Monday, October 30, 2006

Noah went to Philadelphia with mommy to visit family. He had lots of fun with Grandpa Smith and Uncle Josh. It was his first time on a see-saw. Posted by Picasa
Noah also saw Nana Smith and Great-Grandma White.  Posted by Picasa
Noah also saw Great-Grandma SmithPosted by Picasa

Monday, October 23, 2006

Newsletter Issue 1--October 2006

Dear Friends, you've probably received this as an email already, but here it is again for those who aren't on our email list.

We’d like to update you again where God has brought us this past year and where He is leading us.

The Past Year

  • Our son Noah was born on January 4th! We praise God for saving Noah’s life after he stopped breathing as a newborn. He is now a healthy and energetic nine month old. God is indeed good!
  • Ben has one year of seminary under his belt! It has been a refreshing time for both of us learning from the godly leaders at CIU. Ben also participated in a mission trip to Portugal in June with our local church (he was asked to preach at two churches—in Portuguese!)
  • Becky has been working as a nurse on the weekend nights and enjoying her time at home with Noah.
  • We have begun a missionary candidacy training program at our local church—it has been very insightful and helpful for us as we seek to serve God long-term overseas.

What’s New?

  • Noah keeps growing and is in the 95th percentile for height and weight! Every day he’s crawling faster and faster. He loves chasing our new kitten, Bela.
  • Ben is working part time as a painter and taking three courses this semester – Evangelism, Old Testament Survey, and Homiletics (preaching) .
  • Becky had knee surgery on October 4th and is enjoying a few weeks off work.

Looking to the Future…

  • We are going to Brazil, again! This time for an entire school semester (summer and fall of 2007)!
  • Ben will be teaching classes at the seminary in AnĂ¡polis (same location as 2005 trip) as well as helping at a local church plant.
  • Becky will be caring for Noah and spending her free moments at the local orphanage.

As we start preparing for this trip to Brazil with TEAM, will you pray with us? Please take a few moments right now and pray:
-That God will prepare our hearts for interaction with the seminary students and orphanage children;
- That we will be able to obtain a Visa for Noah;
-That Becky will be diligent in continuing to learn Portuguese;

Feel free to email us, call us, and/or visit our website at any time. We look forward to keeping in touch and are thankful for your thoughts and prayers.

Ben, Becky and Noah

Tuesday, October 10, 2006

I love you Nana!

My mom (Nana Smith) came to help take care of Noah over the weekend while I rested from knee surgery. They both had so much fun together. We are so thankful she could come!! Posted by Picasa

Our Family!

Noah is 9 months now and such a joy in our lives. He is at the 95% for height and weight and just keeps getting bigger, stronger and faster. We our so thankful for our son, who keeps us always smiling! Posted by Picasa

I'm giong to get you Bela!

After much discussion we have finally decided to name our kitty "Bela", which means beautiful in Portuguese. She and Noah love to chase after eachother. She is a wonderful addition to our family. Posted by Picasa

Me and Mommy

 Posted by Picasa

Wednesday, October 04, 2006

Getting in the habit...

This week had promised to be a busy one. In the midst of it all, I have been praying that God would open the door and give me an opportunity to share the gospel with someone today. Today my wife (Becky) had arthroscopic knee surgery at the hospital. I had shared with her and asked her to pray that there would be someone I could share the gospel with while I was in the waiting room and she was in surgery. As soon as I sat down in the very large, open waiting room, I realized I should have sat “over there”, closer to two guys chatting. I was so uncomfortable in my seat, I felt the Holy Spirit simply convicting me to get up and go over there with them to start a conversation. I felt the fear building up in my heart, in my mind. I tried to ignore, even deny the Holy Spirit’s conviction. I pulled out my Old Testament survey textbook to read for class…I didn’t catch one single word that my eyes read over. Finally, I heard the older of the two fellows open some sort of booklet and start reading it to the other guy—it was about total knee replacements. I knew that this was my opportunity to jump in. I picked up my stuff, walked over to them, and sat with them, stating that I wanted to hear about this knee replacement stuff because my wife might someday need to have one (which is true). I talked with both of them for a good 20 minutes, got their names, their professions, their background a bit, and then the older man, Steve, picked up a Bible and saw that it wasn’t a Gideon’s Bible. He realized that it was a different translation and group that had placed it in the waiting room. I asked them if they knew that specific church (listed on the Bible’s back cover) in town, which led me to also ask if they ever go to a church in town anywhere. They replied: “We’re Jehovah’s Witnesses, we go to the Kingdom Hall.” I said: “Really? Do you know Ashley Martin?” They said yes, in fact, he was the younger fellow’s good friend from another Kingdom Hall! Last semester I had “interviewed” Ashley at a Kingdom Hall in Columbia for a Theology class project. I had kept in touch with Ashley a bit by email this past year. I then started asking questions about their beliefs, since I have done a bit of studying on their distorted beliefs. At an opportune moment in the conversation, I seized the chance to share John 3:16 with them and diagram it out. I wanted to explain the differences between what they believed and what the Bible taught. When I asked them where they were on the diagram (it's the classing cliff diagram, the world on one side, God on the other, we're separated because our sin), the older gentleman said that we couldn’t take just one verse from the Bible and base everything on it (which was quite funny to me, because that is exactly what the J.W.’s do, even taking verses out of context). So I said, ok, then how about Romans 6:23? Still, they would not give me a direct answer. At this time my wife was getting out of surgery and I had to be with her as she recovered. So I kindly said thanks for interacting and maybe we could get together again to talk some more.

I realize that unfortunately with Jehovah’s Witnesses, a one time opportunity like today will rarely turn them from their distorted beliefs—the Watchtower Society (Satan and his cohorts) is/are very successful at keeping a tight rope around its followers. A long-term relationship is the key with J.W.’s. With them, as with most other non-Christians is not to tackle every doubt or wrong belief but to focus on the big issue—salvation in Christ, by grace through faith. One issue at a time, but start with the BIG stuff first!