matt on a mission

matt on a mission we are a mission-driven, faith-centered team called to spread joy & lift up those in need in our local community & abroad.

we strive to be salt & light and serve others with our time, talents, & treasures to leave a lasting legacy—all for the glory of God

21/07/2026

day 1 VBS photo drop. reflections to come later. heading in for day 2 of 🤗😘🙌🏼🪨📄✂️

19/07/2026

good morning from addis! our team touched down mid-morning yesterday in addis ababa, the capital city of ethiopia 🇪🇹

after dropping off our luggage at the guest house, we had lunch at friendship park. and since one of old go-to coffee shops in the old train station is temporarily closed for construction, we tried out a new coffee shop in the city (always helps stave off a bit of the jet lag ☕️). we came back to the guest house to unpack a combined 36 bags (close to 1800 lbs!) of clothing and donations and enjoyed an amazing homemade evening meal by the guest house staff. evening debrief and devotional and then our first night of sleep.

when i walked through the front door of the guest house for the third year in a row, it was like coming home. last year it felt familiar being here a second time. but this third trip, it felt comfortable—that kind of comfort you get when you go back to the house you grew up in and stay in your old bedroom. grateful for the amazing staff here and a place to rest and restore in the days ahead. familiar sounds, smells, and views that make the heart feel grounded.

watching the team interact and share has been one of my joys so far. hearing the profound insights and wisdom flow so effortlessly from the younger teens on our trip reminds me to stay present and deeply listen.

today we will experience an international church and spend the afternoon and evening preparing and organizing for the busy week ahead.

please continue to keep us in prayer ‘as we go’ 🙏❤️

hey friends and family—i’m heading to the airport in a few hours for the long trek back to ethiopia. 🇪🇹 i keep thinking ...
17/07/2026

hey friends and family—i’m heading to the airport in a few hours for the long trek back to ethiopia. 🇪🇹

i keep thinking about how many of you have been walking this journey with me. i’m honestly overwhelmed by it. thank you for following, for encouraging, for praying, and for supporting. i’m full of gratitude for all of you being in my life. it’s an honor to carry each of you into the places God calls.

and a special thank you to my mama Mary Walker for making this possible three years in a row. for holding down my home in ohio. for the extra grandma time with droolius maximus. 🐶 and for giving me a safe, comfortable place to land when i come back emotionally and physically poured out. i couldn’t do this without you. love you, mama.❤️

as i think about what lies ahead over the next 10 days, three simple words keep coming up—“yes i will.”

and i want to encourage you…actually, challenge you…to ask yourself what might be waiting on the other side of *your* yes.

i’m not calling you out—i’m calling you up, my friends. what if you were brave enough to take that leap? to boldly proclaim? to step out? to start walking differently?

i feel all the feels in the weeks leading up to ethiopia. and in the 48 hours before, they’re on max— anxiety, doubt, overwhelm, fatigue, uneasiness, OCD organization, and sometimes even a heavy heart. but on the other side of these are also excitement, joy, gratitude, and faith.

maybe that’s the point? saying “yes i will”—not because we’re sure or comfortable—but because we don’t ever do it alone! great family. trusted friends. and a mighty God that never fails.

my prayer for you is that you will boldly proclaim “yes i will” from your highest mountain and your lowest valley.

much love and many blessings,
matt (on a mission)

twice a year i get to do one of my favorite things: pack quart‑size gift bags for my sponsored kids in ethiopia. 🇪🇹 no p...
15/07/2026

twice a year i get to do one of my favorite things: pack quart‑size gift bags for my sponsored kids in ethiopia. 🇪🇹 no postal system, no easy way to reach them—just these tiny windows when Love Your Neighbor mission teams travel.

this round’s lineup: Dr. Bronner's toothpaste, bamboo toothbrushes, fuzzy socks, Arsenal stickers, a mini jesus, YumEarth lollipops, and UNO & uno flip deluxe. the uno tins were way bigger than advertised… and absolutely not quart‑bag friendly. so i removed the zipper, summoned my 6 years of engineering studies + advanced degree, and tetris’d a gallon of joy into a quart of space. packing tape was the final boss (engineers always keep a safety factor 😂).

but the real joy is writing each kid a letter—telling them they’re loved, prayed for, and that i’m proud of them.

hoping these tiny things bring big smiles. ❤️😁

14/07/2026

love this! amazing, sore! 💪🏻❤️

in 10 days, i’ll be heading back to ethiopia 🇪🇹 for my third mission trip in three years. it’s hard to explain what that...
08/07/2026

in 10 days, i’ll be heading back to ethiopia 🇪🇹 for my third mission trip in three years.

it’s hard to explain what that place has done to my heart…the kids i sponsor and hundreds more smiling faces, the single mamas making for a better life for their families, the staff who pour out more love in a day than most of us do in a year. it’s become family.

this year i’m going back with one simple plan—presence. just showing up with open hands and a willing heart. 🫴🏻❤️

our team’s fundraising deadline is this friday, july 10th. our team has some funds left to raise, and thanks to amazing family and friends, i’m currently 79% toward my personal goal!

if you feel led to pray, follow along, encourage, or support financially, i’d be grateful. no pressure—just an invitation to be part of the story.

🙏 pray
if you’re praying for me and our team, tell me—it means more than you know.

👍🏻 follow
if you want to see updates while we’re there and hear the stories of how God moved in and through our team, you can follow along on my matt on a mission socials or mattonamission substack blog [link in bio]

💲support
and if you feel led to support financially, we fundraise as a team, so anything i raise supports the whole team. here are a few ways to give. i’ll drop the QR codes in the comments below

online tax deductible (church site)
• https://my.fellowshipcity.org/page/473?GroupId=75570&GroupMemberId=143692&ParticipationMode=1

direct (no fees, not tax deductible, transferred to church fund)
• paypal: https://paypal.me/mattonamissionorg
• cashapp: https://cash.app/$mattonamissionorg
• venmo: https://venmo.com/u/mattonamissionorg

much love and many blessings,
matt (on a mission)

07/07/2026

this project hits deep for me. ❤️

i grew up at the end of a road with a dairy farm in rural upstate ny. a few summers, it was one of my multiple jobs—raking hay on the tractor in the field, stacking bales in the hay mound, shoveling out silage from inside the silo, chipping mortar from old concrete silo blocks for a rebuild, cleaning stalls and cow 💩.

i still remember the smell of earth and animals. i still smile when i sit on my mom’s front porch (in that same house i grew up in) and catch that old familiar smell drifting across the fields. it was super hard work—the kind that teaches you resilience before you even know the word. and i’ve got mad respect for the people who are the fabric of american farming!

i didn’t realize how much those years shaped me until i saw widowed mothers in ethiopia stepping into the same kind of strength, building something that will outlive them.

microloans + livestock + training = generational change! empower a mother, lift a community!!

this is the kind of mission i can get behind. if this hits close to home for you here in the 🇺🇸, imagine shaping that same change in villages, in families, in future generations in ethiopia 🇪🇹 who would have otherwise never had access to build a better life.

join me in supporting this special Life Center Ethiopia project [link in comments]

put me in front of 300 medical imaging sales reps or physicians, dressed in business formal, talking about AI, advanced ...
06/07/2026

put me in front of 300 medical imaging sales reps or physicians, dressed in business formal, talking about AI, advanced visualization, commercial strategy, new product launches, or healthcare access & equity…and yeah, i’m a little nervous, but i’m in my wheelhouse.

put me in front of 300 ethiopian orphans ages four through eighteen, wearing a crazy scientist wig, goggles, a hawaiian shirt, and a lab coat… speaking (not in their language) about God’s redeeming grace and His omnipotence…and i’m a full-on nervous wreck.

maybe because one is something i’ve done for 25+ years and i know my stuff. and the other is something i’d never done—and the stakes felt orders of magnitude higher. heart work vs hard work. souls vs success.

last year, on our mission trip to ethiopia, i got to join my friend matthew—“the professor”—as his young, eager, funny, clumsy assistant, “beaker.”

stepping out in faith, out of my comfort zone, and speaking life into those little ones at vacation bible school (with a little science and a lot of humor) was one of the most joyful things i’ve ever done. two skits, two days, two different hawaiian shirts and glasses. same message: God sees us and accepts us exactly as we are—mistakes and all—and He has created each of us with a purpose.

this year, professor and beaker will make another appearance at VBS with Life Center Ethiopia. we’re excited to hand the torches to two other team members and watch the kids’ faces light up from the crowd.

this weekend i got to walk through this year's skit script on bravery and the message of Joshua 1:9, add in-line sound effects, and build a playlist of goofy, joyful audio to help bring the message to life for these littles. maybe i’m just a big kid? or maybe it’s the joy of preparing to speak life into them again—this time with some fun audio—but honestly, it was one of the highlights of my weekend.

how fitting is our theme verse this year?

“Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.” [Joshua 1:9 NIV]

whether in your work doing what you’ve spent a lifetime mastering, or standing in front of hundreds of faces speaking the gospel, the truth is the same: God is with you.

step out.

may you find peace, comfort, and courage as you step out in faith this week into whatever God is calling you into.

much love and many blessings,
matt (on a mission)

Address

Addis Ababa

Website

, , ,

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when matt on a mission posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Contact The Organization

Send a message to matt on a mission:

Shortcuts

Share

Category