January/February 2016
Dear Pastor, Church, Friends, & Family,
Thank you for your investment in our lives. It is our joy and a great privilege to be co-laboring with you for the sake of the gospel in Santiago, Chile.
We have had a great start to 2016. The Lord has continued to bless and the church is growing. The Lord has sent to young men our way that have been a tremendous encouragement. They have, along with their families been faithful from the very beginning, and they both have interest in serving the Lord. They have just completed the first phase of discipleship with missionary Jason Holt and plan to begin studying in the Bible institute this month.
We also had another baptism in January and three new believers followed the Lord in believer’s baptism. Please pray for them as they continue to grow in the Lord.
We ended January celebrating Morgan’s birthday with a surprise visitor, my Dad. Morgan, Luke, and Meredith were excited to have a few days to spend with PawPaw. We had a great time with my Dad while he was in town.
He and I were also able to help missionary David White in Quilicura, Chile by installing a ceiling in Iglesia Bautista Trinidad.
February was also very exciting and busy month with two camps: one for young people and the other a family camp with missionaries and national pastors families. There were young people saved during the teen camp and others who rededicated their lives to serving the Lord. A month later and one of the churches involved is still talking about how their young people have came back and went to work and have been out evangelizing in their area. The family camp was also a great time of encouragement and training. We enjoyed getting to know some of the national pastors and their families better during this time.
Erica and I are continuing in our language school studies. I have a lot of late nights studying and preparing for exams, and its a little more difficult at 38 than it was at 22, however, the Lord has been faithful and is helping us to do well. Erica and I are both looking forward to day we are able to share the gospel in Spanish.
In Christ,
The Smitheys:
Jamie, Erica, Morgan, Luke, & Meredith.