Special Prayer Update - Feb. 15, 2008

Greetings from Queretaro! We would appreciate your prayers for us this morning/afternoon. God has opened up a door for me to share the Word of God during two live 5 minute spots on local radio and cable TV stations a little later today – between 12 and 1:30 CST. This may turn into a regular opportunity for our church. The neat thing is that we are paying absolutely nothing for these times! God opened the door through our national co-worker, Mauricio Perez. The spot will be called “The Proverbs Corner” and will be focused on practical applications from the book of Proverbs. I will also be allowed to give our phone numbers if people are interested in studying the Bible further.

Please pray that:
- I would have clarity of thought and that only and all of what God wants me to say will come out of my mouth
- My nerves would not get the best of me
- This might be a continuing opportunity for us
- We might see much fruit as a result of this opportunity

On another note, we praise the Lord that we have found a new place to meet as a church starting in March. Thanks so much for your prayers about this. The place has a lot of potential for us to consider buying in the future. We will keep you updated on this as it develops.

We also would appreciate your prayers for the health of our family. One person or another has been sick in our house with pink eye, ear infection, and/or throat infection for the last three weeks, and we have had several doctor office visits.

Thanks for your prayers! These are exciting days we live in!

Bryan, for our whole family

God's Care and Protection

It was around 8:00 PM and we were traveling down a dark and dangerous two lane highway when the car began to bump and shimmy. How would God help us through this one?

This past Thursday we traveled to Texcoco for the farewell meal of a fellow CAM Mexico missionary, Cindy Bishop, who worked with my parents in that town for a number of years. We stopped by San Juan del Rio to pick up fellow missionaries Paul & Grace Becker who traveled with us. All was going well, and we were close to getting to Texcoco when we came to the realization that we were driving in Mexico City on a Thursday! For us this is bad news! In order to help with the pollution everybody has a day that they are not allowed to drive in Mexico City according to the last number on their license plate - our day is Thursday, and it had not even crossed our mind until Bryan saw a couple of police cruisers at a toll booth. That is when we started praying in earnest that God would cause the police not to look at our vehicle. If you get stopped for driving on your day off it can be a fine up to $300 US and your car can get impounded. Thankfully we made it through the danger zone without getting stopped, and we enjoyed a wonderful time at the goodbye party.

We decided not to risk going home the same way we went, so we had a take the long way home. The long way home takes us 4 hours instead of 2, and some of the road is two lane through hills and dangerous curves. It is also the preferred route of many truckers as there are no tolls. We got off around 5 PM, and all was going well until we hit the two lane stretch of highway after the town of Ixmiquilpan. It was dark, and there was construction on both sides of the highway - in other words there were 2 to 3 foot drop-offs on either side of the road with just white painted rocks as warning every 15 feet. All of a sudden the car began to bump and shimmy and we realized that we had a flat tire. Thankfully, just as we were looking for a place to get off the road God provided one! There was a wide spot only on our side of the road where we were able to pull off.

Paul and I got the jack and tools out and began to take the tire off, only to find out that one of the lug nuts was almost completely stripped. We tried every tool that we had in the van that might possibly work, to no avail. We decided that one of us should go and try to find help. Just a little ways up the road there was a little town of sorts, and a few small businesses. The first place I came to was a taco joint, and they said that there was a tire repair shop just up the road, but that he was closed. I decided to head up that way anyway to see what I could find, and as they had mentioned, it was closed. A little further ahead I found an electrician - I might add a very drunk electrician - working on a vehicle. I asked him if he had the tools to help me get a stripped lug nut off, and he said, "I don't, but you can ask the tire repair guy. He just pulled up to his shop." I turned around, and sure enough there was a truck there now!

He got some tools together and drove his truck back to where our van was. He had the lug nut off in a flash, and put the spare donut on for us. We went to his shop, and he was able to repair the tire. Earlier in the week when I was driving on a dirt/rock road the tire had been punctured pretty badly by a rock. It had been repaired at that point, but obviously not well.

During our time there another man came up to the tire shop and started talking with us. In the course of conversation he asked us what we do and he found out we were missionaries. I asked him if he knew of any Christian churches in the area to which he replied in a rather sarcastic way, "Why don't you ask 'brother Daniel' here. He could tell you." The tire repair man just smiled. He was a believer! He did an excellent job on the tire, and only wanted to charge us $200 pesos (about $20 US). We insisted on giving him more, and he finally took it. We exchanged telephone and address information - he has two sisters who live in our city of Queretaro - who knows, maybe God will use this to bring more people into his family.

As we look back on everything we see God's protection and care in many ways:
1) We decided to go the back way because of our no-drive day in Mexico City. The tire that went flat was a tire that had been damaged earlier in the week, and probably would have blow out either way. Had it blow out on the highway it could have been much more dangerous. We were going fairly slow when it happened.
2) Just where it happened there was a place to get off the road safely when just before and just after there was no safe way off the highway due to construction.
3) It happened just before we got to the curvy, hilly part of the highway where there are also very few safe places to get off.
4) There was a tire repair shop not to far down the road, where the tire repairman was just getting back to his shop from another job.
5) The Beckers were with us, and were able to stay with Lori and the kids while I went to get help. It can be dangerous after dark in that area. Having them there with us added assurance and safety in a rather tense situation.
6) The tire repairman, Daniel, was a Christian and treated us nicely, did his job well, and charged us very fairly.
7) We trust we were able to be an encouragement to Daniel. Being a believer in that area and environment can be very difficult.
8) We may have at least two more contacts in our city of Queretaro as a result of the incident!

We made it home by 11:00 PM, thankful for the way God protected and cared for us and worked everything out for His glory. Why do we doubt at times?

Smith Prayer & Praise - Jan. 2008

Your prayers for us make a big difference! Let us briefly share how God has worked in amazing ways and what you can be praying for:

How God has worked:

1. HE has brought increased attendance at the New Birth Bible Church in this new year – some new people are coming, and some former members are coming back. There also seems to be a renewed interest for members to get involved in serving in various ways at the church.
2. HE has given us great opportunities to meet and get to know our neighbors – our kids have been great in opening doors for this to happen
3. HE has protected in our travels, including a late night experience with a flat tire – God provided a good place for us to get off the road, a Christian tire repair man just down the road, the help and encouragement of a fellow missionary couple who was traveling with us, etc. It was a neat experience! Read more about it here: http://www.smithconnection.com/2008/01/gods_care_and_protection_1.html
4. HE has provided for our needs – at the beginning of December we were about $4,100 behind in our ministry expense account. We made the need known through a prayer letter, and God has provided $4,200 for this need in the last month!

You can be praying:

1. That God would lead us to the right place to meet as a church – we will have to be out of the party hall where we have been meeting by the end of February, and we would like to find a place that we can have all week long instead of just on Sundays. We would also like to pay around the same amount per month as we are currently paying in order to continue saving for the purchase of a property.
2. That God would do a miracle in Gerardo and Ivonne’s marriage – this couple has struggled over the last several years, and we would love to see them pull ahead in their marriage. God could powerfully use them together for His glory. Pray especially that Ivonne would be able to have her eyes opened to the current reality and future hope. God has allowed to spend significant amounts of time wit them recently – Bryan with Gerardo and Lori with Ivonne – and we are praying for a miracle.
3. That God would give us wisdom in our ministries – we feel overwhelmed at times with the current responsibilities that God has given us, but HE is working in every situation. Our main prayer these days is for wisdom.
4. That God would bring real unity and peace among the Bible churches of Mexico – especially pray for the 10 Bible churches in our local region – that God would help us, missionaries and nationals, be Christ-like as we create an environment of cooperation, common vision, and community.

We hope to get a picture update on our website soon. We will let you know when it happens.

Praising Our Amazing God,

Bryan, Lori, Kendra, Tara, & Ben

Prayer Letter - December 2007

Click on the link below for either the WORD or PDF version of our December 2007 prayer letter:

WORD: Download file PDF: Download file

Smith Photo Update - Fall 2007

We have posted some new photos of our family and ministry:

http://www.smithconnection.com/2007/11/photos_fall_2007.html

EXCITING NEWS!

> Benjamin’s Faith:

We are currently getting some relief aid together for people in the state of Tabasco where they have suffered much flooding. Our church is planning to send some things down along with other churches in our area. As a family we are getting some kids’ care packages together which include a donated t-shirt, toy, and children’s gospel tract. During the process of making the packages we read the tract as a family, and Ben wanted to trust in Jesus as his Savior! We talked with him more, and he decided to take that step of faith. We praise God for this, and ask you to pray for his continued spiritual growth.

> Cheryl & Chris’s Re-dedication:

God has been doing some awesome things in the lives of Lori’s sister, Cheryl, and her husband, Chris. They will be having a re-dedication ceremony for their marriage on December 8, and have invited us to join them in this celebration. We are looking forward to being in PA for a few days at the beginning of December to celebrate God’s faithfulness with Chris & Cheryl. We will also get to be together with all of Lori’s family as well as attend our home church, Calvary Bible Church, on December 9.

Thanks for your prayers for us! God is working here in Mexico
and in our family!

THANK YOU!
Bryan, Lori, Kendra, Tara, & Ben

Photos - Fall 2007

Here is a link for some recent family and ministry photos:

http://picasaweb.google.com/bryanandlori/Fall2007

Fall 2007

If you prefer, you can see a smaller version of the slide show right here on our site:

Smith Prayer & Praise - Oct./Nov. 2007

We so appreciate your prayers for us! Here are a few current prayer items:

1. Tomorrow morning Bryan and Lori will be driving out to Dallas, Texas for a leadership development seminar. Our children will be well cared for by Bryan’s parents in Texcoco, Mexico. Please pray for safety in our travels, that we would learn what God wants us to learn during our meetings, and for our border crossings.
2. We praise God for good field council meetings that Bryan was part of earlier this week. Please pray for us as we continue to adapt to our circuit director ministry along with our church planting ministry – that we would have a good balance in our ministries and family life and that God would give us wisdom in all situations and opportunities.
3. Pray for Jaquelin and Edgar as Bryan counsels and studies with them – that they would soon see the importance of going to church and meeting other believers. Please pray for others that we are currently studying with as well, that God would cause growth in each one.
4. Praise God for a recent missions conference put on by FAMex and Envoy for the Bajio circuit churches to teach churches how to be involved in missions and start missions programs in their churches. We praise God for what He is doing in raising up missionaries to go from Mexico to other parts of Mexico and the world with the Gospel.
5. Pray for unity and growth in the New Birth Bible Church – two objectives for the church in the new year will be evangelism and pastoral care of the body.
6. Pray for the “Kit of Life” project that Emilio and Christy from our church are heading up. They are assembling kits that include a DVD, Gospel of John, a visual gospel tract, a pen, and a bookmark all geared to sharing the Gospel. They are making 1,000 of these kits to start with, and the church here will begin to purchase and hand them out. Pray that God would use these efforts for many to come to Christ. The hope is that other churches in Mexico will get behind the project as well, and use this as a tool for evangelism.

Thanks so much for your continued prayers and support for our ministry. God is using us together as a team to reach Mexico for Christ! We will post some pictures on the web in the next couple of weeks, and will let you know when we do.

God Bless,

Bryan, Lori, Kendra, Tara, & Ben