Support Letter

Much has happened since I last sent out one of these letters. I graduated with honors from Seattle Pacific University with a bachelor of science in engineering and missionary applications. During the summer I worked for my Dad, doing new construction out at the mill.

In December I traveled to Guatemala to interview there for a staff position with Students International. I stayed with the local SI director, Fernando, and his family in one of the suburbs of Antigua. This touristy colonial city sits in a valley at about 5,000 feet above sea level, surrounded by volcanoes. Students International ministers in the neighboring suburbs and also operates a number of occupational ministries in the Dominican Republic, Costa Rica, Fiji, and Guatemala. These ministries are supported by short-term high school and college students, mostly from the United States, and hosted by SI. They participate in two-week outreaches throughout the summer months, paying a fee to cover their own food, accommodations and supplies, as well as a portion of the year-long operation of the ministries. Staff members also raise their own financial support.

Over the course of a week I met with the current staff; in particular, Oscar, the man with whom I would be working most closely. He showed me the various projects he has been overseeing. By the time I returned to the States, I was ready to turn back and begin the work. But first, I needed to attend a training session, as well as raise almost $1500 a month to support myself.

After being formally accepted by SI, I attended the mandatory three-week training program at Missionary Training International in Palmer Lake, Colorado. This was an emotionally trying time designed to make sure I was ready to handle a long-term cross-cultural experience. Leaders confronted our personal values to try to determine whether they are godly or simply American in nature. The curriculum covered conflict resolution, and tested our reactions to acute stress, and we participated in small-group discussions and individual counseling sessions. In between classroom exercises I did manage to make some new friends. It is always encouraging to know people with a calling similar to your own. We climbed mountains, played Settlers of Catan, and shared our lives with each other. It was a time I will not soon forget.

This August when I move to Guatemala, I will most likely stay with a local family near the ministry sites. For at least the first few weeks, I will attend a language school to improve my Spanish, then I will be working for SI full-time. I made a two-year commitment to work in their appropriate technology ministry helping to design projects for short-term student teams to work on. Then I will lead them during the summer months when they arrive to work.

Oscar, the Guatemalan in charge of the appropriate technology ministry, has years of local construction experience, but little engineering training. Hopefully, we will be able to learn from each other how better to serve and show the love of Jesus to the locals and the students who come to work with us.

Most of our projects will likely be water related since access to safe drinking water is a pressing need in most poor communities. We will be working in a high-altitude area where wells have to be dug very deep to find water, so currently Oscar focuses on rainwater catchments, cisterns, and slow sand filters. I will join this work, and I pray that God will work through me. This is what I have spent the last four and a half years preparing for, and I am very excited to be stepping forward.

I hope that this letter finds you well. Many of you I have not seen in awhile, and I always look forward to hearing from you. God bless you,

Matthew McIntire

Students International - The Mission:

Bringing students and the poor together cross-culturally to encounter God, share the Good News, disciple and serve others in occupational ministries.