We are far enough away to be safe from the effects of the earthquake but some of our neighbors are concerned about the possibility of a nuclear meltdown and wind carrying radiation to our area. Thanks for your prayers for us and the Japanese people during this time.
March Discipleship Retreat this weekend.
We are heading off to camp for a few days, ending in the March retreat. I think the numbers will be low this time, partly because the Obiyama church has started the discipleship training at their church. I am really enjoying both of these monthly training times. It is exciting to see Christians learning and growing.
It is still cold in the mountains so we expect a few shivers at camp, but the kids love the park next door and we all enjoy the change of pace from life in the city. We are looking forward to a day of relaxing before everyone arrives for the retreat. Thanks for your prayers!
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January is a cold one!
We are staying around the heater at the Smith house these days. It is too cold inside and outside to do much away from one. We have had snow on several days in December and January, that’s unusual for our area.
We have a couple of new Bible studies starting or being discussed right now. We are praying people will commit to studying God’s Word and understand their need for a Savior. As a group we are looking at new ways of making contacts this year and better ways to connect the people we meet to other Christians. As it was in Jesus’ day, the harvest is plentiful but the laborers are few!
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Happy New Year!
A new year! Ahh. New beginnings. New challenges. The unknown. Yet, as we were reminded at Christmas, Emmanuel is God with us. We never face anything alone. Praise Him!
One thing that has been exciting to me recently is seeing our children apply biblical truths they are learning. We learned Psalm 103:11 which talks about God’s great mercy for those who fear Him. I explained what mercy is and what it looks like. Later, after a temper tantrum at the park, one of our children was promised discipline upon arriving home. But the question arose: “Mom, will you have mercy on me?” We talked about it, and I did have mercy!
We trust that your new year will be one in which you draw closer to our Lord, and in which you will both love God and love others more and more. That’s our goal as well.
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Fall changes in store for Smiths
Andrew Murray has been a part of our family for the past 20 months or so. He is leaving December 15th to return to Iowa. We will all miss him as he has provided a lot of fellowship, support and entertainment depending on who you ask. We are anticipating a big change in our house, this will be the first time since 2006 that we have been without a house guest!
Welcome to the new SmithLife website!
We have been needing to get our website updated and moved in another direction for awhile. This update should allow us to be a little more frequent with our updates. Please bear with us as we finish the process of moving everything over and get it up and running.
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