Deputation Notes

March - May 2003

 

“Faithful is he that calleth you, who also will do it.  Brethren, pray for us.”

I Thess. 5:24-25

 

Dear Family and Friends,

 

We chose the above verses to place on our prayer card.  This choice was not by chance or coincidence, but they are Scriptures that mean a great deal to us.  The Lord has called us to be missionaries in Kenya, and we trust Him to accomplish this in us.  As it states in verse 25, we ask that you would pray for us, for without your prayers our ministry will be greatly hindered.

 

In mid October we were accepted by Gospel Fellowship Association (GFA) to be missionaries in Kenya.  We spent the next few months getting all our materials together: prayer cards, pamphlets, letterheads, and our audio/visual presentation.  Each of these items took a surprising amount of time to put together, but with the Lord’s help and guidance they were accomplished.  Deputation officially started in our home church, Trinity Bible Church of Greer, on March 2, 2003.  Since then we have had two other meetings; one in Sumter, SC and one at the church in which John grew up in Bartonville, IL.  The last week of May was spent at the Wilds Christian Camp in Brevard, NC where we attended the GFA Annual Conference.  It was a blessed week of encouragement, good sermons, and mission workshops all in a relaxing atmosphere of the mountains.

 

This next month of June will find us for a week in Ohio where John will visit a pastor’s conference (hoping to make additional contacts for meetings while spending time with them around God’s Word) while Sophie and the boys will have a chance to visit with her parents.  John will also be spending much time on the phone, calling pastors and trying to line up meetings.  We have eight more meetings scheduled, all of which are in South Carolina so far.

 

Prayer Requests:

1. Family health: boys as they visit many children in various nurseries and Sophie as, Lord willing, there will be an addition to the family in December.

2. Safety as we travel to Ohio in June.

3. Opportunities to minister with God’s people and witness to the unsaved.

 

Your missionaries to Kenya,

 

John, Sophie, Joshua and Caleb Smith