Deputation Notes

June – August 2005

^“But I will sacrifice unto thee with the voice of thanksgiving; I will pay that that I have vowed. Salvation is of the LORD.” Jonah 2:9

This verse comes at the end of the prayer that Jonah made from the belly of the great fish. He had come to the point that he must do what God has told him to do, even if he did not really like the idea. Yes, God sent Jonah to a wicked, vile city of Nineveh, a city that was filled with the enemies of Israel. Yet, it was a city filled with people that needed to hear the message of God and His mercy. Jonah had to come to a point when he realized that he was not the deliverer just the messenger for “Salvation is of the Lord!”

We are thankful that the Lord has called us to serve Him. The more we find out about Lusaka, Zambia the more it seems somewhat like Nineveh. A city filled with 1.5 million people. While we may not consider them enemies, we are certain that many will not welcome our presence. Yet, just like Jonah we must understand that it is the Lord sending us to do His bidding in Lusaka, we are but messengers of the Gospel for “Salvation is of the Lord”! We look forward to the day to be ministering among these people.

Deputation continues to be a great blessing. While sometimes we face little difficulties along the way (kids getting sick in the van, gas prices keep going up, etc) our Lord never fails to meet our needs. God has supplied almost 53% of our needed support. (No we have not lost any support since a couple letters ago we were at 57%, but with moving to a different country GFA has readjusted our needed support for Zambia.) We have had the privilege to be in over 100 different churches on deputation so far. During this past quarter we have been in Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Virginia, and West Virginia. What a blessing to be able to share the burden God has given us for the lost in Africa. Our meeting schedule continues to fill for the winter months but we still have many dates available.

Since our last prayer letter, our address has changed slightly. New address is 4720 Avon Lake Road, Litchfield OH 44253. Our teammates have changed as well. The Todd Beaman family has been added to the GFA Zambia team. The Hafler family continues to settle into Lusaka and begin ministry there. The Knipe family continues on deputation. We are thankful to have such a great team of families to minister with in Zambia.

Prayer Requests:

- Meetings: This next quarter we will be in Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia and West Virginia

- Support: Pray for that next supporting church.

- Outfit & Passage: As we continue to consider what we will need in order to setup a household in Zambia and how to get those items there.

- Health & Safety: We are entering the fall and winter months with the colds and sickness they bring. And for the many miles traveled in our van from church to church.

Zealous for Zambia,

John, Sophie, Joshua, Caleb and Becky Smith