Important News from the Swain Family

 About a year ago Lori and I took a vacation to go to the Pacific NW and visit our friends Jacob and Tania Bailey. We lived and worked side by side with the Baileys during our time in Spain and upon returning to the states they moved to Salem, OR. Their plan was simple, get a job and pour yourself into loving your neighbors in the local community.

After visiting Lori and I felt a strong desire to move right away to Oregon and join them, but that didn’t seem prudent and we figured it was just a passing whim. However, during the following weeks and months we continued to feel drawn the Pacific NW and I began to hear Oregon talked about everywhere (books, the TV, movies, movies, you name it). Still not wanting to be rash, Lori and I began talking with friends and mentors and as a family we began to pray about what our next steps should be.

So, to make a long story short we have come to the decision to move to Salem, Oregon. In our quest to live out our faith missionally and incarnationally in the community (These two words simply refer to the concept of Life is Ministry) it is our desire to find gainful employment in the Salem/Portland area that will afford us the ability to connect with the local community in Salem. In ministry terminology this is referred to as tent-making (the term comes from the Apostle Paul and his ability to pay the bills by making tents).

We have been very blessed, honored and thankful for our time at Harvest Community Church over the past three years. This time has been extremely valuable and formative in our lives and we have so many great friends at HCC that it has been very difficult decision for us to make. We have felt fully supported and encouraged by Harvest Community Church and its leadership throughout this entire process. We only hope that we have been as much of a blessing to our friends at Harvest, as they have been to us!

Three ways we could use your help at this time:

1) Networking

I just arrived in Portland this morning on a networking trip to Salem and the surrounding areas. I have scheduled some interviews and several meetings over the next couple of days with local business and ministry leaders, but I don’t want my time to go to waste while I am here. If you have in friends in the Salem/Portland area that you feel comfortable connecting me to, then drop me a comment in this post. I would love to connect with as many people as possible while I am on this trip.

2) House for Sale

We have a beautiful 3 bedroom ranch in the Hoffman/Schaumburg area that is for sale. If you or anyone you know is in the market to buy, Cornerstone Reality will be hosting an open house this Saturday from 1-3pm at 605 Mohave St. Hoffman Estates, IL.

3) Prayer

We cannot tell you how much we appreciate your prayers! Moving is never a simple or easy task. We would just ask for your prayers for our family as we plan to make this move. 

Looking back on a Decade

2000

Spent Y2K with Lori and the first Presbyterian Church Youth Group. Nothing shut down and the world did not end.2001

Sold, stored and shipped all of our earthly possessions and moved from Ohio to Santiago de Compostela, Spain. We joined the Hanlons and the Striblings and became part of Team Spain with International Teams.
2002

Our first daughter Abigail Belén was born in Santiago. Abigail means her Father's delight and Belén is the Spanish word for Bethlehem. Our team was joined by the Hellmanns.

2003
We slowly learned about ministry within the Spanish context and while hosting short term teams teams we started doing research and fund-raising for opening a cafe in Santiago de Compostela.

2004

Our second daughter Isabel Nora (Isabel means consecrated to God and Nora means light) was born and we opened Cafe Terra Nova with our friends.

2005
The Baileys joined our team in SdC and I began to learn a lot about business, while continuing to be stretched in my understanding of ministry, the church and community.

2006
Our third daughter Eden Olivia was born. Her name signifies Shalom and in a world full of war and conflict we wanted to remember that this is not the way it's supposed to be. We worked very hard at the cafe and connecting with good friends in SdC.

2007
We sold Cafe Terra Nova and said goodbye to many dear friends. We made a second International move to the NW Suburbs of Chicago where we were welcomed by new friends and joined the ministry at Harvest Community Church.

2008
We acclimated to life in the USA and enjoyed having family closer.

2009
Privileged to be part of an amazing team at Harvest Community Church where I continue to grow in my understanding of the Christian faith and who Christ is.

2010

Merry Christmas from the Swain Home

Happy Thanksgiving!

(More photos here)

Come, let us sing for joy to the LORD;
let us shout aloud to the Rock of our salvation.
Let us come before him with thanksgiving
and extol him with music and song.
For the LORD is the great God,
the great King above all gods.
In his hand are the depths of the earth,
and the mountain peaks belong to him.
The sea is his, for he made it,
and his hands formed the dry land.
Come, let us bow down in worship,
let us kneel before the LORD our Maker;
for he is our God and we are the people of his pasture,
the flock under his care.

Psalm 95

Life is Ministry

Originally posted on the Swainlife Blog Tuesday, June 1, 2004

Our daughter Abigail just turned two recently and is starting to learn how to use prepositions. However, sometimes she gets them wrong and it entirely changes what she means. For example, at night when it is time to read a bed time story sometimes she says "I want you lay down for me" but what she really means is "I want you to lay down with me (and read me a bedtime story)." Sometimes she will mosey into the kitchen and look up with wide, serious, innocent eyes and say "Can I want a cookie?" Meanwhile I know that she really does want a cookie and is just asking if she can have one.

From the beginning of time God has sought to have a relationship with humanity. God's desire has been for a close relationship, but it seems that humanity always wants to keep him at arms length (if not further). When God was setting up the brand new nation of Israel he declared to them that they would be a Kingdom of Priests as you can read in the following passage.

3 'Then Moses went up to God, and the LORD called to him from the mountain and said, "This is what you are to say to the house of Jacob and what you are to tell the people of Israel: 4 'You yourselves have seen what I did to Egypt, and how I carried you on eagles' wings and brought you to myself. 5 Now if you obey me fully and keep my covenant, then out of all nations you will be my treasured possession. Although the whole earth is mine, 6 you [1] will be for me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.' Exodus 19

It is amazing that just nine chapters later that God calls out Aaron and Levites to come and serve as priests. What happened? They were going to be a kingdom of priests but they ended up becoming a kingdom with priests instead. Did God (like Abigail) accidentally mess up his prepositions? Did one of the Hebrew scribes hear him incorrectly? No, God wanted people to come directly to him, but they were not ready to do that.

The people preferred to have a mediator, someone who went to God on their behalf. They wanted someone else to have the job of spiritual work so that they could go on living their lives as they pleased. However, God did not forget what he said about building a kingdom of priests. In the New Testament, Peter reminds us again of God's desire for his people to be a kingdom of priests - a kingdom of people that have direct access to God and come directly before him.

"9But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. 10Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy. 11Dear friends, I urge you, as aliens and strangers in the world, to abstain from sinful desires, which war against your soul. 12Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us" 1 Peter 2

Often it is easy to think that the work of ministry belongs only to those who work in ministry full time. However, this is contrary to everything that God has worked for throughout history. Yes, we need pastors, teachers, preachers, missionaries, etc. God definitely calls some people to specific tasks, but to what end? Paul says,

"11It was he who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, 12to prepare God's people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up 13until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ." Ephesians 4:11

Why does Paul say that there are apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers? To prepare God's people for works of service, to prepare God's people to do ministry. If we call ourselves Christians, then we are privileged to be called to a life of ministry. Not just during times when it is convenient for us or only during times when the church does a special outreach event.

Our lives are to be lived with a sense of purpose and mission each day! We need to connect with Christ daily and walk with him and allow him to be part of every area of our life. Everyone who claims to be a follower of Christ needs to reflect the light of Christ and not just expect those with Christian job titles to do the work. And those of us with Christian job titles need to equip, empower and teach those in our care to do the work of Christ and not cause them to depend on us to do it all.

So, no matter where you are in the world and no matter what your vocation is, if you call yourself a follower of Christ I pray that you will live your life as ministry. I pray that you will seek and hear God's voice daily and do his work wherever you are. I pray that you will be encouraged and blessed as you see God's hands mold your life and as you follow him on your pilgrimage journey. Life is Ministry!

Advent: A Lost Tradition

My wife loves Christmas! She loves the music, the festivities, being generous to others, being with close friends and families and traditions. She comes from a Roman Catholic background and with that is a love for some of the traditions that I used to scoff at, but have grown to respect and cherish. Over the years, she has led our family in an annual advent tradition. She always makes sure that during the advent season that we pull out the wreath and light the candles for the corresponding weeks.

Each evening after supper our family reads some of the suggested daily readings together and our children learn the meanings of the symbolism behind each tradition. Children already have a natural anticipation of Christmas and the season of advent helps them (and me) prepare ourselves anew for the little baby who is known as Emmanuel and is a light to this world.

What are some of the traditions you have in your house in the midst of the Christmas season?

Retro Thanksgiving

This Thanksgiving we celebrated with the entire extended family at my Grandparents' house. My Grandpa is in his in his eighties and has lived in the same house his entire life. Over the years he and my Grandmother have collected some quite eclectic items which provide some great eye candy and make each room in their house interesting. Below are some of the ones which caught my eye this week.

This little house has two people, one comes out if it is going to rain and the other if it is going to be sunny. I liked this collection of clothespins. I am not sure why they have my Grandpa's name on them.

Cool old stove.

I think this must be a very old tin toy of a cat.

This jeep has been played with by every grandchild and is now for the great grandchildren. Not sure when it was made, but it is made tough. I remember playing with it when I was a kid.

I like the attention to detail. I mean if you are going to put your name on something, you should add some flair to it.

These chairs are amazingly comfortable. I remember my mom and grandmother snapping beans and shucking corn here in the summertime.

I believe this is a vacuum cleaner.

I think that this radio was from the time when radios were the centerpiece of family entertainment.

This fan still does its job.

As a farmer my Grandpa always liked farm toys.

A plastic bull.

A well loved hat collection.

A very cool radio.

Time Travel

I just used the oldest Index that Google search has saved and stumbled upon the first website that Lori and I ever put up for our ministry. I did not know that this site still existed. Not only is it still there, but you can still take the quiz that Lori designed for it (she had to design it from scratch, because there were not any quiz generators at that time). Seeing this makes me realize how much web technology has jumped in the past 7 years. It also makes me wonder what the next 7 will bring.

Ministry in Suburbia

Suburbia is a relatively new way of living within the context of world history with the advent of the personal automobile and with it has brought many challenges to ministry. Here are some of the most obvious challenges I have observed after living in a more urban context:

Lack of Proximity- People are far from everything. Far from neighbors, work, jobs etc... This lack of proximity reduces the amount of chance encounters with others or even just repetitive contacts.

Lack of Time- The suburbs have developed a culture of business and activities which is often seen as a kind of social capital while the sabbath has been rendered obsolete.

Lack of Community- The first two challenges contribute to this. As people have to work extra hard to connect with others (you don't just drop by if someone is a half an hour drive away) most social events must be planned well in advance. Because of the combination of distances and activities if people are able to get together then their time is often highly limited.

Ideas for combating these cultural barriers:

Location- Be very intentional and picky when choosing where you will live. Choose a location that will reduce you travel to the places that you will spend most of your time. This will allow you to spend more time in the places that matter to you and will free up much of the time that you would normally be sitting in traffic.

If you are locked into your current location, then look for ways to spend more time in your immediate area. Choose activities with a closer proximity to were you are as much as possible.

Time- Don't be stingy with you time but make sure to plan times of pause, rest, holy leisure and silence into your day. Avoid over-scheduling with activities that will leave you physically spent and unavailable to connect with others.

Community- You will have to work within the social norms of planning and preparation in order to connect with others. However, try not to cast the nets too wide, start with a small group. A deep and healthy community requires time, energy and repetition.

Trip out West

One of the things I told many Spanish friends that they should do if they ever visit the states is rent a car and drive from one side of the states to the other. We only passed through 10 states on this trip to visit some friends in Arizona, but we were amazed by the various types of terrain and the vastness of the USA. Here are some pics from our trip.

Oops!

So today was fairly warm by Chicago standards (I didn't have to wear a face mask on my morning run). Things were going well on my jog although the warm weather is what caused my predicament. When it's snowy I stick to the roads because they are cleared almost immediately as it snows. However, since it was warm the side-walks were clear and so I started running on them. They were clear but they were all wet as the ice and snow was melting. I made it about three blocks from our house and as I entered the driveway I realized that it was not wet, but entirely covered in wet, melting, and very slippery ice. Too late!

My momentum had put me on a perilous course. I realized the situation I was in and tried to maintain my footing to no avail as my legs collapsed under me. As I went down I felt a burning sensation in my ankle and heard a sickening pop. I got up and tried to walk it off to no avail. The Doctor says nothing appears to be broken (I am very happy about that). So, no running for a couple of weeks.

Nope!

The Trees are Falling Down

This morning was an exciting morning at the Swain home. There were several pines in front of our house that we didn't like very much(you could hardly see the house because of them). We today we had them taken down and it is amazing being able to see out our front windows. The girls and I had a front row seat for the felling of the trees and it was pretty amazing how quickly they came down. Below you can see the girls reaction and some photos from the event.

Looking back at 2007

If there is one word that I would use to some up the past year "change" would be the word.

-Last January we celebrated the new year with our dear friends Betty, Sergio, and Dahiala.
-Last year at this time we knew we had to sell the cafe but we were still waiting for a buyer.
-Our good friend Chris Warren stopped in SdC on his way back to the states after 6 months in Russia to help us close. What a guy!
-In January and February our team and Chris worked the cafe until the end.
-In March we went with the Bailey's on a much needed vacation to Marbella, Spain.
-We also visited Jonah Bailey and some of his friends doing cross-cultural ministry in Sevilla.
-The Next couple of months were kind of a blur.
-Two of our friends had babies in SDC.
-We visited our good friends the Criders in Barcelona.
-I flew back to the states twice for job interviews.
-I got to meet some awesome new people and catch up with some old friends in Brooklyn.
-I had sushi for the first time in my life. I've since lost count on how many times that I've had it.
-In June we gave, sold, or packed and shipped everything in our house in Spain.
-In July we said goodbye to dear friends and a city that we had come to know and love.
-We got a new (new to us) car.
-I started a new job.
-We bought our first house.
-I hung drywall for the first time.
-Instead of Mateo people began to refer to me as Pastor Matt
-I visited some friends who are doing ministry in on the reservation in Tuba City, AZ.
-We saw the leaves change color in Ohio while visiting family.
-In November our girls played in snow for the first time (second time for Abigail).
-In December our girls were used to snow.

I am thankful for all the ways that God blessed us this year and am looking forward to 2008!

Let it snow...

So we had the first snow of the season this week. Our whole family was pretty excited, especially the kiddos. This is the first real snow that they have experienced. We were home one Christmas that snowed when Abi was a toddler but she did not remember it. Well here are some pics of the snow in our winter abode.

Facts on the Fatherless

"Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world." James 1:27

This past weekend a small group from our church had the privilege of serving the office staff of GRIP. Grip is a Chicago inner-city ministry that works with a lot of students from broken home. Jen Carlson works at Grip and gave me the following stats. I was so blown away by what I read that I had to pass it along.

The Facts on “Fatherlessness”

The percentage of kids born out-of-wedlock has grown 223% since 1970.
[US Dept. of Health and Human Services, 2005]

7 out of 10 African-American kids are born out-of-wedlock.
[US Dept. of Health and Human Services, 2005]

3 out of 10 Caucasian kids are born out-of-wedlock; an increase of 440% since 1970.
[US Dept. of Health and Human Services, 2005]

The Consequences
90% of homeless and runaway children are from fatherless homes.
[U.S. D.H.H.S., Bureau of the Census.]

80% of rapists motivated with displaced anger come from fatherless homes.
[Criminal Justice and Behavior, Vol 14, p. 403-26, 1987.]

60% of repeat rapists grew up without fathers.
[Raymond A. Knight and Robert A. Prentky, "The Developmental Antecednts of Adult Adaptations of Rapist Sub-Types," Criminal Justice & Behavior, Vol 14, 1987, p 403-426.]

71% of pregnant teenagers lack a father.
[US Dept. of Health and Human Services press release, Friday, March 26, 1999.]

63% of youth suicides are from fatherless homes.
[US D.H.H.S., Bureau of the Census.]

85% of children who exhibit behavioral disorders come from fatherless homes.
[Center for Disease Control.]

90% of adolescent repeat arsonists live with only their mother.
[Wray Herbert, "Dousing the Kindlers," Psychology Today, January, 1985, p.28.]

71% of high school dropouts come from fatherless homes.
[National Principals Association Report on the State of High Schools.]

75% of adolescent patients in chemical abuse canters come from fatherless homes.
[Rainbows for all God`s Children.]

70% of juveniles in state operated institutions have no father.
[US Dept. of Justice, Special Report, Sept. 1988.]

85% of youths in prisons grew up in a fatherless home.
[Fulton Co. Georgia jail populations, Texas Dept. of Corrections, 1992.]

75% of prisoners grew up without a father.
[Daniel Amneus, The Garbage Generation, Alhambra, CA: Primrose Press, 1990.]

Fatherless boys and girls are…
2x’s as likely to drop out of high school;
2x’s as likely to end up in jail;
4x’s more likely to need help emotional or behavioral problems.
[US D.H.H.S. news release, March 26, 1999.]

43% of US children live without their father.
[US Department of Census.]

Faster than the Speed of Blog

Yes, life has been going by faster than I can write lately. So, I thought that the best thing to do would be to catch you up in photos. Click on the sideshow if you would like to see the complete album.


Our house: Before and after


Our trip to Ohio


Our Family Album

Harvest Community Church

Returning to the USA has been quite a whirlwind for Lori, myself and the girls. It feels like we hit the ground running when our plane landed in July and we have just been trying to keep up with what is happening around us. We immediately had to renew our driver's licenses and purchase a car. Just last week we were able to move into our house although we still have a huge pile of boxes in the living room. As the dust is starting to settle a little (literally) I hope to be a little more active in posting on this blog.

Finishing up at IT: For those who have been supporting us financially as we lived in Spain we can’t tell you how much we have appreciated your faithfulness each month. You truly blessed us and we hope that our time in Spain was as much a blessing to those whom we ministered to as your ministry was to us. We can't say say thank you enough for all the support that you have given us!
We want to let you know that our relocation and severance pay period is coming to an end with International Teams, which for us would be through the end of September. After that time you are more than welcome to support IT and any of it’s other amazing ministries around the world, but we will no longer be taking a salary from there.

Harvest Community Church: I (Matt) am acclimating to my job and learning as much as possible as I begin to develop a local outreach ministry with HCC as well as get a handle on each of the locations we are partnering with around the globe. I love seeing first hand how God is working through different ministries around the world! I love the people that I get to work with in my office and our whole family has been blessed and feel really welcomed by the whole Harvest community. The church just launched it's new web site if you want to see a little more what we are up to.

Quick Family Update

Wow! It has been quite a whirlwind since Lori and I returned from Spain. I have hardly had a chance to catch my breath, but I want to tell you about some of the highlights.

International Teams- We arrived at International Teams two weeks ago Sunday. We were all jet-lagged and tired from a long journey. I now understand why those OT guys like Ezra and Nehemiah would take three days rest after a long journey! We spent our first few days at IT, attending a debriefing that they provide for returning missionaries. It was a good time to help us begin the process of re-acclimating to the USA. We especially enjoyed hearing and learning from the stories of other missionaries who have also returned from overseas.

The Girls... have been cracking us up by some of the funny things that they say. Isa stood in the hallway of our apartment at IT and repeatedly turned the light switch on and off and said, "Dad, the bathroom light doesn't work!" We hid our smiles and explained that in the US most bathroom lights are inside the bathroom, not outside. The next day we went for a walk in the neighborhood and one of the girls asked, "What are those garbage cans on sticks for?" Once again, we explained to our oh-so-urban three year-old that not all mailboxes are slots in a wall in apartment buildings. We've had to explain lawn mowers, new smells, and why we just can't walk to the store from Grandma's house.

New Job and Location- I have accepted a job at Harvest Community Church in Schaumburg, IL as Pastor of Outreach. I will be coordinating local outreach as well as working alongside the church and their missionaries around the world. We will be moving to permanent housing soon, but our current mailing address in the Chicago area is:

Matthew and Lori Swain
411 W. River Rd
Elgin, IL 60123

When we have permanent contact info, we will pass that along. Shortly our IT email addresses will be phased out, so please keep in touch with us at:

swainster[at]gmail[dot]com and lori[dot]swain[at]gmail[dot]com

Ohio Trip- We are currently in Ohio visiting friends and family and will be here through the 28th of July. If you are in the area feel free to drop us an e-mail!

Finances- For those who have been supporting us financially we want to say thank you for maintaining your current financial support through the end of September. This has been integral in helping us move internationally and will continue to be a blessing as we look for a car, furniture and appliances.