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Dennis
and Lucy Smith, founders of Manos de Dios, have been married twenty
years and have two adult children.
Background, Dennis Smith age 59.
I am from a southern family, reared in the inner city of Detroit
Michigan. Baptized at the age of 13 but in my mid teens fell away
from the Lord. Eight years as a Detroit Police Officer only pushed
me further away from Jesus. I knew moving from Detroit to Tucson
Arizona in 1978 was a big move but I had no idea what was in store
for me in the coming years.
In 1984 I met Lucy. She gave me a bible and told me she would be
praying for me as I traveled through some difficult times. She also
suggested I should start praying and reading scripture. As I did,
my problems did not go away but they were much easier to handle.
The rest is history. We were married in 1986, I recommitted my life
to Jesus and have been blessed ever since.
Background, Lucy Smith, age 49.
I was raised in a wonderful Christian family in Tucson, Arizona.
My family has always loved Mexico and I remember traveling in Mexico
with my grandfather and parents when I was a young girl. I gave
my life to Jesus in Jr. High School. I married at age 20 and had
one daughter Megan in 1983. While going through an ugly divorce,
I appreciated my parent's unconditional love and acceptance. Dennis
and I met when I was teaching his IBM aerobics class. We feel in
love and because he loved God and Megan...we were married in 1986.
IBM moved us around the country and we finally landed in Prescott,
AZ and started our own business there. After a few years, my mom
and dad needed help as my mom's health was declining and we moved
home to Tucson. After searching for many years for the right church
home, we found Pantano Christian Church! This church and its teaching
has changed our lives! I re-dedicated my life to total service to
my Lord and was baptized by immersion September 27, 2003. We found
our callling in mission work in Mexico and are totally mentored
and guided by the love and instruction we receive from our church.
I love the people of Mexico. Their simple life, close family relationships,
and willingnesss to help each other is something to be admired.
My heart goes out to the children and women in the barrios and prison.
God is calling me to share His love by building relationships, providing
immediate relief, sharing my hope of eternal life in Jesus, and
working to help families become self sustaining. My heart is in
Mexico all the time, even though we still live in Tucson part of
each month.
As a couple ...
As a couple, we feel God has been preparing us for mission work
most of our married life. While working for IBM we had the opportunity
to live in different states and meet people of varied personalities
and life styles. That also made it possible to worship in different
denominational churches, which enriched our spiritual life.
No matter where we attended services, we always wound up being
involved in some type of family or outreach ministry (we were being
groomed by God for future service). Working with the homeless, feeding
the hungry, ministering to the Navajo people were just steps on
the path that God was leading us on as we were to find out.
In February 2003 we were led to Pantano Christian Church and there
we found home. That year was spent meeting new family members, getting
involved and stepping out of our comfort zone. November was the
church's annual trip to Puerto Peñasco with the AMOR organization
to build homes for the needy. We were unable to go because of business
commitments (we were self-employed at the time).
By March of 2004 Dennis had joined a men’s group called Serve
and be Served. This group met for breakfast each week and our mission
was to help people in need in Tucson, Arizona. Dennis loved it because
he loves being a servant. One of the guys had the idea of
taking the scrap lumber from the Christmas pageant set to Mexico
and building a house for a needy family. Plans were made, money
raised and trucks were loaded. The day before we were to leave Dennis
was hit by severe pain in his lower spine (probably related to his
arthritis). He knew he had to go on this trip and the guys promised
to take care of him so he piled into the truck and it was off to
Mexico. It was amazing; the three days he was there he did not have
any pain while working. It was hot, humid and hard work but he loved
it and was hooked on Mexico!
Returning to Tucson Dennis told his wife, Lucy, “You have
got to go to Mexico! The people are wonderful and there are things
we can do to help!” A few months later our friends Dave and
Patti (who had been going to Peñasco already) took us to
Puerto Peñasco and started introducing us to the community.
Shortly thereafter the four of us started a Mexico Mission Life
Group to serve the people in Peñasco. That led to Lucy and
Dennis wanting to be involved and spend more time in Mexico. Dave
took a position as our church's Go Team Leader for Mexico. Lucy
and Dennis took on the full leadership of the Mexico Life Group.
That was not enough. We had the bug. We were spending more and
more time (going down every four weeks) in Mexico but our business
was getting in the way of our mission work, something had to give.
After talking and praying God gave us the answer, sell your business!
We did, and now we could not be happier.
That does not mean our mission life has been all fun and without
problems. To the contrary, we have had many problems. There are
personal issues, funding concerns, struggles with saving money for
retirement, trying to discern who we are going to help and how much
to give to name a few. But the important thing and the thing that
keeps us in balance is our faith in Jesus and believing that He
will take care of us.
Lucy and Dennis are not and do not want to be church planters.
We want to be hands and feet of God, His servants. Thus our mission
name Manos de Dios (hands of God) and we are!
Manos de Dios is a multi functional mission built on a foundation
of personal involvement. Manos de Dios realizes poverty is multi
dimensional and we strive to have an immediate, but lasting impact
on the lives of our brothers and sisters in Mexico by approaching
many aspects of their needs and involvement in every aspect of their
lives.
To live out our mission we spend part of out time in México
carrying out the activities God has called us to do. The rest of
the time is spent in the United States obtaining donations and volunteers
that will assist us in the many projects we undertake.
For our mission to succeed (Yes, God wants us to succeed and accomplish
our goals!), we must be knowledgeable of the culture and people
we are involved with. With that in mind we seek the guidance and
council of the local pastors, missionaries and are aware of the
laws and legal restrictions in the area where we work.
Manos de Dios missions includes, but is not limited to, working
with and through local pastors to identify the needs of the community.
Then, we obtain the needed items and supplies for immediate distribution
and future use.
Items distributed and on going projects include:
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Computers for students and church offices.
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Blankets for prisoners and people in the community.
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Cooking pots, pans and miscellaneous kitchen supplies.
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Clothing for all age groups.
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School bus donated to a Peñasco pastor.
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Truck donated to Peñasco pastor
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Station wagon donated to pastor in Desemboque.
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GMC Suburban donated to Peñasco Missionary family.
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Homes built for the needy.
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Home repairs for the elderly and needy.
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Meals provided for community at pastor’s outreach services.
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Prison ministry – visitation (male and female), non-denominational
church service, started prison library, Christmas and Easter
Posada, and provide clothing and shoes as needed. Currently
developing a medical team to treat prisoners on a regular basis.
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Provide musical instruments to churches and youth group programs.
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Provide scholarships for marriage encounter meetings, men’s
breakfast meetings, youth and adult conferences.
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Instrumental in the building of a free medical clinic in Puerto
Peñasco.
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Completing the interior construction of the free clinic, stocking
and furnishing the clinic with needed supplies and equipment.
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Annual school uniform drive for students.
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Providing copiers and printers for church offices.
The list can go on and on but it is second to the relationship
building part of our mission. When Lucy and I were called to Mexico
we immediately started building relationships with the people in
the community.
We asked what would they like from us and what was important to
them, they replied, “A relationship...we want to know you
and be known by you! We want to be friends.” They see too
many people come to their community a few times each year, build
something, pat themselves on the back and leave. Often, the Americans
stay in their own group with their own people. And they don’t
visit or socialize with local people in the community. After praying
and talking it over, Lucy and I decided to commit ourselves to the
Mexican people and become part of the community. So, in addition
to the physical aspect of our mission, there is the relationship-building
mission. Being part of the community means being involved in the
personal lives of our new family. This includes talking and praying
with a woman who’s husband is in prison, working in the church
nursery when half the children have colds and runny noses, eating
dinner with a family that has served us the last of their food,
crying and praying for a friend who’s husband turned to drinking
and abuse as she had to flee the city, and reminding spiritual leaders
they have to be responsible and good stewards of the blessings that
have been bestowed on them.
With the help of many people supporting Manos de Dios our mission
has grown and we continue to minister to many people in many different
ways and locations.
Our growth has made it possible for us to expand our mission to
the communities of El Diamante and El Desemboque, about 100 miles
to the south of Puerto Peñasco. In those communities, that
are not supported by other ministries, we have been able to start
food and clothing banks, provide transportation for a pastor, provide
Sunday school material for the children, assist in replacing the
roof on a pastors house, provide an electronic keyboard for a church,
and in the near future provide a building that will house a bakery
kitchen (our first micro business investment). We will also be assisting
the pastors with their community outreach services in the spring
and summer of 2007.
This is just a sample of what Manos de Dios and our volunteers
do. Please prayerfully consider being a part of this wonderful mission
and get involved!
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