MAPLE CITY BAPTIST CHURCH

updates - April 2011

 “I will praise thee, O LORD, with my whole heart; I will shew forth all thy marvellous works!” Ps. 9:1

As we begin this letter, we have once again been greatly impressed with the importance & urgency of your prayers on our behalf! Your giving helps us live, but your prayers are truly the support we need more than anything else! Without them, when trials come, we would fail. “Thank you” does not adequately express our gratitude.

PRAISES PROCLAIMED – Phil’s brother, Dave, is home recuperating from his fall in Uganda. Upon returning home he was re-examined. Doctors found a little more damage than previously detected, but nothing like they had feared. They were as amazed as we all have been!! Of course, we know the credit goes to the Great Physician! Thank you for your prayers!

Susan’s brother, Scott, had a major cancer surgery in Florida on the 21st of March. Doctors removed his bladder, prostate, & part of his colon. From the removed colon they constructed a bladder. It took 400 stitches to construct his new bladder & almost seven hours of surgery! Lymph nodes were removed & tested, &, praise the Lord, though he has a long road of recovery ahead of him, Scott has been declared “cancer free.” Again, thank you for your constant prayers on our behalf!

Finally, we must share the story of our two year old granddaughter, Evangeline. A couple of weeks ago, Eve got very sick & ended up being air lifted to the Children’s Hospital of Illinois. We drove through the night to be with her and her parents. Over the next several days, we watched this tiny little girl endure so much – ventilator, feeding tube, central line, arterial line, tube to pump stomach, paralytic drugs, antibiotics & several sedation drugs! One night, after a particularly gruelling day & no improvements, we returned to our hotel room & fell on our knees by our bed. We wept & we cried out to God. In “desperate dependence,” we completely surrendered Eve into His care, even if that meant He would take her home with Him. This was one of the most difficult things we have ever done! We begged God to do what we could not – to hold her in his arms, to whisper sweet words of peace & comfort in her ears & to let her sense His presence. That night we slept in peace. The next several days we saw some rapid changes. Oh, it was not over by any means, but she was getting better! They began pulling her off some of the drugs & talked about extubating her. We were thrilled. Then Eve woke up & stared at us with those big blue eyes, but it was as if she was not really there! The ventilator was pulled, then the feeding tube & the arterial line. The tube in her stomach came next. She improved physically, but we still did not have our little “Evie.” She was not talking & was barely moving her arms & legs. There was talk of physiological & psychological damage & a lack of “brain activity.” Once more we turned in desperation to our Father. Through the entire experience, we were comforted by the prayers of literally thousands – even people we had never met. Some sent messages & gifts. Some came by the hospital to pray with us & some gave money to help with expenses. We told God we would take Eve any way He chose to give her to us! The one thing we longed for was to see her smile & hear her laugh again! Light began to dawn slowly, & when “Papa” (Phil) nuzzled Eve’s neck one morning & tickled her, she smiled & laughed for the first time since waking up! It was music to our ears & balm to our souls! Over the next several days, she improved rapidly & began talking & moving slowly. To make a long story short, today, she is a different girl – truly a miracle of God! She was released from the hospital with instructions for some physical therapy & some checkups with specialists, but we have our Eve back, & God deserves all the praise & glory! He alone is worthy! He alone is able. He alone is God!

PEOPLE INVOLVED - Many who cannot travel with us have asked us if there is anything (along with praying) that people at home can do to help with CLAIM projects? Here is a list:
1. Collect sample shampoos, conditioners, lotions, etc. from hotels. Periodically, mail them to us, & we will take them to the field. These are luxuries in some countries & they make great gifts!
2. If you sew, culottes of various sizes & fabrics are always appreciated.
3. Coloring pencils, crayons & coloring books are a plus for the children!
4. Used Sunday School Curriculum – particularly the visuals – save the missionaries a lot of money.
5. You can provide foods or toiletries that are difficult to get on the field. Future letters will keep you aware of these.
6. Allow your children to become pen pals with the missionary’s children. When you encourage a missionary’s child, you encourage the missionary!
7. Email the missionaries encouraging notes & remove the pressure for them to always write back!
8. Send birthday or anniversary cards. Insert a stick of gum, a balloon, a pack of Kool Aid, stickers or a decorative bandaid in the children’s cards.
9. If you cannot go yourself, but see the importance of others going, offer to help someone else go!
10. Financial donations are always a blessing. In recent trips we have been able to help with some of the personal needs of the missionaries because of the donations of others. This is a great encouragement & help to them!

PROJECTS COMPLETED - A last minute CLAIM team was pulled together to minister to a small missions work in Nova Scotia, Canada. We received a plea to help replace their roof. The pastor had suffered with cancer for years & had not been able to get the job done. Five men gave up five days, drove through the night to & from Nova Scotia, & while there, were able to strip & re-shingle the roof, insulate, side, & hang soffit & fascia on the backside of the building & install a sliding glass door in the pastor’s house. For more details & pictures of this project, see our blog: www.claim4god.blogspot.com

PROJECT AHEAD - SEPTEMBER – KENYA, AFRICA – Missionaries Luke & Tanya Shelby
The Shelby’s are veteran BIMI missionaries in Kisii, Kenya, with a thriving local church ministry. There is a great need for an orphanage to be added to their ministry, & they have asked for our help with this project. The details of this trip are still being gathered, but if you are at all interested, please contact us by email (claim4god@gmail.com) or by cell (619.403.6739) right away so that we can get an idea. Once again, the main cost of this trip will be airfare.

We are currently at 68% of our needed support. Our heart’s desire is to be at full support so that we can take on more CLAIM projects, but we know He knows best, & we trust the Lord to provide our support in His time and in His way!

Reaching the World with our Tools,
Philip & Susan Smith