Hello from Lubbock - Kris Smith, February

Hello everyone,

I hope this finds you doing well. As you read this we will actually be headed on our way to Mexico City. We should arrive sometime Friday evening at the Pink House where we will base our daily activities out of. Sunset bought this house many years ago to have a place to take youth groups, elders, families, mission committees and anyone else interested in spending some time in another culture with the hopes of increasing the interest in mission work – creating new missionaries as well as increasing the need for missions among the rest. Thousands of people have spent time in the Pink House over the years using it as a base for their experience in Mexico. It has been and continues to be a great tool in the area of missions. Ryan and Mandy Gray have just moved into the pink house and help us make this week possible. We owe them a great deal of gratitude for their help. All total there will be nearly 100 of us meeting there each morning and evening for breakfasts, devotionals and rap up sessions. It will be great to see all of the AIMers who are currently serving in Mexico as they come to give us a hand as guides and help us with their Spanish (or Spanglish for some).  Please keep us in your prayers for safety as well as having an eye-opening experience as we spend a week in the world’s second largest city.

To the 2006 AIM class, just a reminder that your graduation will be on March 14^th at 6:00pm. I really hope that you will make it a top priority to be here for that. We believe that it is important for everyone involved to see you class again and recognize what you have done. It is also valuable for your classmates to see you again and for you all to swap stories and renew old friendships. For several different reasons coming home can sometimes be harder to adjust to than it was to go to the field. We have seen many people struggle with that each year and so several years ago we started having a re-entry seminar during the days leading up to your Graduation. We have learned that these few days are actually incredibly important to your experience and dealing with everything that goes with coming home. We would really like for each of you to do all you can to get here on Wednesday, March 11^th so that we can hug your necks and especially get right into the material we want to share with you first thing Thursday morning. I believe that in some ways the re-entry process may be one of the more critical phases of your who AIM experience. We honestly believe the time will be well worth your time and effort and will pay off in long term ways.

I need for you who are in the 2006 class to write me and give me some input as to who you would like to have come and be the key speaker at your graduation ceremony, so please write and give me your suggestions. Also, if one of you is interested in putting together some sort slide show or video to show during your graduation let me know. I would just want to be sure that it included everyone. I can’t wait to see you all again and hear your stories and see what God has done with and through you.

If some of you would be interested in helping to support an AIM student or have any ideas of where they might send a letter, please let me know so I can pass it on to them. There are a few in this class who are really struggling and are trying to keep walking by faith but just don’t have anywhere to turn for help. If not personally, maybe your Bible class or congregation? Just let me know if you have any ideas.

It is hard to believe that February is already here. That means we only have 2 and a half months left with this current class before they leave here. That is always both exciting and sad. That last week of saying goodbye is always sad because we get so attached to them and now it seems it is just around the corner. One exciting bit of news is that we already have a good number of people planning to come to AIM this August. Included in that is at least 5 foreign students from places like England, Thailand, South Africa and Mexico.

Please keep us in your prayers over the next several months. We will be doing lots of traveling as well as being involved in Camp Adventure and Graduation. The new teams are in the middle of team dynamics classes and sometimes it can get a little tense and stressful as they work out things required to become a better team. Pray they have the courage and patience needed to handle it.

If you are a parent, supporter, friend, ex-aimer, current aimer or future aimer – Thanks for all you have done and continue to do! The church needs the example you set as you continue to walk by faith. You challenge my faith as well as encourage it. You are the heros!

Kris