The Smith Connection

Soccer excitement is in the air everywhere with the 2006 World Cup just around the corner. Here in Queretaro there is "Gallos Blancos" soccer excitement in the air as well. How do you share Christ with 11,000 people in a couple of hours in the midst of all of this excitement? Read on...

Our Queretaro "Gallos Blancos" (White Roosters) soccer team has just ascended to the highest division of profesional Mexican soccer, and the process has been fun! A couple months ago I mentioned to Lori that I really wished I could have made it to a soccer game here in Mexico during our first term. Little did I know that within a one week period, one month before our departure for our home assignment, I would be able to attend TWO of the most exciting games I've ever seen.

It all started with an hour wait in line to get tickets. Lori and the kids went with me the second time so that I could get more tickets at once. 13 guys from church went with me to first game, and 9 guys went with me to the second one. The stadium sold out for both games, about 40,000 screaming fans each game!

Both games were awesome! The stadium just exploded with every goal scored by Queretaro. The first one was the second of a two game series for the division 1A championship against the "Indios" of Ciudad Jaurez. The game even went into overtime and penalty kicks. Queretaro came out on top. The second game was the second of a two game series against the Puebla team to see who would ascend to the top division of profesional Mexican soccer. Queretaro won 3-0. Below their second goal is pictured. Again there was much noise and celebration as the trophy was lifted high by the team members. "The wave" went around and around the stadium, and the crowd thundered "OAA OAOAOA GALLOS! GALLOS!" What an incredible expeience!

And now, for the most exciting part of all! At least 11,000 people recieved an evangelistic World Cup Soccer tract during the two games combined. The tracts were received incredibly well before and after the games, and at times we could not hand them out fast enough. This tract has the World Cup schedule on the one side, and a clear Gospel presentation on the other side. Please pray for the results. The polititians were taking advantage of the game as well, and handing out their propaganda. The difference was that their stuff was all over the ground or torn in little pieces to be thrown in the air when a goal was scored. We saw very few tracts on the ground. We will keep you updated on any contacts that result.

Besides praying, which we greatly appreciate, another way you can help is by sending in a monetary gift to help us pay for these tracts. Here is the information for giving toward this:

Just send your check made out to CAM International and write "Bryan Smith Ministry Account" on the memo line. The address is: CAM International, 8625 La Prada Drive, Dallas, TX 75228. Or you can donate through PayPal at our home page on the CAM website: http://caminternational.gospelcom.net/homepage/index.php?id=Y29udGFjdElEPTIzOCZmYW1QYWdlSUQ9MjU2 (If the link doesn't work for you, just copy and paste it into your web browser)

Posted by Bryan at 09:02 AM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (1)

Please pray for this evangelistic effort at a soccer game.

Dear Praying Friend,

Bryan, with about 18 men and youth from our church, is planning to attend the division 2 soccer final of our "Gallos Blancos of Querétaro" soccer team this evening. We are also planning to hand out 10,000 evangelistic World Cup Soccer tracts before and after the game. These tracts have proven to be an awesome evangelistic tool in past World Cup years. They contain the World Cup schedule as well as the plan of salvation. Please pray that these tracts would make it into the hands of people with open hearts, and that there might be fruit as a result of this evangelistic effort. Even if one or two people respond to the Gospel, it will be well worth the $350 spent.

If you would like to help us cover the cost of these tracts, please consider sending a one time gift in to our ministry expense account at CAM International. Just send your check made out to CAM International and write "Bryan Smith Ministry Account" on the memo line. The address is: CAM International, 8625 La Prada Drive, Dallas, TX 75228. Or you can donate through PayPal at our home page on the CAM website: http://caminternational.gospelcom.net/homepage/index.php?id=Y29udGFjdElEPTIzOCZmYW1QYWdlSUQ9MjU2 (If the link doesn't work for you, just copy and paste it into your web browser)

If you can pray, please pray. If you can give, please give. May God receive the glory in this team effort to share the Gospel with 10, 000 people here in Querétaro!

Thankful for our Team,
Bryan, Lori, Kendra, Tara, and Ben

Bryan & Lori Smith
Islas Griegas #120
Fracc. Loma Linda
Querétaro, QRO C.P. 76030
MÉXICO

Telephone:
From the U.S. 011-52-442-222-7799
From Mexico 01-442-222-7799

Email: bsmith@cam-mexico.org
Webpage: http://smithconnection.com

Posted by Bryan at 01:05 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

*Click below for some recent prayer and praise items

"I will greatly rejoice in the LORD, my soul shall be joyful in my God; for he hath clothed me with the garments of salvation," Isaiah 61:10a (KJV)

Dear Team,

May is already getting away from us, and we are just getting our prayer update out. Thanks for your prayers during this busy time for us:

Praises:
1. Praise God for a great finish to our parenting class with five families from our church. The Lord blessed each family involved. See pictures.
2. Praise God for the salvation of Salvadora. Read more about this spiritual battle in these two journal entries: entry 1 & entry 2
3. Praise God for a good trip to Guatemala over Holy Week. We had a good and refreshing time with Lori's parents. See pictures.
4. Praise God for a good Children's day service on April 30. A few new kids and their parents attended church that day. See pictures.

Prayer Requests:
1. Pray for our upcoming trip and transition to the US for home assignment. Pray for all the packing and "loose end tying" that we will be doing in the next several weeks. Pray for a good family adjustment and for the provision of extra funds for the travel and move.
2. Pray for the church transition. Pray that the men who are stepping up will prove to be faithful servants. Bryan, along with four other men from the church had the opportunity to attend an excellent leader's conference last week. Pray that it will continue to bear fruit.
3. Pray for the salvation of Abigail and Alejandro. Abigail is Salvadora's niece. See praise number 2 above. Also please pray for the salvation of Oliver, Isela's husband. She and her three children are studying God's Word with us, and would love to see their husband/dad join them.

Praise God for His magnificent salvation. Pray for the efforts that are being made to get the gospel out, including the distribution of a World Cup Soccer gospel tract that is being distributed. It is a great, well accepted tool that is being used to share the good news here in Mexico!

Rejoicing in the Lord,
Bryan, Lori, Kendra, Tara, & Ben

Posted by Bryan at 09:15 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

This entry is a follow-up to an entry posted in November 2005 called Spiritual Darkness. Thanks to many prayers, an exciting turn of events recently happened. Read on ...

On Tuesday, May 2, Salvadora, the aunt of Abigail, the young lady who was invovled in dark spiritual things, attended one of our church's prayer groups and was lead to put her faith in the Lord by two of our developing church leaders. Salvadora, whose name in Spanish is the feminine version of Savior, put her faith in Jesus Christ as her persoanl Savior! This past Sunday, May 7, Salvadora came to church, and she didn't come alone. With her were her niece, Abigail, and her boyfriend, Alejandro, both of whom were part of the group of youth who were playing with satanic things last November. They still have a long way to go. Abigail is pregnant now, but our hope and our prayer is that they will also put their faith in Christ, and form a solid Christian home for the baby that is on the way. Just to have them accept the invitation to go to church was a huge step. PLEASE PRAY!

Posted by Bryan at 06:36 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Kendra, Tara, and Ben giving us a concert on Grandma Wenger's piano

*Click below for more family and ministry photos

*CLICK ON THE THUMBNAILS TO SEE A LARGER IMAGE

FAMILY

Enjoying time at Grandma and Grandpa Wengers house in Guatemala

We got a chance to get away to the beach for a couple of days while the kids were with Grandma & Grandpa

We went to the Salem Church on two Sundays, and Bryan preached on Palm Sunday evening

We spent a few days at Panajachel - beautiful Lake Atitlan

We took a "tuk tuk" ride out to part of the town of Santiago Atitlan to see the damage caused by mudslides during Huricane Stan in October 2005. There were so many people burried by the mudslide in this area that they just declared it a cemetary and left them burried. You can see the mud 1/2 to 3/4 of the way up the bigger buildings. The picture on the far right shows the area hospital, which is also burried.

We all enjoyed a day trip to the volcanic dark sand beach of the Guatemalan Pacific Ocean

The kids had fun on an Easter egg hunt in Grandma and Grandpa's yard on Easter Sunday morning

The kids helping Mommy shell peas

MINISTRY

Youth group on April 29. Sergio gave the Bible study. It has been exciting for us to see the youth taking more of an initiative in the planning of activities and the organization of the group.

Children's Day, celebrated on April 30 in Mexico. We had a special service for the kids, and had a great attendance of about 30 kids. One of our youth, Sergio, gave a devotional on the "Lost Sheep". It was a fun day.

Another one of our young ladies, Dinorah, is planning to serve on the Logos II ship with OM later this year. Here she is sharing her plans with the church.

We concluded our parenting class on April 30 with a "carne asada" - a Mexican style bar-b-que with steak, chorrizo sausage, and onions on the grill. Very scrumcious! We had been meeting on Sunday afternoons over the last several months. The class was very beneficial to the five families that were involved. Here three of the couples are pictured: Jesús and Monica, Jose Luis and Estrella, and Rodrigo and Alejandra.

Posted by Bryan at 04:23 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Haz click abajo para la foto del grupo

Haz click en la imagen para hacerla más grande, y luego guardala en tu computadora.

Posted by Bryan at 09:18 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)