Prayer letter from Charlie and JoAnn Smith – Argentina

Here in May means colder weather is on its way. We now live an hour outside the city of Buenos Aires utilizing public transportation during the week to fulfill the ministry in the Capital. As a reminder from our last letter, PLEASE INFORM ALL TO NOT SEND ANY MAIL TO US HERE IN ARGENTINA. We no longer live at the apartment in Buenos Aires and all the mail sent most likely will just end up being thrown away. Please inform the different ladies and missionary groups to send any correspondence to our home church: Liberty Baptist Church, 1203 South Oak, Casper WY 82601. Thank you for your attention to this detail.
The theme for this prayer letter is definitely the word “protection”. In the last few weeks we have seen God’s hand of protection three definite times. The first was when I took the car to have the oil changed and mentioned to the mechanic that there was a gas odor. After a very short inspection he informed me that the gas line was cracked and was leaking gas on the motor and he was surprised that it never caught fire. Proverbs 2:8, “He keepeth the paths of judgment, and preserveth the way of His saints.”

The second was when we were returning from the capital in a very light drizzle after a day of painting the apartment. Well, the drizzle turned into a tornado and it was quite interesting being one of the many vehicles stuck on the tollway with no way to escape. There were a few minutes when we had to stop, as the wind and rain were coming down so hard we could not go forward. There was an ambulance that because of the lights on top we were able to see the vortex of the air coming towards and over the vehicle, as in a wind tunnel. We were quite thankful that the wind came at us head-on because I am certain it would have flipped many of us if it had hit the sides of the cars. When we were able to continue we realized God’s marvelous protection seeing all the billboards and trees that were destroyed. Proverbs 16:9, “A man’s heart deviseth his way: but the LORD directeth his steps.”

And the third came about as I took the car into a mechanic for a power steering problem and asked him to look into the reason for the gas pedal sometimes sticking causing the carburetor to idle faster than normal. He found the cable that goes from the accelerator to the carburetor had only one wire strand left and was surprised at God’s protection over us. If that last strand had broken, I probably would have been in bumper to bumper traffic, which is our normal, with no way to pull over causing problems for others. Jeremiah 42:3, “That the LORD thy God may shew us the way wherein we may walk, and the thing that we may do.”

We praise God that we celebrated our 14th anniversary of entering Argentina to minister and it was 18 years ago that God allowed us to see Argentina for the first time. It has been a daily blessing to see and experience how God can use anyone, as we do not have any special talents nor abilities. God has given us hearts for Him and has completed His promise many times over in our lives. Psalm 37:4, “Delight thyself also in the LORD; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart.” As we have delighted ourselves in the Lord, He has placed in our hearts His wishes for our lives and has given us the capacity to complete them, as well as, receive so many blessings.
In March, Beatrice was baptized and at Easter we celebrated the Lord’s Table. In years past we had too many living in disobedience to the Lord to even offer it. This year we are blessed with those who wish to have God as God in their lives. This is not to say that they do not have spiritual problems but they are growing – praise God He does miracles in changing people.

The psyc hospital ministry is growing with many showing more spiritual interest than in the past and the Lord has directed us to a nurse named Marcos that is asking if we can have a service there on Sundays. We hope it comes to be. The ministry there is quite similar to a children’s ministry, as any given Saturday the people may or may not be mentally attentive. Some days you can actually feel the demonic influence that these poor young men and ladies are going through. I asked in the past for you to pray for Maribel who needs so much Christ if she is ever to have victory over self-destruction, please continue.
In the past month of April we have successfully moved out of the apartment in the city. The landlady asked if we would consider buying it and we told her that even though the idea was a dream to us; we just do not have the funds to do so. We have tried to witness to Mercedes for six years now and even though she is one of the best lawyers and sweetest persons we have ever known, she cannot see a need for a Savior. We still ask for prayers for her and for Mimi, her secretary.

Charlie & JoAnn Smith
In the heart of Buenos Aires with Buenos Aires in our hearts