Joy to the world!

There is no better word for the Christmas season than joy! When the angels appeared to the shepherds in the wilderness they said, “We bring good news of great JOY!” And joy is what we have as a family. First, our joy is found in Jesus Christ. Through His sacrifice we have become children of God. This is the good news of great joy. Once we were far away but have now been brought near by the blood of Jesus Christ. We pray that you will continue to experience the joy that Christ brings.

Another way we find joy is by remembering your partnership in the gospel with us. The book of Philippians is often referred to as the place to go when you are looking for joy. And when you hit the first couple of sentences you see Paul finds joy when he remembers the church in Philippi. And just like Paul, we too remember you in our prayers and praise God for your partnership with us. Without your support we would not be able to be here. God has blessed us so much through your giving, your prayers, and your encouragement. Thank you for partnering with us on this mission.

God is moving in mighty ways in Boston. Recently we had the opportunity to meet with several church planters around greater Boston. It was powerful to see men and women from all different nationalities joining under one roof with the goal to spread the glory of Christ throughout this city. One thing that is unique about this city is all the different people groups throughout the city. The town that we live has many Russian, Jewish and Chinese people. God is sending church planters with a heart to reach these specific people groups.

Please pray for one of Ben’s coworkers. He is a first generation Russian who has relocated to Boston with his young family. We have had several conversations about Christ and faith and he has continued to ask questions. Recently, at the church planters meeting, we were able to meet a church planter named Yan who has started a Russian church. Ben was able to invite his coworker to Yan’s church to hear the gospel in his native tongue. Please pray that he and his family go to Yan’s church and hear the glorious good news

At Charles River Church God has been sending young professionals and newly wed couples to our doorsteps looking for a place to connect and hear the truth of His Word. We have been able to see the gospel not only save but also empower believers to stand firm for the gospel and share the joy that they have with their friends and co-workers. Please pray for the church as growth is slow and the work is difficult, but the fruit is sweet!

Continue to pray for our family as we are just months away from the birth of our second little girl Rosalie Dawn Smith. We are so excited to meet her but with the birth of a child, comes new challenges. Pray for God to grant us strength and grace as our family grows and we continue to spread the good news of great JOY!

Ben, Holly,

and Cecilia Smith

An overdue update

It's been a long time coming... Finally, I (Ben) am able to find a good amount of time to sit down and update the blog. We are so grateful and thankful for all the support and encouragement we have received over the past months. Over the past 5 months we have received your letters, phone calls, emails, and financial provision which has made us overwhelmed with joy in Christ. Thank you for your continued sacrificial gifts of time and resources. These past months have been a roller coaster of emotions. While Boston is a beautiful city full of life and community activities, the need for the gospel of Christ to shine here becomes more evident every day. Rarely have I had a conversation with someone at work or in the community around us that knows the truth of Jesus Christ and His death and resurrection. Everyday provides an opportunity to share the treasure that we have.

Our Family is Growing (both spiritually and physically)... A lot has happened in the Smith family since we departed from Ga. Holly and I have been grown and stretched as we have been in Boston. We are continuing to grow in our love for Christ and His church and being stretched daily in our brokenness for this fallen world we live in. We ask that you continue to pray for God to draw hearts unto Himself and use us to show the joy that is found in trusting Jesus. Also, If you have not heard already the Lord has blessed us and baby #2 is due March 17, 2011. This will mean both new joys and new challenges! Please pray that the Lord will send workers to help in the children's ministry where Holly is currently serving.

God is building His Church... I feel like everyday I am reminded of the words of Christ in Matthew 16:18 to Peter when He says "I will build My church." I am reminded that Christ is not just saying that He will build a local church but a universal church of the redeemed. Charles River Church is growing slowly in numbers but beautifully in transformed lives. We are seeing people come together every week to BE the body of Christ. This past Sunday, we held our Community Grand Opening and saw fruit through those who came to hear the message of CRC. We even had a local newspaper contact us to run an article about the Grand Opening. Pray that those who attended saw the glory of Christ and will long to be connected to His body and share to those around them. And continue to pray that God will continue to open doors to reach out to the surrounding communities of West Roxbury, Roslindale, Jamaica Plain, Newton, and Dedham.

If in your prayers, you are led to support the church or our family financially, please feel free to contact me at ben@thecharlesriverchurch.com.


Thank you again for all the encouragement we have received from your support.

Trusting in God for the Glory of His Name,

Ben, Holly, and Cecilia Smith

A One Way Ticket to Boston

Well it has finally arrived! Today I (Holly) purchased a one-way ticket to Boston! God has provided and has been faithful to move in His own perfect timing. We have wanted to be in Boston for almost 4 months now, and in the last few weeks everything has come together perfectly for our move. Here is just a short list of things that God has done:

• We sold everything in our screen printing shop for full asking price!
• In just 2 weeks, Ben has an interview at a bank in Boston for a great job that will provide for what we still need in monthly finances for now while we continue to raise financial support.
• We have had a number of new financial partners join us who have given sacrificially and generously.

So here are the details:

• Ben gave his two weeks notice at his job today. His last day will be the 21st.

• On the 22nd we will all be flying up to Boston to begin our search for an apartment.
• On the 26th Ben will fly back to Atlanta and on the 27th he will begin the drive with the UHaul up to Boston. (We will be packing up the UHaul on the 27th for those of you who can help)
  

Hopefully we will have found an apartment by the time Ben gets there and we will move in by June 1st!

Please continue to pray for us:

• Pray that Ben's job interview with the Bank goes well.

• Pray that more financial partners will join with us. We are currently only at 25% of our monthly pledge goal. We will be continuing to support raise over the next 6 months or more.
• Pray that we will be able to find an affordable apartment quickly.
• Pray for us as we transition as a family and begin ministry in Boston.
  

Thank you so much to everyone who has given, prayed and encouraged us over the last few months. We have been so blessed and overwhelmed by the immense encouragement we have felt recently as we said goodbye to our church family at Summit. Our commissioning service at Summit last Sunday was awesome and we feel so support by our church (and Stan did a great job!).

Please continue pray for Charles River Church and for us as we finally join them in reaching Boston with the transforming message of Jesus Christ.

Getting closer...

The past month has been a busy one for the Smith family. We have been able to share about our hearts for Boston and the need for the Gospel with multiple Sunday school classes, the Youth at Summit and the Women’s Ministry at Summit. The support we have felt and the encouragement we have received has been overwhelming!

Almost everywhere we go we are asked two questions.

1. When are you leaving? The answer to that is we still don’t have a definitive date but as support continues to come in we are closer to being in Boston. Our hope and prayer is to move sometime in the month of May. Please pray for us as we continue to build financial partnerships.
2. When do we send our checks in? Many of our friends have told us that they are planning to support us but that they weren’t sure when we needed them to send the funds in. The answer is now. We are depending on a certain amount of financial support for our income and once we have reached that amount we can move. If you have planned on sending your response card that you received in the mail to us but were waiting till we move, please send it in now. It will help us get a feel for how much monthly support we will have. Here is a link to a response card. If you would like to be a member of our prayer or financial support team and you lost the card or haven’t received one you can print it out and send it in.

We are very encouraged by how God is already providing for us. We have been blessed with numerous one time gifts that will help us out so much in getting onto the mission field.

Here are some ways you can pray for us in the coming weeks:

1. May 2nd will be our last Sunday serving with Focus and the Simple Service at Summit. This will be a difficult time for us. These ministries have been a HUGE part of our lives this past year and a half and it will not be easy for us to say goodbye.
2. Please pray for Charles River Church (the church we will be serving with) and the Pastor Josh Wyatt. Josh and his wife Becky need to sell their house so they can finally move to Boston. Currently, they are still having to commute into the city for ministry. Please pray that their house will sell soon.
3. Please continue to pray for us as we continue to build financial partnerships. Our goal is to raise enough support that Ben only needs to work a part-time job so he can give more hours to ministry. We have begun to look at part-time jobs in the area as well, and you can join us in praying that he will be able to find one quickly that will meet the remainder of our financial needs.

As for our family, we are doing well. We are excited about how God is moving in our lives and what the future holds for us. We are reminded daily of His faithfulness and His goodness towards us. We are fighting impatience to move and be up in Boston but we know that God is sovereign and will allow us to move in His perfect timing. Thank you for all of your prayers and words of encouragement, they truly mean a lot to us! If you have any questions or need to contact us you can e-mail us at ben@thecharlesriverchurch.com

Our God is Faithful to Provide!

I (Ben) have been overwhelmed by how true this statement is over the past few weeks. God has been so gracious and faithful to our family as He is to all who are His children. He continues to show us His steadfast love and His hand working to move us to Boston. Over the past few weeks He has provided for all of our moving expenses to get on the mission field in Boston and even the expenses related to sending out our support letters to the body of Christ. Every time a task has seemed too difficult for us to move forward, the Lord has shown Himself to be the provider of all that we need.

This past weekend was an extremely encouraging weekend as we were able to feel the love of Christ lavished on us though the church. On Friday night we had two of our dear friends, Chris Maschke and Brent Reese, spend 3 and a half hours helping us fold over 1000 support letters that will be going out to our church body this week. Then on Monday Daniel Gambrell helped us put address labels on the envelopes. We are so grateful to them for their support as well as our church for being willing to share our mission with the entire body of Christ at Summit. We were also invited to share with 2 Sunday School classes at the church the need for the Gospel in Boston and the call God has placed on our lives to go. This was a great time of encouragement and edification as people were amazed to hear the need for the Gospel and even share stories of friends and loved ones that were already there and looking for a church home. We are so grateful for our church body and how they are partnering with us through prayer, encouragement, and support as we go out. We truly have felt the love of Christ and the fellowship of the Spirit from His Bride this weekend.


:Prayer Request:

Please continue to pray about how the Lord is leading you to join with us in this mission whether that be through prayer support, letters of encouragement, or financial support.

We would also like to invite you to pray with us for the Pastor of Charles River Church, Josh Wyatt, his wife Becky and their two boys Isaiah and Luca. Currently, they live about an hour and a half outside of the city of Boston and commute several times during the week for missions projects and small group studies. They will continue to have to do this until their house sells. As you can imagine this is very difficult to do and can take a toll on their family if they are not careful. This also makes it difficult to connect with anyone in the city as they are seen as outsiders and not residents. There are a few other core families that are in the same situation. Please join us in praying for them that their houses will sell and they will be able to relocate to the city as soon as possible.


"Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen." (Ephesians 3:20-21)

His Perfect Timing

First let me (Holly) say how grateful we are for our Church! A week ago Monday we met with the Elders and Missions Board at Summit and we were given the opportunity to share with them what God has been doing in our lives. We were overwhelmingly encouraged by their supportive words and prayers. It was a wonderful confirmation from the Lord that He has indeed called us to serve Him in Boston. We have never been as encouraged as we were after our meeting with them.

Probably the most frequently asked question we have gotten in the past week is “When are you moving?” Well… we are not sure yet. Due to the nature of serving with a brand new church plant, we are depending on support raising and God’s provision for our salary. So to answer the much asked question, we are moving when God provides. We have just begun the process and we will keep all of you posted as things progress. Don’t worry, we won’t just disappear.

Ben and I have been struggling with the desire to be in Boston sooner rather than later. We are so excited about what God is doing in Boston and we just want to get all the logistics of moving etc. out of the way. But we have been reminded in a remarkably strong way over the last week that God’s timing is perfect.

This past week we have been involved in some of the most wonderfully challenging ministry we have ever experienced at Summit. We have never felt a stronger need for prayer. We have never felt so needy of God’s strength and wisdom. We have never prayed more for our church, it’s leaders, or the students in the Focus group. We are learning so much (mostly learning how much we still need to learn) and realizing how much we truly need our Father’s guidance, wisdom and strength. It has been a great reminder that God will move us to Boston in His perfect timing and that He is still doing a great work in us while we wait. We are not sitting idly twiddling our thumbs while we wait on God to move. That would be easier, but God is so kind to keep that refining fire white hot while we wait.

Again, we want to thank all of you who have prayed for us, encouraged us, asked us questions, and supported us. We feel so loved by our church and our friends! We praise God for you. 1 Thess 5:16-18 “Rejoice always; pray without ceasing; in everything give thanks; for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus.”

Welcome

Thanks for checking out our blog! God is doing amazing things and we are anxious to share with you.

Over the past year God has been steadily and undeniably calling our family into ministry. Through the success of the college ministry and the experience as worship leader for a new service at our home church, Summit Baptist Church, God has been teaching us, growing us and preparing us for ministry. God has given us a great burden for the lost and dramatically increased our desire for ministry. Through much prayer and counsel we have felt the call to church plant in an area unreached with the gospel of Jesus Christ. Through more prayer and many events, which can only be attributed to the providence of God, He has led us to a new church planting movement starting in Boston, Massachusetts.

Boston, Massachusetts is made up of almost 600,000 people and approximately 4.5 million throughout greater Boston. This major metropolitan area is home to fewer born again Christians than any other area in the country. According to a new study by the North American Mission Board less than 2% of people living in Massachusetts claim to be evangelical. This shocking statistic classifies Massachusetts as an unreached people group. We believe that God wants to move again in the city of Boston through the proclamation of His Gospel.

We are thrilled to be joining Charles River Church, a brand new church plant in the West Roxbury neighborhood of Boston whose target launch date is April 4, 2010.

The vision of Charles River Church is:

• REACHING the city with the transforming message of Christ,

• CONNECTING them to a meaningful relationship with Christ and His Church and

• DISCIPLING the faithful to spiritual maturity.

Ben will be joining the leadership of this new church plant as worship leader and small groups or “connections” director. He will oversee the corporate worship gathering from the band to the audio/media as well as leading the Reach Ministries and Connection Groups and will oversee the ministries that connect people into body life.

We are seeking to build a team of people who are committed to praying for us as we venture out into this lost city. The need for the gospel in Boston is great but our God is far greater and we ask that you would consider becoming a part of our prayer team and pray for us as we minister in Boston. We are also seeking to build a team of people who the Lord is leading to partner with us financially. As a staff member of this brand new church we are trusting the Lord for our salary through support raising. You can partner with us by filling out and sending in a response card. Please pray about how you might partner with us.

Visit our blog often to hear how God is working!

Ben, Holly and Cecilia Smith