Christmas Greetings 2017

December 2017

Warm Christmas Greetings from the Smiths!                                                                                          

It came without ribbons! It came without tags!

It came without packages, boxes or bags!”

… Then the Grinch thought of something he hadn’t before!

"Maybe Christmas,” he thought, “doesn’t come from a store.

Maybe Christmas…perhaps… means a little bit more!”

                                                                                                                  - Dr. Seuss

Things we love that ‘don’t come from a store:'

Rick: US food, homes of rest, time with Caleb, golf, well-placed books

Ann: renewed friendships, the six of us together, the Comforter, pictures

Katie: Costa Rica, sponsorship, ND Development (& football), Young Life

Julia: two home cultures, running friends, cousins, cheesecake, driving

Rachel: being alive, scholarships, college friends, Utah x 2, Passion Church

Caleb: 5000 shots, homeschool (well, maybe not…), shoes, 100 pounds!

As we’ve ended the year soaking up time in the U.S., we are so thankful for the many ways you have encouraged us and blessed us with your time, words, prayers, financial support, and friendship. May God’s blessings rest upon you!

Much Love –

Rick, Ann, Katie, Rachel, Julia, and Caleb

Rachel - Alive and Well

About three weeks into starting college at Liberty University, Rachel was hit by a car.  She was walking across a street in a crosswalk and several cars were preparing to turn left on the road in front of her.  It’s a long crosswalk so she went half way and one car turned in front of her.  She looked at the next car and thought the driver saw her so proceeded forward.  The driver didn't see her and accelerated into her, hitting her on her right side.  She slammed onto the hood of the car (thank God) and rolled off to the ground on the passenger side.  Adrenaline kept her feeling ok that night, but Saturday am she woke up feeling the weight of it.  

A friend at Liberty, who is an ER nurse, graciously went over to her dorm, took a look at her and recommended she be evaluated at a hospital.  We drove through the night to get to her and bring her to the hospital.  We were SO THANKFUL to be in the US...

She had a concussion and some deep tissue bruising but everything else checked out ok.  Some gracious friends in the area let us stay at their house while she hibernated in a dark room until she could tolerate light again. She had a hard time getting up and down the stairs because her left hip was bruised internally. 

During her recovery, the family we were staying with let their 'therapy baby' hang out with her!  This brought her SO much joy! She's missed having babies to hold in college! 

By the third day, she was able to tolerate some light and join us for meals!

Amazingly, she only missed four days of school and we were able to drop her off in her dorm to finish her semester.  She had to avoid church and chapel for a month because of the lights and noise, but she was able to go to classes and even work on her computer to finish homework.  

We are PRAISING GOD for sparing her life and for such a quick recovery.  Thank you to all of you who were praying so diligently for her!  We are thankful!

September Update

Greetings Friends! The Smith family is officially stateside for the next few months! Our primary goals for our stay is to find rest, renewal, and reconnection with family and friends.  So far, we've visited family... ...enrolled Julia at Vernon Hills High School... ...settled Katie at ND and Rachel at LU... ...returned to LU after Rachel was hit by a car. Thank God she's back on her feet again...

...and started home schooling Caleb.

We've also meet with our incredible Oasis team in the US and are excited about our future in Kenya!

The Little Things we LOVE About Kenya

First Tour of Duty

July 2017 

We're nearing the end of our first 'tour of duty' as Rick likes to call it. School closes for our children on July 12th, Rachel graduates the next day and then we're headed out of Kenya for a few months for rest, renewal and reconnection with family and friends before returning to Kenya at the end of December. 

As we reflect back on the last seven years, here are a few of our learnings from Kenya:

We came expecting to get a lot done in a little time.  We’ve learned nothing happens very fast. We think when we communicate something it can be easily understood.  But our perspectives are vastly different. Explaining things from a 200-year-old cultural perspective that is viewed through a 2000-year-old cultural lens is hard.  It’s challenging for both sides to see these as simply differences when it feels like right and wrong. The truth is, we both have things to learn from each other and change takes a long time.

We’ve become better at valuing relationship over task (proverbial pat on the back for us).  Being willing to sit and listen and to let everyone in the room be heard shows deference. Being willing to not make a decision because it’s going to hurt other people communicates their significance. Taking time to think through a decision (because 2000 years of history must be considered) is worthwhile. It can be frustrating and is B.R.U.T.A.L.L.Y. slow. It’s why people are still pooping in holes, but they’re vastly more content than we are. Task still feels more important many days, but we are trying. 

Even though progress seems slow, kids everywhere grow fast.  As we bring our second child to college, many of the Oasis children, who have grown alongside our kids, are also entering high school and college and becoming independent adults.  Though they don’t have a perfect story, they have a growth story and the majority of them are doing really well.  They are succeeding and failing, making good decisions and learning the hard way, and ultimately developing in the way God wants.

As we reflect back on our first tour, we stand in the tension of being disappointed over slow progress, but being grateful that so many children, including ours, have grown and developed into confident, successful young adults that are making a difference in their sphere of influence.  Hope is renewed as we see new children filling the beds of the children that are finishing their own tour of duty. 

New Faces, New Fears

We are nearing the end of Term 2 and after making the difficult decision to board Rachel, Julia and Caleb at RVA we anticipate quality time together during the break.  Our children have done wonderfully during this season and have embraced deepening their relationships with friends in the dorm.  They also have outstanding dorm parents which has been a blessing.

We’ve also seen a lot of change at Oasis over the last few months. We’ve added more than 30 children to the Oasis programs!  It’s been an exciting time to see the empty beds we’ve prayed over fill up and watch seasoned Oasis children welcome new friends with open arms.

A few months ago, an insightful 8th grader asked me this question, “Do kids like coming to a children’s home or do they look at it negatively?”  It’s a great question.  Children who join an Oasis home eat nutritious meals.  Most of them sleep in beds with blankets and mosquito nets for the first time.  They have their health, educational, and social needs addressed.  They are surrounded by loving staff who genuinely care for them. It seems like an easy yes and it’s actually a resounding, “YES!” over time.

We’ve had our staff go through the exercise* below and it helps answer the question in an eye-opening way so they understand what the children feel like at first.  We thought you may like to try it with your family.  Answer the following questions: Who is important in my life? Significant Person _______________________ What groups do I belong to? Group ________________________________ What do I do that gives my life meaning? Meaning/Role __________________________ What gives me a sense of joy? Source of Joy ___________________________ In what do I hold strong beliefs?               System of Value _________________________ How do I know about and preserve my past? History ________________________________ What locations or places are important to me? Places _________________________________ These answers define who you are. They include everything of value to you and make up your identity. This is YOU!  Now, look carefully at your answers and choose one and cross it out.  In your mind, take it out of your life completely.  Decide that you will live the rest of your life without that piece included. Think about being without this piece of your life for a few minutes.  Then, do it again. Remove another piece.  Consider it no longer a part of who you are and sit with this for a few moments.  Though it’s difficult, do it again.  Take out another piece of your life.  Cross it out completely and remove it from your life.  How are you doing? It gets even harder.  Do it again.  Completely erase another area of your life.  And again take out another important piece of you.      Finally, do it again.  Remove one of the last two pieces of your life.  You can remain with one thing.  Just one.  Everything else is gone.

You just walked through an excruciating exercise and got to choose what you would remove from your life.  This is how children walk into our children’s homes but they don’t have a choice in what they lose.  They have literally lost almost everyone, everything, and every place that is important to them.

We can tell them they are lucky to be at the home and that they will have everything they need. We can tell them they should be grateful, but the truth is, when they first arrive, they’re not.  They would rather have their parents back, or even their dysfunctional family and their crowded floor to sleep on with their brothers, sisters and cousins because it’s familiar and it is home.

It’s why new children come to us with a blank stare and why they run away sometimes and why it takes time to feel safe and secure. It’s why ensuring children remain connected to their guardian family is one of the most important things we do.  It is why finding Jesus is critical because life IS hard and though everything else can change, He will not.

We know from experience this changes over time as these children feel physically better from improved food and health care.  We know from experience, they will embrace this opportunity and they will find hope, education, joy, and Jesus.  We know they will connect with the staff and find life-long friendships with children who share their experiences. We know they will feel like their family has grown. We know what's coming... in time. Please be praying for the new children at Oasis as they adjust.  And please pray for our staff who are working tirelessly to ensure these children feel welcomed and loved.

*This exercise used with permission from Back to Back Ministries