Braleys 4 Jesus

Gospel for Asia

“But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to
God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him,” Hebrews
11:6

News from Home

Greetings from Texas! Can
you believe it has been 2
months since we walked the
dusty grounds of California?
Neither can we. To be honest,
Texas is not too much different
than California. Things are a
little cheaper here, like gas
and milk, and the air is a little
more humid, and the people
are a little friendlier; but for
the most part, it hasn’t been
too large of a culture shock. I
can tell you this, if you like fast
food chicken restaurants then
Carrollton is the town for you!
So, we have some good news
to share. No, Summur is not
pregnant. The news is that
Summur will now be working
in the office every Thursday
morning. She will be working
in the Radio department, which
I have been told is the place to
be. She is very excited for this
opportunity, and I know her
enthusiasm, intelligence and
willingness to serve will be a
great asset to the department.
I am excited for her and know
she will do a great job.
In more good news, Summur’s
health has been better lately.
Her stomach has improved and
she hasn’t had a major head-
ache in awhile (though minor
headaches persist). Thank you
for your prayers. She has be-
Visitors!
gun some introductory pre-
October 2010
Howdy from Carrollton!
Clearly, we are go-
“Look mom, I put my ing to have to watch Sinclair snuck
pants on all by my- this boy like a hawk:) into this pic at
self.” She also enjoys He is the Short’s the last sec. She
putting her shoes on child, who we stayed has an uncanny Prayer Requests:
the wrong feet. with when we inter- knack for this...
• We will be looking for a new place to
viewed, so long ago.
live. Please pray the Lord would make it
clear to us where to go
school lessons with Sinclair, would not be here so thank
although Riette is pleased to you. The Lord is so good to us, • Still searching for a church to attend
join in on the fun from time to and He has been teaching us regularly
time. Sinclair is learning num- many valuable lessons. I think
• Continue to pray for Summur’s health
bers, colors and letters, and one of the great lessons that I
also the weather. need to learn over and over is • Pray that our focus would be on our
that my life is not my own any- calling. That we would prioritize wisely
Sinclair has also learned how
more. As Christians, we know • Pray that we will be a help here, and
to go potty all by herself!
this in our minds, but our that our work would make a difference
Praise the Lord! I was begin-
hearts take a little longer to for the kingdom of God. The only real
ning to wonder if it would ever
receive the message. It’s in- reason we are here is to serve Him.
happen, but much like us mov-
teresting how the Lord pur- Pray that our hearts would reflect that.
ing to Texas, our long wait was
chases our lives and then
rewarded. For the new or
spends the rest of them taking
soon-to-be parents who re- Praises:
what is His— never forcefully,
ceive our newsletter: A little
always gently. Recently, an • I have been enjoying my work. What a
bribery never hurts.
incident occurred that re- privilege it is to be serving for the
Little Rie Rie is growing before minded me that I have very furtherance of our Father’s kingdom
our very eyes, and this is most little control over the circum- • We are meeting and making lots of new
evident in all of the new words stances of my life and it is best friends
she is saying. It’s hard to nar- that way. Thank the Lord for
• The Lord continues to bless the ministry
row down a cutest, but when His sovereignty! Pray that my
here in a powerful way.
she says “pleasssse”, it’s heart would be more willing to
pretty darn adorable. gleefully give over all of my • Summur will be working in the Radio
Once more we would like to time to things that truly matter Department! Our radio ministry is a
express our gratitude to all of for eternity. This world can be powerful tool to reach the lost.
you, for all of your support and so distracting, and often the • The kids have adjusted very well after
prayers. Without you, we distractions are not worth the
energy.
some early angst.

We had some visitors in October.
Only gone a month but people just
couldn’t wait to see us. First, Sum-
mur’s mother, aka Gaga, came to
visit. Gaga spoiled the girls rotten,
and us too, and it was nice to have
her. We miss her already.
Then came Uncle Bubba and Aunt
Kori, with their children Kailyn and
Lane. It is actually Kailyn’s
birthday as I write this, how-
ever, we celebrated a little
early with a cake and gift. Un-
cle Bubba is entering Dallas
Theological Seminary this win-
ter, and he and family will be
moving in June! Hooray! I
suspect this will spur even
more frequent Gaga visits
in the future.
For those of you who have
yet to make it out to Dallas
(for shame), know that we
miss you immensely.
On the left is our nephew, Lane. He
already seems to sense the trouble
he is in with these 3...

No one reads a story like Gaga.

Where ‘sissy’ goes, Rie must go.
What ‘sissy’ does, Rie must do.
When….well, you get the idea.
Our niece, Kailyn, turned
4! I think she enjoyed the
Sinclair would wear this everyday if we let her
cake
Want to Pray with us?
YOU’RE INVITED:
Ordinarily I would use this section to tell a story from the mission field, however, this Go to: www.gfa.org/prayer
Tuesday Night (every Tuesay night):
time I thought it might be constructive to share a little about an exciting new develop- 5:20pm – 6:50pm (PST)
ment here in Texas. Friday Night (first Friday of the
month): 5:30pm – 7:30pm (PST)

PRAYER- One of the great staples of our ministry is the need and practice of prayer. We
have prayer meetings (where staff and visitors alike are welcome to attend) every Tuesday night and a
lengthier session on the first Friday evening of every month. As a staff, we have prayer meetings on Mon-
day, Thursday and Friday mornings. We at GFA believe that prayer is what allows our ministry to be so
fruitful. With this in mind, we thought what better way to make our ministry even more effective than by get-
ting more of the body of Christ to join with us in our petitions! As a result, our prayer meetings on Tuesday
evenings and Friday evening are now, for the first time ever, available to the public. Just visit
www.gfa.org/prayer every first Friday of the month as we stream from 5:30-7:30 PST and every Tuesday
from 5:20-6:50 PST. The streaming video is of an exceptional quality and there is even a chance you might
see me or Summur (yes, the camera pans the crowd from time to time). In all seriousness, if you think there
is a better way to spend your Tuesday evenings, I would argue that there really isn’t. Billions of people still
have not yet heard about the savior of the world! How are we going to change this fact without the fervent
prayers of saints around the world? The Lord desires that every man and woman on earth be saved (1 Timo-
thy 2:4). Let that be the desire of our hearts as well. God bless you all and can’t wait to pray with you….

What if you could give a Christmas

gift that saved someone’s life?
As the holiday season approaches, Gospel
for Asia prepares for our busiest time of
the year. Our Christmas catalog was re-
cently released, and we are really excited
about how the Lord might use this tool for
His glory. Last year, 50,000 gifts were pur-
chased through the Christmas catalog, and
we have heard countless testimonies re-
garding the widespread impact these gifts
have had on families and villages alike.
For those of you who have never seen the
catalog, you are in for a real treat. Some-
thing as simple as a sewing machine can
become an entire source of income for one
family. Warm winter clothing for our mis-
sionaries allows them to work in adverse
conditions. But I don’t want to spoil all the
fun of seeing the catalog for yourself.
For those of you with children, the catalog
is a great way to teach them about the true
spirit of Christmas. Jesus laid down not
only his physical life, but all of His glory as
well, so that we might have life! The sacri-
fice of a gift for those in need is truly small
compared to the great sacrifice of our
Heavenly Father. And praise the Lord that
(out of His mercy) all of our sacrifices for
Him are temperate! (And just a shadow
compared to the glory to come!)
Here is just one story of the powerful im-
pact these gifts can have:
Gowri was a struggling widow with three
children. She had great difficulty meet-
ing even the most basic daily needs of
her family – until she received a pair of
chickens through the Christmas cata-
log. Shortly thereafter the hen produced
ten chicks – five of which were sufficient
to provide for her family’s basic daily
needs. The other five chicks she was
able to sell to pay for life-saving medical
treatment for her daughter who other-
wise would have died. The simple gift of
a pair of chickens not only helped a
widow provide for her family, but saved
a child’s life and impacted that family
for all eternity.
If you would like to bless a missionary or a
family with a gift, please visit
www.gfa.org/gift. A pair of chickens is
only $11. Aren’t they adorable!
You can follow us more regularly on
Summur’s blog at
www.mattandsummur.blogspot.com. It’s
good clean fun for the whole family.
Likewise, we can be reached via email @
mattbraley@gfa.org or
mrsbraley@gmail.com
Or even more directly @ (209) 918-8096 or
(209) 275-8078.
We would love to hear from you, just drop
us an email or give us a ring. We miss you
all, and as always, we thank you for your
prayers and support.
If you would like to support us, you can
make all gifts payable to GFA (thus tax-
deductable) and put our employee # in the
memo of the check. Our # is 6266. You
can also set up support by calling 1-800-
WIN-ASIA.
Oh, did I mention you can get bunnies for a
family too! Only $11 for a pair, but you can
bet that pair will make more pairs ;).