Heading Photo: Recently, Brian has been pondering & sharing about ‘our marks’ that we as humans long to leave behind in this world.  As we soon celebrate the resurrection of our Savior, have we considered the marks Jesus has from the cross for our sake?

As we have entered the second quarter of 2025 and are headed into Easter, Holy Week, and Resurrection Sunday, these Smiths have traveled from the far west coast to the east coast to begin their spring speaking events.  We are feeling the longing from being Stateside eight months with no return to the island—we had expected to visit twice by now—and we are starting to feel the pressure build as time ticks down toward our summer 2025 return.

Our fall was filled with back to back regional American Baptist Church events for a solid eight weeks in which we traveled from as far west as Wyoming to Massachusetts in the east.  The Spirit’s movement was evident in so many of the conversations and interactions of that season.

Then, we intentionally slowed down to give ourselves rest, time with family, and time for a Restoration and Personal Growth program in California while we sheltered from the bitter cold winter months of much of the United States.  We were thankful for the sunshine and warmth as these bodies have acclimated to the tropics over these past five years!  Our ten week resident time was needed for intentional pause, healing, and renewal for each of us.  We have not hidden from you that our first term journey has had many challenges and transitions since we arrived on the field in May of 2019.  A ‘rollercoaster’ for which we are grateful for and blessed by, Did you know we could not have the ministry in the DR without our time in Haiti? But it is also one of many stories, light and heavy; emotions; and scars that leave us changed as we are transformed by the Spirit for God’s glory.  We feel that God has Called [us] To More, and that more is for a long time.  So, we want to be sure that we are processing our experiences, caring for our whole selves, and learning better and best ways to manage and navigate wherever the Spirit might lead.

PSA: It is GOOD to get help and have someone walk with you in processing events of your life and your emotions, it is GOOD to learn about yourself, and it is GOOD to learn new to you ways of responding, communicating, and renewing.  This applies whether you have experienced big, major, obvious stressors AND it includes the ‘little’ ones which can pile up over time.  It is IMPORTANT to care for yourself and being human makes us imperfect and in need of one another.  In so many ways we can always use a safe someone to talk to—to listen to us, to attune to us, to see our hearts, to bear witness to our story.

God says, Jesus proved, and Spirit reminds, YOU are worth it!  YOU are that valuable!  …and as much as we are able as an individual, a family, a friend, a church and/or a community, we should support each human to be helped, heard, seen, and witnessed.

Then you called out to God in your desperate condition;
he got you out in the nick of time.
He led you out of your dark, dark cell,
broke open the jail and led you out.
So thank God for his marvelous love,
for his miracle mercy to the children he loves;

Psalm 107:13-15 MSG

We are so GRATEFUL for those that ask to hear our stories, for those who faithfully pray for us as our pages continue to be written, and we are GRATEFUL for those who generously support to meet our worldly needs.  We are also GRATEFUL for those who choose to share and advocate on our behalf for us to continue in faith to answer God’s call to serve in the ministry of Called To More on the island of Hispaniola (Haiti & Dominican Republic).  For all this and more, we say THANK YOU!

None of what you do is ‘little’ in God’s eyes.  The Lord sees and knows your story with all of your imperfections, struggles, mountain tops, and waitings.  AND the Lord also knows each of the ways in which you have been faithful to your call and in your ministry.

We’d love to visit every church and individual who supports us, but with just a few months left before we return to the field, that’s not physically possible. Thankfully, we have technology! If you, your small group, or your church would like to meet, chat, ask questions, or get an update—let’s video chat!