yes, its fair to say a lot has happened.

If you want to read the latest blog I wrote you can find it HERE, or read it in the text posted below. The latest blog I wrote was entitled 4 Things Not to Say To Hurting People. It was originally posted on the Biblical Counseling Coalition. Give it a read and share your thoughts!

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If you are a Christian who has faced suffering in your life, then you have probably encountered a fellow Christian who wanted to provide comfort and help to you.

Some of them were probably helpful, while others…not so much.

Most people, including myself, have said things that are unhelpful and have made things worse for brothers and sisters who are suffering.

Here are 4 things not to say to people who are hurting…

# 1: Good things through impersonal forms of communication.

Sufferers often struggle with feeling isolated and alone. One of their biggest needs is to have people reach out and pursue relationship with them. A common mistake among younger people is the tendency to reach out in the least personal way possible. Rather than calling and having a conversation, they text. Rather than having face-to-face conversations or visiting people in their homes, they send Facebook messages. These methods of communication are good, but often aren’t sufficient by themselves to comfort hurting people.

Individuals suffering with chronic illnesses, and other situations that produce prolonged suffering, are most likely to feel this isolation. This was true for my wife after she had a liver transplant. While she appreciated people who texted, she still struggled with feeling disconnected from community. The less personal the communication the less help you are to the hurting person who feels isolated or alone.

Instead, try doing this: Have face-to-face conversations and visit hurting people in their homes. Texting and other impersonal forms of communication are not bad, but they are insufficient by themselves to care for the hurting person. People need to intentionally communicate with sufferers in the most personal forms of communication even if this is difficult and inconvenient for them.

# 2: Untimely problem solving statements.

Attempting to help a person solve their problems can be a wise and loving thing to do. If a hurting person wants someone to help them problem solve, offering advice on how to fix things can be just what they need. However, if we try to fix the problems of a hurting person who does not desire help and has not asked for it, then our efforts will usually make things worse not better. Let me be clear, problem solving is not always a bad thing, but it is almost always unhelpful if it’s not what the hurting person wants to talk about in that particular conversation.

Another reason to avoid jumping into problem solving is that it can distract you from the work of giving gospel-centered encouragement. On many occasions, I have been guilty of jumping into advice giving and problem solving, while failing to listen well and speak gospel-centered encouragement to someone who was hurting. I suspect I am not the only person who has struggled in this way. Hurting people often need us to remind them of the hope of the gospel more than they need us to be a problem solver. We can give gospel hope by pointing hurting people to the cross and the Savior who suffered to save them. Remind them of the guaranteed promises of God’s Word. Remind them they can trust God in their suffering because they have the same favor, love and perfect standing before God the Father that Jesus has because they are in Christ. Remind them of who God is in the midst of their uncertainties, questions and doubts. To do this well requires us to carefully listen before we speak. Don’t let your desire to problem solve distract you from this work of Gospel encouragement.

Instead, try saying this: “I am sorry brother/sister. I want to be here for you and support you. Do you want to talk about what you are feeling/ thinking right now or talk about some ways to try and make things better?” You will not know what the hurting person needs and wants in your conversation unless you ask them. Trying to problem solve the issues surrounding the hurt another person is experiencing should be avoided unless the person says he or she wants this or you ask the person’s permission to share your advice first. Don’t spend so much time, effort and energy focusing on problem solving that you short change the need to give gospel-centered encouragement to the hurting person. Ask, “Brother/sister, things sound really tough for you. Can I tell you why Jesus gives me hope for you in this situation?”

# 3: Saying either nothing to them about their suffering or nothing at all.

It’s hard to know what to say to sufferers. People who haven’t gone through significant suffering or death yet may feel especially uncomfortable, overwhelmed and dumbfounded in the face of someone else’s suffering. Because of this, some people find that the easiest thing for them to do is avoid talking about the problem. They talk to the hurting person about sports, current events, TV shows and a million other things, but they don’t talk about the person’s suffering. Some people’s discomfort goes further and leads them to completely avoid talking to a hurting person.

This may be the most hurtful response to someone who is suffering. Don’t do this!

Instead, try saying this: “How are you doing with (whatever their situation is)?” or “Friend, I care about you and am sorry, and I honestly have no idea what to say to you right now. I care about you a lot though.” If you are nervous or at a loss for what to say, just admit it. It shows love and concern in a way that will be meaningful to the hurting person.

# 4: “I know what you are going through.”

People who say this usually have their hearts in the right place. They don’t want the other person to feel alone and say this to show that they understand. But here’s the problem: The person who says this actually doesn’t know what the other person is going through. The same experience, such as the death of a grandparent, is different for every person because each person is different, the circumstances are different and the relationship is different. Saying this doesn’t help the hurting person. In fact, it often makes it worse.

Instead, try saying this, “I don’t know exactly what you are going through, but it seems painful, sad, etc., and I am sorry.” Often the most helpful thing that sufferers can hear is that you want to be present for them and to listen. Hurting people need to hear “I care about you and I am here to talk or just be with you.”

Ministering to those who are hurting can be tough. But, with God’s grace and some practical wisdom, God can use us to make a real difference in someone’s life.

5 Great Truths from Romans 8:25-39 - Part 2

This is part two of five in a series of posts called "5 Great Truths from Romans 8:25-39".

Q2- How will He (God the Father) not also with Him (Jesus) graciously give us all things? (v32)

A2- God will supply everything we need, even when all seems lost.

Why: We can know and trust this is true because "God did not spare his own son but gave him up for us all". The Lord chose to give the thing He loved most, and which cost Him most dearly, because He loved us. If God the Father chose to give the thing he loved most we can also trust he will give us all other things because  of His grace. Imagine your earthly Father was rich and promised to pay for your entire tuition at school. When the time came he joyfully payed your entire semester's worth of tuition. Now you have informed him of your need to purchase your books (which he has also happily promised to buy). Would you be sane or crazy to doubt He would pay for the books? You would be crazy because you know he delights to do this, has the means to do this, and has already shown his faithfulness to pay a far greater bill. Then how insane are we to doubt our heavenly Fathers promise to provide all we need! We know He is Lord of all (meaning he literally controls everything), has amazing and exceeding love (He killed His own Son on our behalf), and has shown his constant faithfulness to provide for us every day (everything we need including what we take for granted like breath, food, maintaining every cell and organ in our body, etc). He can be trusted to give us all things we need, no matter what our situation is, because of his grace (his complete and total love for us) which we have because of Jesus' perfect record being given to us. This is certain not because of anything you do, but because of Jesus' perfect obedience (which God now views us with so we are seen as perfectly obedient) and God's faithfulness.

5 Great Truths from Romans 8:25-39 - Part 1

I was recently listening to a John Piper sermon on Romans 8 that was helpful in explaining Paul's argument in the chapter. In Romans 8:25-39 Paul asks five questions and gives five answers that are essential for Christians to understand. Piper gives them as an overview in his sermon "Nothing Can Separate Us from the Love of Christ" but taking time to work out the implications of each question will bring joy to your soul and lead you to praise God. Today we will look at Question 1, and we will look at each subsequent question in the coming days.

Q1- If God is for us who can be against us? (see 8:31)

A1- No one can be against us because God is for us!

Why: God is for you, he loves you, and his favor is upon you. This is true not because of anything you have done, or who you are, but only because the Father's love and favor of Jesus is now upon you. When God looks at you He does not see your sin or record of failures and wrongs, but He sees Christ's perfect obedience and righteousness. All of this is true because Jesus died for us on the cross to take the penalty of our sins and give us his perfect record of obedience that God's love, favor, and blessing would be given to us. So in light of this we need to see that no matter what we face, whether people or circumstances against us, none of them will be successful. Nothing and no one can succeed in being against us because God is for us. The God who made all people, is all powerful, is in control of all things, is all wise and all powerful, is for you and wants what is best for you. Nothing and no one is more powerful than He is. No one and no thing will overcome his love and blessing for you because He is more powerful than they are and refuses to let their desire to harm you succeed. Just as a good and loving Father refuses to let anything in his power and control harm his young child, so our heavenly Father refuses to let anything in his power and control (which is everything) harm you. This does not mean you will never suffer, as scripture shows, but it does mean that in suffering God is for you and will use it for your good because He is for your good, as we will see in v 35-38.

Important Update on Marianne's Health and Our Future

(We wrote this letter to be read to our church but also wanted to share it with our other friends as it explains Marianne's current health update and what is in our future).

Dear Friends,

As you probably know, Marianne became ill in January 2011 and has been sick since then. She has been diagnosed with autoimmune hepatitis and autoimmune cholangitis, two different liver diseases. These diseases are autoimmune, meaning the immune system is attacking the body. Over the last two years different teams of doctors have treated her for these diseases. The latest group of doctors we have seen are what we call, the super-specialists. They are the specialists that the other specialists turn to when the patient is a hard case and the doctor does not know what to do. They have been great doctors who know their stuff and obviously care about us personally, which we have been very thankful for.

The super-specialists admitted her to the hospital on April 1^st because of complications from her medications and concerns for Marianne’s liver health as her liver enzymes and bilirubin were at high, unhealthy levels. As every day passed in the hospital, more tests were done and the concern of the doctors grew. Each day produced fewer answers, more questions, and more confusion among the doctors. After staying in the hospital 11 days, Marianne has shown very little improvement, and the docs told us they were discharging Marianne because nothing they were doing was helping her. They also gave us a new diagnosis: vanishing bile duct syndrome. This is a disease where the liver’s bile ducts vanish over time for unknown reasons. The doctors described Marianne’s liver as a “clinical anomaly,” as apparently no one has ever had vanishing bile duct syndrome along with autoimmune hepatitis and autoimmune cholangitis. They told us, “You are not supposed to have these diseases together. No one ever has these together.” The doctors explained that they had sent some tests to another expert for a consultation to get another opinion. Throughout this stay in the hospital, we continued to pray for healing, as we have for the last two years. We prayed for healing through the doctors and that God heal miraculously. At this point it seems clear that God has answered our prayers, but has answered them with a "No." Vanishing bile duct syndrome is not something medicine can fix. Marianne will have to have a liver transplant.

Our plan is to meet with the super-specialists in a couple weeks to review the final results from some other tests. After that we will meet with the transplant team at Jewish Hospital here in Louisville.  After that meeting, they will put Marianne on the list for a liver transplant. Since we have not yet met with the team there is a lot we do not know, but we do know some information from things the docs and Colin’s coworkers have said. For those of you who are not aware, God in His providence, has Colin working at Kentucky Organ Donor Affiliates, which is the nonprofit organization that handles organ procurement and distribution in Kentucky.

HERE IS THE GOOD NEWS WE KNOW RIGHT NOW:

•       Marianne does not have cirrhosis, which means her liver is functioning well. We are hopeful her liver will continue to work until we need a transplant.

•       Marianne has very high bilirubin (one of the liver products), which means she will likely have a high transplant score. Having a higher transplant score means you are more likely to get a transplant sooner.

•       The US is split into several transplant districts, and we live in one of the best districts in the country if you need a liver. When Steve Jobs needed a liver transplant he didn’t get it in California where he lived, he came to Memphis which is in our district because the wait was shorter.

•       We also have pretty good insurance through Marianne’s work, which we are thankful for. We expect to incur major expenses, but insurance will likely pay for a lot of the bills.

•       Liver transplant recipients can make a full recovery and live a long, normal, and healthy life.

•       Jewish Hospital has excellent transplant doctors who are experts in their field. These doctors are better experts than you may expect in a smaller city like Louisville. Additionally, the number of transplants done at Jewish is low compared to other transplant centers, which means we will get more individualized attention than we probably would receive at a larger transplant hospital in a bigger city.

•       Overall, Marianne is in pretty good health for someone needing a transplant. She is young, has a good health history other than the liver disease, and her diseases are weird and uncommon. All of this put together means she has a very good chance of getting a new liver.

HERE IS THE NOT SO GOOD NEWS:

•       There are over 122,000 people waiting for an organ transplant in America right now. That’s more folks than University of Louisville’s Cardinal Stadium and the University of Oregon’s Autzen Stadium hold COMBINED. A lot of them will die before they get a transplant. While we are pretty confident that Marianne will receive a liver before getting to the point that her life is threatened, the fact is a transplant is not certain.

•       Additionally, once we receive a transplant Marianne could reject the new liver. About 10-15% of recipients reject the new organ. This would mean we would need a second transplant. 

•       There is also the chance Marianne’s disease could come back and attack her new liver. Some patients do not have a reoccurrence of their disease and others do, there is no way to know what will happen.

•       On average a liver transplant costs a little over half a million dollars ($500,000). Again, we have good insurance but we also know we will incur a lot of bills in this process.

HOW ARE WE HANDLING THIS NEWS?

This is obviously not the news we had hoped for or the outcome we had prayed for. Despite this, God has been gracious. We do have moments of deep sadness and depression. Most of the time though we are handling it well and feeling pretty normal. We have hope in God in the midst of our suffering. We trust that God is merciful, loving, wise, and in control as scripture tells us. We have trust in God’s promises and in the Gospel as scripture tells us. We also know Job’s whole family died, Jesus suffered and died on the cross to save us from our sins, and no one is exempt from suffering. Things may not turn out the way we want. Healing may not happen even if she does receive a transplant. But we both know that this doesn’t change who God is and what He has promised. We all will die, and whether that is in 1 year or 50 years, we know that our hope is in the new life God has given us through the resurrection of Jesus from the dead.

We don’t want to make our suffering seem simple or easy because it certainly is not. We did not plan for life to turn out like this or hope to have this happen. No one sits back making plans, goals, and dreams and then decides “I really want to have a chronic disease and get an organ transplant." But in the pain and suffering we do have hope in Jesus. We don’t know all the ways this will affect our life and ministry, but we do know that God will bring good out of this suffering. He will use this to make us more holy and bring us closer to him and help us minister to others. While there are still times of darkness, depression, and despair as we react to this news we know we can hope in God. This suffering is more than we can handle (like Paul faced in 2 Corinthians 1), but God will be sufficient for us and give us the grace we need to face the struggles we face.

HOW CAN YOU HELP?

THE FIRST THING you can do is pray. 

You can pray for wisdom, insight, and discernment for the doctors, nurses, and all who take care of Marianne. You can pray for a transplant and for people to sign up for the organ donor registry. You can encourage every nurse you know to take referring potential organ donors seriously, because it really can save someone’s life. Pray for Colin’s coworkers at Kentucky Organ Donor Affiliates and other organ procurement organizations. You can also pray for healing.

But let us encourage you to see these things as the second priority for your prayers. The first priority in your prayers for us needs to be for our spiritual needs. Right now our biggest need is to live in light of 2 Corinthians 12. This is the passage where Paul says he prayed three times to have the thorn in his flesh removed and God said "no." In this passage we see that though God has said no to giving us healing, God is saying yes to giving us Himself. Our spiritual need is to see God’s grace is all we need and that He is sufficient for us in whatever suffering and sorrows we face during this process of having a liver transplant. We need you to pray that we could trust that His power is most greatly shown in weakness. We would prefer Jesus display his power in our lives through healing, restoration, and deliverance, rather than through sustaining us in total dependence, weakness, and brokenness. However, at this point, we believe Jesus wants to show His power in our life not by healing from this illness but by sustaining and satisfying us as we go through the process of a transplant. We cling to the hope that Jesus will make us content when we don’t have what we need, joyful when we are overcome with sadness, and rest in the midst of exhaustion. Pray that we would meet, know, and commune with God more deeply in this season of suffering than we ever have before. Pray we would desire and be satisfied with God’s presence more than we desire to be satisfied with healing.

We need your prayers that we would respond to our suffering with belief in the truth and rejecting Satan’s lies.

As this process goes on we will be attacked by Satan who will attempt to destroy our faith. Satan will attempt to leads us to turn away from God in resentment, anger, and hopelessness. God intends to use this process of suffering to strengthen us as we turn toward Him in dependence. Pray that we would respond rightly. Pray this for Marianne’s family and for Colin’s family as well as they also struggle on this journey.

The second thing you can do to help us is to be good listeners and speakers in our journey. 

We need you to be present, to listen, and not try to fix things. We need you to ask us questions and listen to how we are doing and expect sometimes we won’t want to get into it and at other times we will want to get into it, and in both responses we appreciate your caring for us. We need you to be willing to speak the truth in love to us, remind us of what we know, and be willing to encourage, rebuke, and help us as needed in the months and years to come. Some of you will find this challenging and some of you won’t. Some of you will fail at this, and when you do, God will give us the grace we need to be gracious with your failures, so don’t avoid this challenge even if it makes you uncomfortable and you don’t know what to do. If you don’t know how to listen well or what to say, just be honest about it and say so and we will appreciate you.  We are really thankful for the ministry of Nancy Guthrie as we process this stuff. Her book Hearing Jesus Speak Into Your Sorrow has helped us suffer well and we recommend you pick it up if you want to know some helpful things you can say to us and know how to respond to suffering. Also, Colin wrote a booklet on how to counsel individuals with chronic illness and some of you may find that helpful to know what kinds of things would be helpful to say and not to say to us. If you want a copy let him know and he will send it to you.

The third thing you can do is learn from our experience. 

You either have, are now, or will suffer in your life. You may go through the same struggle or a different struggle that leads you to suffer, but God wants you to learn from our suffering (from what we do well and from where we fail), so you can suffer well when your time comes.

Colin will be preaching next Sunday night (the 28^th) on Psalm 13 and talking more about our experience as he preaches this text, you are welcome to attend if you can.

Sincerely,

Colin and Marianne

Satisfied in You

I've been listening to the new Sojourn album, Come Ye Sinners, which has some fantastic songs. One song that has been comforting and encouraging me is the song 'Satisfied in You'. The song is based on Psalm 42 and is a song I am loving to sing as a worshipping sufferer. Check out the album and ponder these lyrics (the periods are inserted after every rhythmic line, not after every sentence)...

I have lost my appetite. And a flood is welling up behind my eyes. So I eat the tears I cry. And if that were not enough. They know just the words to cut and tear and prod. When they ask me “Whereʼs your God?”

Why are you downcast, oh my soul? Why so disturbed within me? I can remember when you showed your face to me. As a deer pants for water, so my soul longs for you. And when I survey Your splendor, You so faithfully renew. Like a bed of rest for my fainting flesh. I am satisfied in you.

When Iʼm looking at the ground. Itʼs an inbred feedback loop that drags me down. So itʼs time to lift my brow. And remember better days. When I loved to worship you and learn your ways. Singing sweetest songs of praise.

Why are you downcast, oh my soul? Why so disturbed within me? I can remember when you showed your face to me. As a deer pants for water, so my soul longs for you. And when I survey Your splendor, You so faithfully renew. Like a bed of rest for my fainting flesh. I am satisfied in you.

Let my sighs give way to songs that sing about your faithfulness. Let my pain reveal your glory as my only real rest. Let my losses show me all I truly have is you. Yes all I truly have is you.

So when Iʼm drowning out at sea. And all your breakers and your waves crash down on me. Iʼll recall your safety scheme. Youʼre the one who made the waves. And your Son went out to suffer in my place. Just to show me that Iʼm safe. Why are you downcast oh my soul? Why so disturbed within me? I am satisfied in you.