Charlie & JoAnn Smith newsletter

JoAnn and I would like to thank you for the many prayers that you have offered for our good and God’s glory.  God is so good to us that we just praise Him.
“Yea, they shall sing in the ways of the LORD: for great is the glory of the LORD.” Psalm 138:5
“How precious also are thy thoughts unto me, O God! how great is the sum of them!”  Psalm 139:17
The greatest blessing we have received since the last prayer letter was to hear that Jonatan, the adult son of Eduardo, accepted Christ as his personal Saviour!  In the last prayer letter we wrote that Britley, 11, accepted Christ and now her older brother is also bound for heaven; wow, isn’t God just great?  We praise the Lord for those who are filling the pulpit of Iglesia Bautista Libertad during our extended absence, thank you.
We dearly miss our church family in Buenos Aires, as well as all the brothers and sisters in Christ who are laboring there.  We  are praying about returning in April 2014, the Lord permitting.  We still have so many churches to whom we are accountable that we have not seen.  It is going to be a miracle to see all of them during this time period.  We need to get back before our visas expire.  Last we knew we could be out of Argentina for two years. Since their regulations are always changing it would be good for us to return way before that time.
JoAnn recently took six weeks away from the meetings to care for her father.  Her mother had a hip replacement and we thought it best for her to be there. They are in their mid 80‘s and both do not know Christ as their Saviour.  Please continue to pray for them as this is a heavy weight.
To answer the question concerning my health, the laboratory results have come back two times in a row with improved kidney function. The doctor stated that a kidney transplant most likely would not be needed by me continuing the specified diet and exercise.  The heart is still pumping even though any weight bearing seems to puts much strain on it.  I become quite out of breath and have some discomfort.  Please keep praying.
We had the joy of being with our granddaughters, as the Childs family and our furlough paths crossed while they were in Casper for a couple of days.  It is great to see how they are growing.  We are blessed.  Next month we will be in the same mission conference with them.  This is just one of the many blessings God has given while here in the States.
The Lord has blessed by allowing me to preach His Word again.  It is amazing to me how much I missed preaching right after the surgery; especially when I reflect back to when I entered the ministry and was so afraid of standing in front of people to speak.  Sometimes the words still get tangled on my tongue, however the freedom that the Holy Spirit has given has been a great blessing.
One of our greatest answers to prayer is spending time with our home church.  We praise the Lord for the manner in which they have cared and ministered to our needs.  And that God has given us such a fine church body in which we fellowship.  We definitely will miss each of them when we return to Argentina.
In October and November we plan to be in Wisconsin to meet with the churches that we could not earlier last year.   In January we hopefully will be in New Mexico with February, March and some of April finishing up our furlough time.  I have had a difficult time getting in contact with some of you, so would you please give me a call if you wish us to come?  God has given us many good meetings and it has been humbling to hear of those who have taken the time to pray for the ministry in Argentina, as well as the prayers for us.  This has been one furlough very different than any we have ever thought about.  We thank the Lord for the lessons He has given and is teaching.  Surely the storms of life make the rainbows much brighter!