Our Story — The Mathews in Peru

Now that you all know that we are going to Peru and the work that we hope to do there, some of you may be wondering how God brought us to this point. So for those of you who may not know our story, I want to share with you the great things God has done to prepare us for this work.

Peru has truly been a LONG time coming. God has been preparing us, both together and separately, since we were young. If we rewind back to Cody’s middle school days, we can see the early stirrings of Cody’s heart for missions. It was at this age that he first felt the Lord’s call to spread the gospel among the nations. Since then, Cody has always had a burden for the lost, near and far.

When I met Cody, it was through school and church. I was 16; he was 17. The very first conversation I had with him was about what we wanted to do with our lives. Cody told me he wanted to be a missionary and travel with his family across the world to tell people about Jesus. I immediately had a longing to go too…..and to be a part of his family (wink, wink). I had never met a young man that age so passionate about the Lord and actually wanting to serve Him with his life. It was at that moment, I believe, I truly fell in love. Since then, the Lord has proven that love to be fruitful by growing us together in love for Christ and each other.

It was not long until our crazy, young selves talked of marriage and plans of the future. We dreamed of going to college and getting our degrees so that we could go on the mission field. We even went with a group of other believers on a mission trip to Brazil, which only increased our excitement about our future. Ours plans were well thought out and seemingly good. But God had other plans…..BETTER plans (I can say that now, looking back).

Cody went off to college to major in missions. Our plans were coming to fruition! But God didn’t have plans for Cody to finish college. Three semesters later He called him back home, to a church plant started by his mentor while he was in high school. While it was confusing to us at the time, God was going to use this church and this brother in the Lord to grow and stretch Cody in ways that a classroom never could.

Cody and Salomon, his translator, on first trip to Peru

When Cody came back home, we began to plan our wedding. In the winter of 2009 we were married! We still talked and prayed about pursuing missions and even returning back to school. Cody even prayed about Peru (he went on a missions trip there before we were married and never stopped talking about it). But the doors were never opened.

About a year and a half after we were married, Cody felt a burden for the inner city. There was a specific neighborhood that he couldn’t get out of his mind and would even go out and do evangelism with some other men from church. We prayed about it and started looking for places to rent in the area. God basically just laid one right on our laps that was in the middle of the neighborhood that he was evangelizing in. We could literally throw a football from our front porch to the basketball courts of the neighborhood community center. We moved in and started the work.

Kids from our neighborhood in the inner-city with Jane

Not long after we moved, Cody got a part-time job with a missions agency as a finance secretary (which was hilarious to us since Cody had no experience in finance and also wasn’t very fond of math in general). The man who hired him knew how unqualified Cody was, but wanted to step out in faith and give him the job. At this time, Cody also was hired on part-time at our church.

So here we were, missionaries in our own city and Cody learning the ins and outs of a missions organization. We were satisfied and excited with where the Lord was leading us. For the first time since we had known each other, we were happy to stay in Pensacola forever. We loved our church, we loved the work here and we loved being close to family. We had no desire to leave. We now see this season as a training ground for what was to come. God grew, inspired and pressed us into Himself more than we could have imagined.

While we were living in our downtown duplex, Cody reconnected with his translator that he had on a mission trip he took to Peru before we were married. His translator introduced him to a pastor in Cusco who ran a seminary. The pastor eventually asked Cody to come and do a week-long conference at the seminary. Cody ended up going to Peru to teach at least once a year since then. It was through these trips that Cody saw the need for teachers and resources in Peru. He initially wanted to train people here to go and be sent out. But soon enough, God said “No, you go.”

So here we are, selling our house that we only lived in for less than two years (that we honestly thought we would raise our kids in), and leaving our beloved church, family, and city, to go invest in this work. We are so amazed in where the Lord has brought us through the years to bring us to this point. To see His steady work and growth in us has encouraged us to move forward. We are confident in His provisions both spiritually and physically to accomplish His plans in Peru and in our lives. Thank you for your faithful prayers and support. Each step we are taking feels so huge and impossible, but it is so comforting knowing of the numerous people lifting up our daily needs to the Lord.

Many thanks and blessings,

Jessica