December Stepping Stones

SMITHS STEPPING STONES
Psalm 37:23-“The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord and He delights in his way.”

Special Christmas Greetings,

We are looking forward to many enjoyable times with family and friends during this Christmas Season. We are usually home with no travels from Thanksgiving through Christmas. This year all our children and most of the grandchildren will be here for the Holidays. Also, Amy’s brother and sister with their families will be with us.

November was a full month of travel. We left on November 1 to drive to Michigan. On the way we spent some time with our friends, Larry and Susan Duncan, who are planting a church in the Louisville, KY area. When we arrived in Grandville, MI on November 3rd, we went to a Christian Bookstore for a book signing with David and Diane Munson. We have read several of their books and we really enjoyed getting to know them. When we left with our autographed books we also left with two new friends. We plan to visit with them when we go to Florida in January. That evening we arrived at the home of a special friend, Donna Nagelkirk, where we stayed for a full week. On Sunday, November 4, I spoke at Ottawa Center Chapel in Coopersville, MI and at Allegan Bible Church in Allegan, MI. The bi-annual IFCA Board Meeting was held in Grandville, MI, November 5-9, and during that time I had committee meetings and met with the board. We were able to get a lot accomplished in our business meetings. Thank you for praying for those meetings.

On Friday evening and Saturday, November 9-10, I taught a workshop at Whitneyville Bible Church in Alto, MI. We were in Lawrence, MI for the Sunday morning service on November 11, and enjoyed a good visit with Pastor Glen and Ruth Cowles and family. They have been at East Arlington Baptist Church for over 25 years, and the church has supported us most of that time.

On our way to Schroon Lake, NY, we stopped in Flushing, MI to spend a couple days with our daughter, Susan, and family. We also stopped in Binghamton, NY to visit with an "adopted" daughter, Lucy Friend, and President George Miller at Davis College. We attended the Word of Life Pastors Conference November 15-17, where we met new pastors and enjoyed our friendship with folks we see there every year. I spoke at Martindale Community Gospel Church, Craryville, NY on Sunday morning, November 18 and at Grace Bible Church, Wappingers Falls, NY that evening. Grace Bible Church has their annual Thanksgiving Dinner the Sunday evening before Thanksgiving and we have had the privilege of being a part of this evening for the past few years.

On Monday we drove to Richmond, VA were we had a great visit with two of Jerry's sisters. We drove home Tuesday night, arriving home at about 1 a.m. on Wednesday. Jill and Jana had planned for Thanksgiving dinner at our house and it was a special family time with all three of our daughters, two of our son-in-laws and also 5 of the grandchildren. Since then Amy has been decorating for Christmas and I have been catching up on things in the office.

Thanks for all you have done this year to encourage us in ministry. We love and appreciate you more than we can say. We plan to send a printed letter after Christmas with family pictures.

Jerry and Amy

PRAISE:
1-Jerry’s new office will be completed today and he plans to move in next week.
2-We enjoyed a potluck meal in our neighborhood on Sunday, Dec. 2.
3-Our schedule is filling up well for next year.
4-Our car loan is down to about $3500.

PRAYER:
1-For our church plant in Bethlehem, GA.
2-For family who will be traveling to Georgia to spend Christmas with us.
3-Our daughter Susan’s family has some special needs at this time.
4-We have an open house for our neighborhood this Sunday, Dec. 9. (3-5pm)
5-Some counseling opportunities in which I am involved

SCHEDULE
December
2 ---- Neighborhood potluck 5pm
4 ---- Church Plant Meeting, 7:30am
8 ---- Amy--ladies outing to Madison, GA.
9 ---- Open house, 3-5pm
17 ---- BMW office Christmas dinner.
18 ---- Special Lunch in Atlanta
15 ---- SS Christmas party
19 ---- Prayer Meeting, Dacula First Baptist
27-31 ---- Golf Vacation in Myrtle Beach
January
1-2 ---- Golf Trip
4 ---- Jerry fly to Albany, NY
4-6 ---- Mission Conference, Word of Life, Schroon Lake, NY
7 ---- Fly to Atlanta
8 ---- Annual Evaluation meeting, BMW office
9 ---- Drive to Florida
10-11 ---- Visit friends
11-13 ---- Mission Conference, Word of Life, Hudson FL
14 ---- Drive to Atlanta
14-25 ---- Candidate Orientation, BMW office
18 ---- Church Planters Networking, BMW office
26 ---- Drive to St. Louis
27 ---- South County Bible Church, St. Louis.
28 ---- Drive to Kansas City
28-31 ---- Mission Conference, Calvary Bible College
February
1 ---- Finish Mission Conference, Calvary Bible College
5 ---- Church Plant Meeting, 7:30am
11-13 ---- Pastors Retreat, Baton Rouge, LA

November Stepping Stones

SMITHS STEPPING STONES
Psalm 37:23-“The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord and He delights in his way.”

Greetings to all,

As we explained last month, we have decided to combine the two e-mail letters that we were sending out each month and we have chosen to call our monthly letter “Smith’s Stepping Stones.” We trust you like the new heading. We will continue to keep you updated with what is happening in our lives, and we will include our schedule in each letter. Stepping stones symbolize the path ahead that the Lord is laying out for us. Last year there was a need for more offices at the BMW headquarters so I moved out of my office so another person who is in the office daily could have my office. I have been working in a cubicle and most of my books, files, etc. are in storage. Some new offices are now being built in the basement and I will be getting one of them. It will probably be ready by January. I am seeking to raise a couple thousand dollars to help furnish this office. If you would like to help with this project, just send your gift to BMW and designate it for Jerry Smith’s office. I am especially looking to get some nice office furniture and a picture for my wall that emphasizes “stepping stones.”

Jerry was in Kansas City the first few days of October and had some good visits with our grandson Eric. Amy went to Chicago with Vince and Jill’s family to attend a reception for our granddaughter Aimee and her husband, Bill Townill. They were married in September. On October 8-10 Jerry led a combined IFCA Regional meeting at Cedine Bible Mission in Spring City, TN. The Cumberland Regional and the Dixie Regional met together and we were blessed by the ministry of Gary Gilley. Amy and I drove to the Gulf Coast for a week of ministry. First we were at Bible Fellowship Church in Pass Christian, MS and we were really encouraged by the response of this church to the Change Workshop that I taught over a weekend. It is exciting to see how great this church is doing after a full recovery from the hurricane damage of Katrina. From there we went to Camp Pearl in Reeves, LA where Jerry attended a Pastor’s Conference and an IFCA Regional meeting. Amy enjoyed spending time with friends in the area. I also spoke at Reeves Bible Church and Kinder Bible Church while we were there. We were able to spend a few days at home spoiling our grandson and getting involved in a work day with our neighborhood Homeowners Association as we worked to make the entrance to our neighborhood more attractive. The last weekend of October we flew to San Francisco, rented a car and drove about five hours north to Burney, CA, where Jerry taught a weekend workshop at Grace Community Church and ministered at the church on Sunday. We had a blessed time meeting new friends there and seeing some of God’s beautiful creation in northern California. On the way back to San Francisco we stopped in Sacramento to spend the night with friends and Jerry met with some area pastors for a lunch. The night before we flew home Jerry taught a class at Fellowship Bible Church in Belmont, CA, and while he was speaking we experienced a 5.6 earthquake that lasted about 30 seconds. That is about as strong as we want to experience! Amy said that was a powerful sermon—it shook the whole church building!

We are presently on a three week trip to Michigan and New York.

Thanks for praying,

Jerry and Amy

PRAISE:
1-Jerry is getting a “real” office!
2-Two great workshops in October.
3-We are meeting new folks in our neighborhood.
4-Our car loan is down to about $3500.

PRAYER:
1-For our church plant in Bethlehem, GA.
2-For family who will be traveling to Georgia to spend Thanksgiving with us.
3-Our daughter Susan’s family has some special needs at this time.

SCHEDULE:
November
1-2 ---- Drive to Michigan
2-3 ---- Possibly a workshop in Michigan
4 ---- AM, SS—Ottawa Center Chapel, Coopersville, MI
4 ---- PM—Allegan Bible Church, Allegan, MI
6-9 ---- IFCA Board Meeting, Grandville, MI
9-10 ---- Workshop, Whitneyville Bible Church, Alto, MI
11 ---- AM-East Arlington Baptist Church, Lawrence, MI
13-14 ---- Drive to NY State
15-17 ---- WOL Pastors Conference, Schroon Lake, NY
18 ---- AM-Martindale Community Gospel Church, Craryville, NY
18 ---- PM Grace Bible Church, Wappingers Falls, NY
19 ---- Drive to Richmond, VA
21 ---- Drive to Atlanta
December
1-27 ---- We plan to be home for most of this time and will be having Christmas with many of our extended Family.

October Stepping Stones

SMITHS STEPPING STONES

Psalm 37:23-“The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord and He delights in his way.”
Greetings to all,

As you can see we are doing something different. We decided to combine our two e-mail letters each month into one and come up with a unique name for the monthly letter. We trust you like the heading and we will include all the things that were in the other two letters. We believe that stepping stones symbolize the path ahead that the Lord lays out for us.

September has been a busy and exciting month. The birth of our new grandson, Jackson Todd Hinton on the 28th of August, gave us much to do the first week of September. Jana and Jackson both came home from the hospital on September 1st, and Amy stayed with them and helped out for about three weeks. At least that was her excuse to spend a lot of time with our new grandson! Of course I managed to stop by almost every day for a visit to get my "Jackson fix"! In September I spoke at our new church plant, Community Bible Church, in Bethlehem, GA. I also taught a workshop at First Congregational Christian Church in Reidsville, NC and spoke at their Sunday morning service. I was able to get together with some area pastors here in Lawrenceville for our monthly lunch and fellowship as well.

September 10th-14th was our BMW Annual Golf Retreat, which I enjoyed planning and hosting. Twelve men played each day and everyone had a good time, and thought it was a great success. I believe all the men are planning be back next year and bring some friends. Jerry serves as president of the Willow Pointe Homeowners Association and we had a meeting with the homeowners of our subdivision this month.

I spent about a week in Michigan but flew into Chicago and the pastor of Fellowship Bible Church in Sawyer, MI picked me up at the airport. I spoke at their Friendship Banquet, an evangelistic outreach, on Saturday night and at the church on Sunday. There was an IFCA Sectional meeting in Hopkins, MI. I spoke at it and enjoyed my time with all the pastors and four BMW missionaries who attended. I also stopped by one of our supporting churches, East Arlington Baptist Church and spent time with our friends, Glen and Ruth Cowles. A special treat while I was in Chicago was seeing our granddaughter, Aimee, and meeting her new husband, Bill Townill.

When I arrived home from Chicago it was about 11pm on Wednesday and I headed back to the airport about 5:45 am on Thursday morning to fly to Kansas City, MO. Amy had a late night getting me unpacked and repacked for that trip! While in Kansas City I spent time at Calvary Bible College meeting with students, friends and quite a few of our missionary appointees. It was great to spend time with our grandson, Eric, who is a student at Calvary. I also drove to Osceola, IA, taught a Change Workshop at Calvary Bible Church and spoke there on Sunday morning. I arrived home on October 1 and that begins a new month which we will get to in our next report.

We appreciate all of you who uphold us and our ministry through your prayers and encouragements. Below please note our Praise, Prayer and Schedule.

Jerry and Amy

PRAISE:
1-Our new Grandson, Jackson is doing great and we are enjoying him. Jana's blood pressure is back to normal without medication.
2-We have seen some good responses and results from the workshops.
3-We get good reports from our grandchildren who are in college.

PRAYER:
1-For safety in all our travels the next two months.
2-For us to have a continued close walk with the Lord.
3-As we build redemptive relationships in our neighborhood.

SCHEDULE:
October
1-2 ---- Kansas City area
2 ---- Travel to Atlanta
5 ---- Church Planters Networking, BMW office
5-7 ---- Amy goes to Chicago with most of the family to attend a reception for Aimee and Bill.
8-10 ---- IFCA Inter-Regional at Cedine Mission, Spring City, TN
11 ---- Travel to Biloxi, MS
12-13 ---- Workshop, Bible Fellowship Church, Pass Christian, MS
14 ---- AM Bible Fellowship Church, Pass Christian, MS
14 ---- Travel to Reeves, LA, PM Reeves Bible Church
15-17 ---- Pastors Retreat, Camp Pearl, LA
17 ---- Kinder Bible Church, Kinder, LA
18 ---- Travel to Atlanta
20 ---- Work Day in Neighborhood
21 ---- SS at First Baptist of Dacula, Dacula, GA
25 ---- Fly to San Francisco, California
26,27 ---- Workshop, Grace Community Church, Burney, CA
28 ---- Grace Community Church, Burney, CA
30 ---- IFCA Lunch, Sacramento, CA
31 ---- Fly to Atlanta
November
1-2 ---- Drive to Michigan
2-3 ---- Possibly a workshop in Michigan
4 ---- AM, SS—Ottawa Center Chapel, Coopersville, MI
4 ---- PM—Allegan Bible Church, Allegan, MI
6-9 ---- IFCA Board Meeting, Grandville, MI
9-10 ---- Workshop, Whitneyville Bible Church, Alto, MI
11 ---- AM-East Arlington Baptist Church, Lawrence, MI
13-14 ---- Drive to NY State
15-17 ---- WOL Pastors Conference, Schroon Lake, NY
18 ---- AM-Martindale Community Gospel Church,
Craryville, NY
18 ---- PM Grace Bible Church, Wappingers Falls, NY
19 ---- Drive to Richmond, VA
21 ---- Drive to Atlanta

Biblical Ministries Worldwide
"A leader is a godly servant who knows where he is going and inspires and equips others to follow"

Jerry Smith
Church Relations
1595 Herrington Road
Lawrenceville, GA 30043

jsmith@biblicalministries.org
www.biblicalministries.org

770-339-3500
770-513-1254
770-617-4609