The Smith Family News

Our family is changing. The children have all grown up and our daily routine is even more confused than it always has been.

This year, Emeth, in addition to helping with our internet ministry, worked full-time as an English teacher, saving money, and contemplating her future. She handed in her resignation from her main job in December, and will go back to being a student next year. The classes she has had with home school families from church for the past few years have been blessed and will continue.

Ben Zedek is working on his studies for Whitefield College and expects to graduate next year. We hope that Ben will be able to begin to study theology more deeply after his graduation. He will also need to work on his Japanese language as well.

Berek Qinah, also a student at Whitefield College, has been given a very special blessing. In January, he will be traveling to Philadelphia to live with a Christian philosopher, Joel Garver, and his family — his wife Laurel and their baby daughter Claire — and attend classes for one semester at La Salle University, where Dr. Garver teaches. He will also have an opportunity to do special independent study with Dr. Garver and the added privilege of taking the Garver dog, Nicky, for his daily walk. We are thankful to God for His kindness and to the Garvers for their generosity. We pray that Berek will grow in Christ through this visit.

Sylvia and Ralph are too busy to notice that they are growing older.This year Sylvia has been able to sing in choir with Ben Zedek and Berek (Mozart's Requiem and Schumann's Requiem). The boys were invited to sing tenor in the choir for Bach's The Passion of St. Matthew, Handel's Messiah, and Beethoven's Ninth Symphony. Ben also sang in Beethoven's Missa Solemnis. Emeth was able to take time off work to join Sylvia and the boys for Mozart's Requiem.

0422-56-2840
0422-56-1591
(If you are calling from overseas, the code for Japan is "81" (please drop the first "0").