Both Marla and I grew up in godly Christian homes. Marla came to know the Lord as a young child; I (Matt) made a profession of salvation at a young age, but I did not know the Lord personally. It was not until my first year of Bible college, when I came under the conviction of my sin, that I trusted Christ and was truly converted.
I volunteered for missionary service at the end of high school and became convinced of God’s calling upon my life during the years of my college preparation. Marla, on the other hand, was called to missions after her college graduation, during a mission conference at her home church. We began dating soon after, and in 1986 we were married. The following year we joined Baptist Mid-Missions for service in Taiwan.
Marla and I served on the field of Taiwan for 33 years. During that time, the Lord blessed us with three children, who (by God’s grace) are continuing to follow the Lord in their adult lives.
After arriving on the field in 1990, we learned Mandarin Chinese and studied Chinese culture; this equipped us to evangelize, teach, and preach God’s word to the Taiwanese people. In 2002 we planted Cornerstone Baptist Church in the southern port city of Kaohsiung. Today, Cornerstone Baptist Church is a healthy congregation that is faithful to the Lord and actively evangelizing its community.
In 2022 we began to sense that God was drawing our ministry in Taiwan to a close. We returned to the United States in 2023 and began earnestly seeking God’s direction for our next ministry assignment. God soon led us to consider the needs of a BMM mission church in Katy, Texas, where Gerald Hawk serves as the missionary pastor.
Team Katy
Gerald and Julie Hawk have invited Marla and me to enter into a partnership ministry with them for the revitalization of Good News Baptist Church. We are excited to watch as God melds our two families together into a ministry unit for His glory.
Matt is gifted in the teaching and preaching of God’s word, both publicly and privately; Marla is gifted in music and serving. Our experience in cross-cultural ministry will be an additional asset to the team, enabling us to minister the gospel to this multi-cultural community. We are trusting Christ to build His Church as we use our gifts for Him.
Our goal is to see Good News Baptist Church achieve independent status in eight to ten years. This goal demands growing the church membership through evangelistic outreach and developing spiritual leadership in the congregation (particularly men) through discipleship ministries, personal training, counselling, and mentoring. We believe that this is an attainable goal and hope to achieve it by the time that Marla and I reach retirement age in 2032
Good News Baptist Church
Good News Baptist Church was planted by BMM missionary Leon Willover in the 1980’s and has been pastored by several BMM missionaries through the years. Gerald and Julie Hawk came to GNBC in 2014. Gerald previously pastored established churches in the Midwest; his wife, Julie, is fluent in Spanish.
Under Gerald’s leadership the church grew and made significant progress toward self-supporting status. However, a series of recent setbacks from COVID and a church conflict has impacted the viability of the church. Current church attendance is in the thirties and the congregation lacks deacons. The church worships in an aging modular building, which is approaching the end of its useful life.
On the positive side, there is a small band of committed members who desire to see GNBC grow and reach its community with the gospel. Furthermore, the church owns a four-acre property, which is debt-free, and has approximately a third of the necessary funds required to build a new sanctuary and educational wing; a building plan for this project already exists. Good News Baptist Church reflects the multi-ethnic composition of its community. Since there are few fundamental Baptist churches in the area, Katy needs the presence of this church. Revitalization will equip it to effectively reach Katy’s ethnic communities with the good news of salvation in Christ.
Katy, Texas
Katy, Texas is a suburban community of Houston that is located about 45 minutes west of the city center on US Interstate 10. The greater Katy area falls within parts of three separate counties and contains twenty different zip codes. The current population of this area is about 390,000 and is growing at an average annual rate of 5%.1
Katy truly is a multi-ethnic community. On any given day at the public parks, one can hear African languages, Asian languages, and Spanish being spoken, as well as English. The Latino population comes not only from Mexico, but also from Cuba, El Salvador, Honduras, Peru, and other Latin American nations. In addition to African Americans who are present, there is a large contingent of African immigrants coming from nations such as Nigeria, Kenya, and others. Finally, Chinese, Taiwanese, East Indians, Vietnamese, Japanese, and Thai are also strongly represented here.
| Katy ISD student demographics2 | |
| Hispanic | 35.3% |
| White | 25.6% |
| Asian | 17.7% |
| African American or African Immigrant | 15.3% |
| Native American | 0.2% |
| Pacific Islander | 0.1% |
| Two or More races | 4.7% |
These statistics indicate that Katy is a mission field in our own backyard! Each of these people groups have their own distinct cultures, languages, and religions. We have contact with Buddhists, Muslims, Catholics, Hindus and nominal Christians from every Protestant denomination.
Please prayerfully consider partnering with Marla and me, as we work together with the Hawks, in revitalizing Good News Baptist Church and mak-ing disciples of all nations. Because the cost of living in the US is now higher than that of Taiwan, we must raise additional monthly support. Will you consider making a ten-year commitment to the financial support of our ministry?
FOOTNOTES:
[1.] Community Impact website. https://communityimpact.com/houston/katy-north/government/2023/12/07/katy-area-continues-growing-becoming-more-diverse-2022-american-community-survey-results-show/. Viewed on September 14, 2024.
[2.] Katy Independent School District website. https://publicbiapps.katyisd.org/PublicDashboard/PublicDashboard.aspx. Viewed on September 12, 2024.