Preparations, Prayer, Praise!

Praise the Lord for all He has already done as we prepare for our first "official" deputation meeting scheduled for Sunday, January 13th 2019 at Every Nation Baptist Church in Charlotte, NC. This is a dear church with a wonderful Pastor's family and we look forward to our time there.

It's hard to believe that it is less than one month away. Our prayers have been that God would fill January's schedule and we are grateful to have the last 3 Sundays scheduled. We will be in NC, MD, and SC.

We are excited to have 8 meetings scheduled so far for 2019--we have many more open dates and know God will continue to provide the exact meetings He would have for us.

Praise the Lord for His provision through 3 love offerings to provide for our whole family to be able to take a survey trip to Colombia the last week of February, 2019. Please pray that the passports for our children and Amanda arrive without any issues.

We also want to praise the Lord that we just found out that Baby Smith 5 is on his or her way to our home--Lord willing they will join us sometime mid-summer next year. May God give safety to both mommy and the baby while we are on deputation.

About 2 weeks ago, while coming home from church, we noticed a family stuck in the mud off the side of the road. We stopped to try and help. Thankfully another church member also saw their plight and stopped to help. After struggling in the mud for about an hour to no avail--although praying silently for help--God convicted me of the need to pray for His help openly. Praise the Lord that immediately after we prayed the vehicle came easily out of the mud and everyone was back on their way. Through this, I was reminded of some of the blessings of answered prayer: 1. Answered prayer encourages the child of God and emboldens him to pray more. 2. Answered prayer is a strong testimony to the lost that God is real and hears His children. 3. Answered prayer encourages us that we are doing His will. 4. Answered prayer brings God all the honor and glory because it shows our lack of ability and our dependence on God's ability to work in the affairs of men.

With this in mind--we are encouraged to share some of the things that we are praying for and ask that you pray with us so that when the answers come we can rejoice together.

Some things that you can pray with us about:

1. Provision of a full-schedule of church meetings for 2019. We have 8 meetings scheduled but have openings for many more. We are calling pastors and emailing--but only God can open doors.

2. Provision of enough support to be "full-time" by June 1st. I will finish working at Ambassador Baptist College the end of May in order to dedicate ourselves completely to getting to Colombia. However, we will still need to eat, pay bills, and cover traveling costs. Please pray that support will be enough for us to be able to do this.

3. Provision for a reliable vehicle and pull-behind camper that we could use for deputation. With 4 children and one on the way--we believe it would help bring a sense of stability to our home for the children to know their surroundings every night. With a camper we would be able to do that. It would also enable us to not be a burden to churches we visit. Having grown up in a pastor's home--I know pastors desire that their missionaries have a place to stay. We would like to take that burden away.

4. Lastly, please pray we can be both an encouragement and a blessing to the churches we visit. God used missionaries visiting our church when I was young to lead me to desire salvation, give me a desire to serve God, and plant the seed of missions in my heart. I saw missionaries encourage my parents in the ministry and be a blessing to our church. Please pray that we can do the same wherever we go.

We are so excited by God's call for us to go to Colombia and are so grateful for your prayers for us and interest in what God is doing. Thank you to each of you and may you have a wonderful Christmas and New Year ahead!

What a joy it will be to see all God does in each of our lives this coming year!

In Christ,
Matt for the Smith Family--your missionaries to Colombia, SA