The Smith Connection

Thanks so much for your prayers and concern for us in recent days. Mexico has certainly been in the news a lot! Here are a couple points of general update on the situation and on our family:

- Lori’s Surgery - we thank God for the recent visit of two ladies from our home church in PA. They were a GREAT blessing here as Lori had her surgery and the beginning of her recovery. They made it back to PA safely on Monday. Lori continues to do well and recover more each day.

- Swine Flu – even though the news has been inconsistent and it is hard to know the truth, here are a few facts we think we know:

- There are no officially confirmed cases of the flu here in our state of Queretaro, although we are right next to two states that do have confirmed cases

- The government has closed all schools at all levels in the entire country until May 6 – this includes Ben’s Kindergarten, but not the girls’ home school! :)

- The government has asked that people avoid public gatherings for now, and has closed many museums, parks, convention centers, restaurants, and sports arenas.

- The leadership of our church decided it would be best to suspend all church activities at least until May 6 and focus on praying as families at home for this situation

- The US Department of State has issued a travel alert encouraging Americans to avoid nonessential travel to Mexico. The U.S. Embassy in Mexico has encouraged U.S. citizens living in Mexico to take precautions, including having a two-week stockpile of essentials such as food, water, and medicines

We are taking the necessary precautions and trusting in God to keep us safe and healthy in the midst of everything. It has been a blessing that things have slowed down on the church side of ministry so that we can focus on catching up in some other areas, as well as to allow Bryan to continue helping Lori around the house as she continues to recover.

Thanks so much for your prayers for us during this time.

Trusting God,
Bryan, Lori, Kendra, Tara, and Ben