Dear prayerful friends,

It’s been two months now since our family left Belize and resettled in Dalton, Georgia. For our family, it’s been a time of big changes. It has been difficult for us to say goodbye to our many friends in Belize and the work that occupied us for nine years. Even though my sinful pride makes me think that the Lord’s work can’t continue in Belize without me,

I know our God is much bigger than that. Indeed, the reports we receive from our missionary friends still in Belize show the Lord’s handiwork in calling new people to the work and equipping the national church to carry on.

It’s apparent that our time in Belize was more of a training ground to prepare us for what lays before us now. First on our agenda has been to reacclimatize to the American way of life. It’s called “reverse culture shock,” when you’ve been out of your original culture for a while, and then return to it. It’s like coming out from under anesthesia in the surgeon’s recovery room and trying to reattach yourself with reality. My, we have too many choices in the grocery store. My, things are really expensive compared to nine years ago. My, we have to fill out a thousand forms and buy just the right clothes to send our son to school.

But maybe it’s not all that bad to feel out of sync. Maybe our culture doesn’t have it right all the time. When it comes to my profession, family practice medicine, I’ve been thinking about what good things I enjoyed in Belize that I could transfer to the two new jobs that I have now. Working at Presbyterian Medical Clinic in Belize taught me that it’s not all about how smart a doctor I am, or how many high-tech scans I can perform on my patient, but rather how well I form a relationship with my patient. When I was able to move beyond the exam room and care for a patient in their own home, those relationships grew rapidly. With such relationships naturally came the opportunity to share my most important relationship, the one with Christ. Our culture’s system of health care based in clinics and hospitals values efficiency over relationships. Is there a place for doctors who do house calls, especially in the context of evangelism and discipleship? Is it possible in a country that is debating a thousand-page law to regulate health care, for a doctor to base a practice on house calls?

Our present calling, Lord willing, will produce a real life test of the utility of house call medicine for the Lord’s work. First, Mission to the World (MTW) desires for me to put my black bag in a suitcase and call on patients in far away countries. Many of these countries are closed to traditional missionaries, but open to medical teams. In a few weeks I’ll be visiting Belgorod, Ukraine to assist for a few days at the Christian Clinic there. This was where I had my first taste of leading medical teams. Pre-Belize, over a decade ago, I and teams traveled there four times. I look forward to seeing what the Lord has done in my absence as the clinic ministry has grown considerably.

In January, I’ll join a team going to Burma, a.k.a. Myanmar, for two weeks. In the company of veterans Doreen Mar, Cheryl Crocker and Clayton Jackson, we’ll be coming to the assistance of Christians there who are medically neglected in a climate of persecution. The churches of countries such as this value medical teams because the teams attract crowds, to the benefit of the pastors and evangelists.

I look forward to taking three to four such trips yearly. The destinations could be most anywhere, being as Mission to the World has invitations in over thirty countries. I have been visiting our supporting churches since we returned from Belize, both to reinforce our support team and to look for medical people interested in joining our MTW teams. What would be dandy would be to have a particular church, or several churches in one town, to form a medical team that I could assist in organizing.

So what’s with Dalton, Georgia? The “carpet capital of the world” is a modest-sized town in northern Georgia where you can get real bargains on floor coverings. The factories that produce these coverings have attracted immigrant workers as well as the “indigenous Georgians.” One of our family’s supporting churches, Grace Presbyterian, is very active in community outreach projects. These projects include education and housing rehabilitation. The church has even constructed a missions house capable of bedding down 40 members of visiting teams.

Seeing a big need for primary health care among those that Grace Presbyterian reaches, the church has asked me to assist them in starting a medical ministry. Last night the church elders commissioned the formation of “Grace Outreach Medical Ministry” to accomplish this. Although it will legally be a separate charitable organization, its leadership will draw from the church and its ministry will be designed to enhance the church. Lord willing, my house calls will be augmented by volunteers who will address the oppressive realities, spiritually and physically. Some may need a roof or a car repaired. Others may need financial coaching. Some will need evangelism, some discipleship. All will need friendship.

In fact, our family could use your friendship too. Please pray for us as we face challenges. I, Wiley, will be traveling a lot in the next month and a half to visit churches and individuals. Much organizational work remains to be done for the new ministry overseas and in Dalton. My older brother, Dr. David Smith, will have neurosurgery tomorrow to relieve a buildup of fluid about the brain. He has been a mentor to me and very helpful in sending out newsletters and gathering medical supplies. Our daughter Erika and her husband Aaron have decisions to make about their medically-related jobs. Our daughter Deanna, after having done a bang-up good job working as an intern for Grace Presbyterian this summer, has returned for her junior year at Belhaven College. Her desire is to see her studies of drama lead to a missionary assignment, possibly starting the last semester of her senior year. Son, Nathan has just arrived at Covenant College as a freshman with intentions to study philosophy and theology. Son, Isaac finds himself as a 10th-grader at Christian Heritage School. Our most Belizeanized child, Isaac has plenty of cultural adjustments in store.

For those who can support us financially, please do so by gifts to our support account with Mission to the World, number 16864. The address is MTW, P.O. Box 116284, Atlanta GA 30368-6284. In the near future, you may be able to send donations more directly by way of Grace Presbyterian Church in Dalton, but stay tuned. We are looking for about $1800 more monthly support to fuel both the overseas trips and ministry in Dalton. If you know of opportunities for us to talk, please inform.

Yours in His Service, the Smith family