MATTHEW & CHRISTINA COLSON
MISSIONARIES TO THE PEOPLE OF CHUUK, MICRONESIA
MARCH 2023
Hello from Chuuk!
Christina and I left Guam a few days ago to come down to Chuuk and help fix one of our radio antennas. Unfortunately, during some heavy rain a couple of weeks ago, one of the antennas was damaged. Thank the Lord, and all of our many helpers, we were able to lower the tower, fix the antenna, and raise the tower back up again without any problems! The transmitter is now back to 100% and people are calling in to tell us the signal is clear once again.
It was great being back here in Chuuk for a few days! It’s always good to see everyone. After the COVID restrictions finally lifted towards the end of last year, Christina and I were able to come here and stay through Christmas. We then went back up to Guam to continue working there. We are hoping to expand our ministries in Guam, Hawaii and other places where there are Chuukese communities. Over half of the Chuukese populations now lives abroad. My parents are still full-time in Chuuk, so Christina and I would like to take this opportunity to reach even more Chuukese people for the Lord.
Our online ministry has also been going strong. Every week, praise the Lord, we see people saved through that ministry as well. Christina and I cannot go anywhere without Chuukese people recognizing us from my Facebook live sermons. Everywhere we go, we are constantly having Chuukese folks come up to us and tell us how much they appreciate the sermons and Bible lessons that we put out online. We are always inviting new Chuukese folks to attend the services in person too!
Christina and I had planned on going to Hawaii for a few weeks next month, in order for me to also see about starting up my Chuukese prison ministry again, as well as having some doctors’ appointments taken care of. But unfortunately, the tickets between Guam and Honolulu are extremely overpriced. In fact, it’s only about $75 more to fly all the way from Guam to the US mainland than it is to just go on one flight to Hawaii! Lord willing, when the time is right, we will be able to try again.
We recently had a few surprise expenses come up as well (including this trip to come fix the radio antenna 😄). Unfortunately, our truck needed to go into the shop. I thought it just needed to have some u-joints changed, but it ended up being the driveshaft. $1300 later, it’s fixed! Praise the Lord that there was a machine shop on the island that was able to repair the part. The cost to order a new one would have been almost $3000!
Also, please be praying for the Clingaman family. As you may have seen in other updates, their son tragically passed away after a swimming accident just a few weeks ago. They had only arrived in Guam last December to start a military outreach ministry. It is a very sad situation, and I know they would appreciate your prayers.
Thank you all for your continued prayer and support! Christina and I would not be able to do all of these things without your help. Every day we thank the Lord for friends like you.
In Jesus, Matthew and Christina