A Fences for Orphans update:

• We’ve completed several small projects in the last month amounting to approximately $1,600.00 in donations to the Hince Village in Haiti. Hince is the village Life Point Church in Plano TX has adopted in Haiti through The Global Orphan Project. Thanks again to our volunteers and homeowners.
• We’ve sold two larger projects that we will be starting next week. Stay tuned for volunteer opportunities.
• Although things have been slow lately, we have been busy issuing quotes. We have numerous very promising quotes in the works. I feel like we have a water balloon that’s just about ready to burst. Get ready for the flood!

 A Costa Rica update:

• Our March trip is firming up. We have 12 awesome trip participants signed up and eager to go. They started their pre-trip assignments today.
• We also now have a flickr account with all our past Costa Rica trip pictures. Check it out to ‘see’ what’s been happening. http://www.flickr.com/photos/matrixcostarica.

 A Haiti update:

• Our February trip to Haiti is set. We have four awesome participants going to Haiti with us.
• This is going to be an awesome trip. We all can’t wait to see what God has in store for us. Stay tuned for our trip reports. We leave in just over 3 weeks.
• This is an exploratory trip of sorts so please pray that we see and hear what God’s involvement for us in Haiti going forward.

The Timothy Project :

As you may know, Matrix Ministries was started to be a ‘matrix’ of ministries – whatever God wants us involved in, we’re open. One ministry God put on my heart way back in the beginning of MM was to offer college aged children of foreign pastors the opportunity to come to the United States, attend a community college, earn an associate’s degree, and then return to their own country to serve God in whatever role He has called them to. Many students in foreign countries don’t have the opportunity to attend college in their home town/country. Offering this ministry is a way to reward foreign pastor’s and their families for the many sacrifices they’ve made, and faithfulness they shown, in shepherding God’s people in difficult situations.

We have our first candidate.   She is 22 years old, very sweet, and fully bi-lingual.   She would like to move to the US for 1 year to strengthen her English even more before seeking a job as a teacher. She would like to work as an intern in a professional environment while in the US. She is very mature, good with computers, and learns quickly.

We have two asks of you:

1)   The Timothy Project needs to be fleshed out. If you have: 

• experience with students,
• experience with foreign students,
• experience with foreign employees,
• a gift at figuring out processes,
• a gift in administration,
• or, you are just interested in getting involved in this ministry,

PLEASE contact me as soon as possible. We need to put this ministry together as soon as possible.

2)   If you are interest in adopting, financially and/or relationally, students in The Timothy Project,  

PLEASE contact me as soon as possible.   God is good, all the time! 

 That’s it for now. Please continue to pray for us and the ministry. God continues to move in amazing ways and we are excited to be a part. Thank you for partnering with us as well.

How God guided and blessed Fences for Orphans in 2011

 Some highlights of our year:

• We completed 37 Fences for Orphans (FFO) projects.
• We donated just over $34,000.00 to help build orphanages in Haiti, Uganda, and Mexico.
• We donated just over $13,000.00 to help fund a student center and other projects for a partner church in Atenas, Costa Rica.
• We established ministry partnerships in Costa Rica with two orphanages; Hogar de Vida and Casa de Casey, a local church; Iglesia Biblica, and a local ministry; The Brook Ministries.
• We conducted three 10 day mission trips to Costa Rica.
• We participated in the Grand Opening of Casa de la Cultura Student Center for Iglesia Biblica in Atenas, Costa Rica.
• We partnered with The Global Orphan Project for one mission trip to Haiti.
• We established our first US church partnership with LifePoint Church in Plano, TX.
• We have started conversations for a second US church partnership.
• We now have four additional volunteer staff members: a Costa Rica Coordinator, a Haiti Coordinator, a Volunteer Coordinator, and a Web Master.  
• We have our first ‘paid’ employee, along with a contracted Crew Chief.
• We began conducting monthly ‘staff meetings’ to better coordinate our activities. (I know that doesn’t sound exciting, but to a growing ministry – it is).
• We purchased a truck for FFO.
• We greatly increased the FFO volunteer network.
• We participated in Celebrate Freedom, the largest Christian concert in America, to sponsor their Children’s Tent and enlisted volunteers.
• We conducted our first radio advertisement on KLTY, the most listened to Christian radio station in America.
• And, lots of detail between the lines.

 Our staff is full of anticipation and excitement as we get ready for 2012. We already have two mission trips planned for the spring of 2012, and are talking with other groups about summer trips. In February we will travel back to Haiti to visit orphanages where FFO funds have been used to help take care of orphans. In March we will travel back to Atenas, Costa Rica to work with Hogar de Vida, Iglesia Biblica, and The Brook for projects at Hogar de Vida and Iglesia Biblica. We will also partner with Iglesia Biblica for a city-wide project in Atenas. (Both trips are going to be very exciting.) We will continue to seek ways to grow FFO for increased volunteer and ministry impact. We have plans to redesign our web pages (FFO and MM). And, we would love to bring our Crew Chief on as a paid employee, and move forward with additional paid employees as we grow the ministry.

 2011 has been our best year yet at Matrix Ministries, but we need your help as we continue to run through the doors of opportunity God opens for us.

Please know that your faithful partnership is making a difference. I can hardly wait to see how the Lord will continue to transform lives through Matrix Ministries and our partnerships (including you) in 2012!

If you would like to send your gift by check please send it to:

 You can also use our convenient PayPal online donation button at www.MatrixMinistries.org.  Fence for Orphans is a registered DBA of Matrix Ministries Corp.

 P.S. You are invited to come with us to Haiti and/or Costa Rica. Please let me know ASAP if you are interested. We are still looking/needing help to accomplish our objectives for the Costa Rica projects. We need you! 

Have a happy New Year, and may God bless you greatly in 2012.  

Ray & the MM Staff.

How can a fence in DFW affect students in Costa Rica?

It is so amazing to see how volunteers building fences in DFW backyards can be used to impact lives in around the world. 

In March, while on a mission trip to Atenas Costa Rica, Matrix Ministries Corp (MM – the parent not-for-profit company of Fences for Orphans (FFO)) was asked if they would be interested in helping build a new student center (Casa de la Cultura) building at a local church (Iglesia Biblica El Cordero de Dios) there.  After a short time of prayer, we accepted the offer.   Once back in the US, FFO started asking homeowners if they wanted to designate their funds to Casa de la Cultura.  Several accepted, and over the course of the next several FFO projects approximately half the funds needed for the new building were raised.  In July and August, MM took two teams of volunteers back to Atenas to help build Casa de la Cultura.   

On Saturday, Oct 1, Iglesia Biblica conducted the grand opening of Casa de la Cultura.  Yesterday, Oct 11 we received word that Iglesia Biblica had announced to the community that it would start conducting English as a second language classes in Casa de la Cultura.  20 students signed up immediately. 

Casa de la Cultura will also be offering a safe environment for student to do homework using Casa de la Cultura computers.  Steve Lucas, a US pastor in Costa Rica who attends Iglesia Biblica and was instrumental in the construction of Casa de la Cultura, recently came to the US to collect donated IT equipment for Casa de la Cultura.  Sunday, Oct 10, Steve returned to Casa de la Cultura with four new laptops, a printer, and a router.  He says they should have the Internet center up and running very soon.

Before the Student Center no productive activity existed in Atenas for students in the community.  Now, they already have 20 students signed up for English classes! Amazing! What a great outreach …and that it is already happening is such a blessing.

God is so faithful.  When He calls us and we respond, He does some amazing things.  A big thank you to our FFO homeowners, FFO volunteers, MM mission trip participants, and our partners in Costa Rica.

Ray Young

President, Matrix Ministries

How do I explain what I experienced in Haiti? As many of you who have been on mission trips know, it’s difficult to put an experience into words. And sometimes even more difficult to discern how God would have you respond given a new revelation of the ‘real’ world. Hence, why it’s been almost 4 weeks since my return and I am just now writing my thoughts.
As many of you know, Haiti is the poorest country in the western hemisphere. It is certainly the poorest I’ve been to. From that perspective, the earthquake only added to an already bad situation. One lady asked that we would pray that she be able to move to a different country. On the other hand, many Haitians love their country very much, and are excited about what’s happening. Many Haitians sense God is doing something special in their country, and the earthquake was just part of His plan. They very much want to be a part of what He is doing. That has me asking, “Why was I there?” “What is His purpose for me in regard to Haiti and what He is doing?”

Once you get beyond the destructive results of the earthquake, you will find that many Haitians believe the earthquake was actually a direct answer to pray. For them the earthquake was as much or more a spiritual event as it was a physical event. The Haitian’s will tell you it shook more than the physical, it shook the spiritual. During and after the earthquake the Haitians were praising God for this manifestation of His movement in their country and the results they are seeing.

Something I was not aware of was the spiritual history of Haiti which we learned firsthand from the Haitians. Haiti has been a spiritually dark place for many many years. About 205 years ago the Haitians as a country made a pack with Satan that if he would help them win their independence from the French, they and their children would worship him for the next 200 years. This is where Voodoo fits in. Voodoo is the actual worship of Satan including human sacrifices, curses, demon possession, etc… It has been their national religion for 200 years. It is not a belief in superstitions, etc… like I thought. It is as real as Christianity. It is the worship of the only real spiritual realm other than Christianity. It is the worship of our adversary.

Tim, our trip leader, said he talked with a Haitian who told him about an African Voodoo high priest who came to Haiti to learn from a demon how to raise people from the dead. The high priest said as he flew into Haiti he had never seen a place covered with spiritual darkness and demons like Haiti. We heard many stories about demon possession, how Voodoo priests practice their art of casting demons into people, calling up curses, and human sacrifices which still occur today. Before the earthquake they even performed Voodoo worship and sacrifices under the nation’s palace as part of major country events like government elections. (Image – The Haitian Palace).

However, once the 200 year pack ended things began to change. Evangelical faith in Jesus Christ grew. About 2 months before the earthquake about 250 Evangelical Haitian pastors began to pray that God would do whatever necessary to delivery them from Satan and shake their country, government, and people to bring them to Himself. They see the earthquake as an answer to that prayer. During and since the earthquake people continue to praise God. Voodoo priests are turning and accepting Christ as Savior. They say the darkness has lifted. They sense a new hope and a sense of joy that makes no sense given their situation. But they see things differently than we do. I think it is easier for them to see God because the world’s stuff doesn’t get in their way. God has a funny way of making the poor man rich, and the rich man poor.

There is much for us (big brother – maybe elder brother) to do in Haiti (little brother – maybe even prodigal son) as God fulfills His new plans for them. Funny, as I type this, the verse I sent out this morning to the Good News distribution list comes to mind– “What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save him? Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to him, “Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it? In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead. James 2:14-17

What did I see that touched me most?

Port-au-Prince is full of tent cities. Make shift shelters for those left without homes. Many are actually tents in well organized communities. But most are shelters made of sticks wrapped in blankets and sheets. Several times we went into a tent city to put tarps over their shelters. They were so grateful. It wouldn’t take long before people caught on to what we were doing and within 15 minutes we would be surrounded by men, women, and children asking us to come put a tarp on their shelter. I have seen cardboard houses before, and even plastic houses, but these were the first sheet houses I saw. A sheet so thin you could see through it.

What did I feel that touched me the most?

I expected there to be men, women, and even children living in the tent cities. But what I did not expect was the number of infants living in the tents. Infants as young, or younger than my 7 month old grandson, but much smaller. Mothers who were no longer able to produce milk for their babies and could not afford to buy any asking us for milk. Toddlers sleeping naked on sheets on dirt floors trying and stay cool in their little 5 foot by 4 foot shelter made of sheets and blankets. A mother pleading for a tarp to cover the shelter over her babies. A mother we could have easily past by like we did so many others. I didn’t expect that. It’s still too surreal. It’s too hard to imagine, even though I saw it with my own eyes. It’s a world away from where I sit now in my American dream house trying to explain it to you. What do I do? What do we do? What garbage can a mother dig through to find something to feed her infant who can only drink liquids? How many verses flow through my mind concerning those of us who are rich, and those who are in need. Stay tuned.

The people of Haiti want a place to live. The people of Haiti want food to eat. The people of Haiti want clean water to drink. The people of Haiti want a future for their children. The people of Haiti want an economy where they can work to support themselves and their families. The people of Haiti want to go to church (BTW – their churches are full). The people of Haiti want Bibles they can read. The people of Haiti want to be discipled, to have spiritual resources to learn from. The people of Haiti want what we so often take for granted. But in many ways the people of Haiti are better off than we are. Have you read the Beatitudes lately?

I am still trying to discern what God would have me do. Stay tuned for that. I have some thoughts, but I am still working and praying about them. Please continue to pray with me. Consider praying about what your part might be. Maybe we’re in this together. Thank you for sending me. Forgive me if I got too preachy. I believe God causes and/or allows all things for His purpose. I pray He remains patient (I know He will) as we determine our next steps. Romans 8:28.

BTW – I did not get to participate with anything related to orphans. The first day there we were instructed to lay our own agendas at the foot of the cross. I did that. I did ask one of our interpreters where the orphans were staying, what their housing situation was like? He said many have been gathered together by caring adults and are living under tarps in tent cities just like everyone else. I know there are orphans in Haiti, more now than before the earthquake. Matrix Ministries will begin to give Fences for Orphans funds to aid in the construction of Haitian orphanages. Pray as I research how that should happen.

God bless.
Ray