WE'RE GOING BACK!!

We are going back to South Africa in January of 2010!

We have a new blog located at www.SmithSA.blogspot.com

Back in Colorado

This top picture is of Kendi getting dedicated in church. It was a special day.

It's been awhile since we've posted. Sorry to everyone that is wondering what is up with us. We arrived back in the states safe and sound. We've been living with Jenny's parents for now until we figure out what we are doing next. That is the big question that everyone wants answered (including us.) We have several options for our next ministry. We are excited about several things, but we want to hear from God as to the path that He wants us to take. So, for now we are being patient and waiting to hear from him. Please pray for us to have clarity and wisdom. We so greatly appreciate all of you that have to continued to support us. For now, we are still living off of the support of you all. There is a good chance that our next ministry will be church planting which will require us to retain our support. So, we ask that you prayerfully consider continuing to support us. We will definitely let you know when we have felt God's direction.

This is a cute picture of Madison and Kyler with their friend Jake. It has been so great to be able to spend time with friends and family again.

Cute Pics of Kendi

Here are some cute pics of Kendi Grace. She is such a joy. Because she is #3 we are more relaxed and confident. Because we are more relaxed I think that we are enjoying her more.

Book of Hope Team

We have some friends who are missionaries with Book of Hope. They have interns that come through occassionally and help around the shelter for a few days. Right now they are helping us to finish the bunk beds and refinish our play ground. We have to tear it down and strip the paint and re-paint it. It is a monumental task, but slow and steady wins the race.
 

Story Time

Today we had some people from the public library come and do story time for the kids. It is nice to have special things like this to help break up the routine of the kids' day.

Bunk Beds

As I said a few days ago, we had a guy from Georgia visiting the shelter who helped us make new bunk beds. Here is Mike and Johannes and I with some of the shelter kids in front of the beds that Mike built. They are awesome. They look beautiful. The Book of Hope team is working to help finish staining the beds. We appreciate all of the help that we get from volunteers at the shelter.

Restoration Church

Here's some pictures from our church. The top picture is of the kids dancing during worship. It's always fun to watch them dancing and having fun during the fast worship songs. The bottom picture is (from left to right) Anna, from the shelter; Hope, David and Janis' daughter; and Madison. 

Cute kid pics

Here's a couple of cute pictures of the kids on the jumpy castle at Madison's birthday party. 

7 years old

I can't believe Madison is 7. That is the age that I really start remembering my childhood. I just can't believe that she is 7, she's getting so big. We actually didn't pose her for the bottom picture. She was just hanging out on the rock, probably pondering all of her new responsibilities that come with being 7. 

Happy Birthday Madison

Saturday was Madison's birthday. We had a party here at the shelter. We rented a jumpy castle. (They are ridiculously cheap here in S.A.). All the kids played in the water and had a blast. 

Birthday Braii

Last week we had a birthday braii (a South African barbecue) for everyone here that has a birthday in March. This included Jenny and Madison. Occasions like this remind us that all our friends here truly have become surrogate family. We are going to miss all of our friends here.








 

New Bunk Beds

A few months ago we had some wood donated from a local lumber yard (Timbercity) so that we could build some new bunk beds. The wood has just been sitting around because I've been nervous to tackle the project on my own. I recently built Kyler a new bed and it looked like a cross eyed drunken sailor built it. So, I was not confident in my carpentry skills to build four new bunk beds for the shelter. So I was glad to have Mike, a visitor from Georgia helping around the shelter for the week. He has tackled the project with the help of Johannes and Daniel. They are doing a great job. The kids are going to love their new beds. 

Hugo's New Family

Last year Jenny and I had the pleasure of taking Lesego to meet his "forever family." This top picture shows him with his new mommy at the adoption. The bottom two pictures show him in Sweden with his older brother and mom. They recently sent us these pictures. They have renamed him Hugo. It is really cool to see him happy with a loving family. We wish this could be the case for all of our children at the shelter. We are so grateful for families like this that give our children a good home.

Miracle Grow

You may remember that I shaved my head in January. Some of the men in our church shaved our heads and prayed for 21 days that God would heal a teen in our church. He had a rare disease that causes him to lose all of his body hair. The picture on the left is my friend Derek and his son, Mathew, and the teen that we were praying for, Godwin. On day 21 Godwin started to grow hair. The doctors can't believe it. They said that they've never seen anything like it. There is no logical explanation why he should be growing hair again. His hair is really fine, like a baby's hair. At first it started to come in blond, but it recently has turned black. It is certainly a miracle.

Farewell South Africa

Hello Friends and Family,

We recently finished our first year working at the Lighthouse Children’s Shelter in South Africa. It was a year full of new experiences; a lot of fun, laughter and joy. We also had a lot of tears, frustrations, and sadness. It has been a pleasure to be part of rescuing children from the depths of poverty, sickness, and dysfunctional families. We’ve had the joy of being part of many adoptions. We’ve seen many children come to us on the verge of death as sickness and malnutrition take their toll on their little bodies. With the help of our doctor and exceptional caregivers the children have become healthy, joyful children. We’ve had some amazing experiences that we wouldn’t trade for the world.

As you probably know, we’ve made a two year commitment to serve here at the Lighthouse Children’s Shelter. Due to situations completely beyond our control we need to return to the U.S. early. As missionary associates with Assemblies of God World Missions (AGWM), we are assigned to work alongside a full time missionary. In our case, we work with David and Janis Betzer, the founders of the Lighthouse Shelter. They have recently made the decision to resign as AGWM missionaries. They will continue to run the shelter independently of AGWM. Because they are no longer AGWM missionaries, the shelter is no longer an AGWM project. What this means for us is that we will not be able to finish out our two year commitment to the Lighthouse Shelter. We fully support and love the Betzers and are thankful for the time that we had with them as friends, surrogate family, mentors, and pastors. We are not leaving with any bad feelings and sincerely pray for God’s blessing on them and the Lighthouse Shelter.

While we are disappointed to leave the shelter before our time is finished, we are excited to see what God has next for us. During our time here, God has burned missions into our hearts. We came here with a desire to be God’s hands to those who need to see God’s love in a real and practical way. That desire has not changed. We are praying and seeking God’s will as we begin discussions with various ministries that are a fit with what God has called us to do. We definitely feel like God wants us to be involved in missions in some capacity. If you support us financially, we ask that you would prayerfully consider continuing to do so as we move into our next ministry. We will certainly update you when we know the ministry we are transitioning into. If you would be willing to continue supporting us during this transition time, you can send in your support checks as you always have to AGWM.

We will be arriving back in Denver on April 4th. If you have any questions or comments please feel free to contact us.

Thank you so much for all of your support over the last year. We cherish the support, prayers, and friendship of each one of you.

Serving Him,Lincoln, Jenny, Madison, Kyler, and Kendi Smith
Outreachsouthafrica.blogspot.com
lincolnandjennysmith@hotmail.com