Trusting God

September Update from the Smiths!

Warm greetings to our friends, family and mission partners! We have had a very busy and challenging "summer," and are now well into school, work and church routines. So now we can finally update you on our lives. Our hope is that by sharing our experiences you will find encouragement and inspiration for your own faith walk.

First, we would like to thank you all for your prayers of support, particularly the prayers you offered on Emily's behalf over the last few months. In July, Emily and Cathy returned to the US (Minnesota) to see a diabetes specialist and start her on insulin. It was a stressful time for our family. Dan, Sarah, and Grace were left "on their own" for 5 weeks while Cathy was caring for and traveling with a seriously ill 6 year old. God is so good! He has answered our prayers and has blessed us in so many ways. Emily received the medical care she needed and is feeling happy and healthy again. We were able to obtain a one-year supply of her insulin and supplies and bring them back to Tanzania. We have felt comforted by the kind words and deeds of many of you. We have been encouraged and uplifted by your prayers. Our faith has been strengthened as we continue to learn to trust God more and more with every area of our lives.

We recently heard the story of a German missionary serving in Tanzania as a professor of theology at Makumira University College who went to visit one of her former students at his home in the Tanzania Southern Highlands (about 3 days journey by bus). She had not been in Tanzania very long and did not know Swahili very well but she managed the trip and had a very enjoyable stay in the very remote village where her former student lived. When it was time for her to leave, however, she was confronted with a unique dilemma. The only bus that comes through her host's village came only once a week at 4:30 am. If she missed the bus, she would have to wait for a week for the next bus. She had to get back home and to work. "No problem," she thought, "I'll just set my alarm clock." Her host and his family were amazed. They did not even own an alarm clock. "What do you do when you have to catch the bus?" the missionary asked. "We pray," they answered. "Well that's fine. But what if you REALLY have to be on that bus," she wondered. Her host replied that if it were really important to be on the bus they would go to their neighbors' house. "Oh, do your neighbors have an alarm clock?" she asked. "No," responded her hosts, "but we ask them to join us in prayer that we would wake up in time to meet the bus. We have never missed the bus!" It was then that our missionary friend realized that in her determination to be independent and self-reliant, she had forgotten the importance of relying on God for everything.

Our Western culture promotes and even demands independence while African culture is based on inter-dependence. As Westerners we sometimes struggle to understand this African inter-dependence. For example, if you have a problem with an employee, you don't just discuss the problem with the employee. You discuss the problem in a meeting with the employee, their spouse, their parent, their siblings and even neighbors. This kind of meeting would never happen in America where confidentiality and independence are so highly valued. But in Tanzania this model works because inter-dependence is key to survival. If one member of the community suffers, all suffer. If one member of the community succeeds, all benefit. This kind of inter-dependence is what we are called to as Christians. As Paul wrote to the Corinthians, "For in the one Spirit we were all baptized into one body…." We do not function as individual units but as one unit united through the blood of Jesus. As we depend on each other, our bonds as God's children are strengthened and we are all strengthened in faith. Reliance on our selves only leads to selfishness while reliance on each other draws us closer to God. Perhaps it is in acknowledging that we cannot make it on our own (inter-dependence) that we make enough space for God to work more freely in us. As our missionary friend learned from her host family, if we hold each other up in prayer none of us will miss the bus.

We thank God for the opportunity to work together with you in ministry. Please continue to keep us in your prayers as we also keep you in ours.

Blessings,

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Dan, Cathy, Sarah, Emily and Grace Smith
PO BOX 15128
Arusha
Tanzania
http://www.goodshepherdkettering.com/pages/mission.html
smithfam91@yahoo.com
or
missionaries@goodshepherdkettering.com
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