March 18, 2009

Dear Friends,

This is our last official newsletter. It makes us really sad, which is probably why we have not sent it until now. Scott has accepted a post as team leader in an Indo-German consultancy in Dehradun, working in the foothills of the Himalayas where we have served for the last 18 years. We continue to be open to any help we can give church partnerships and development work going on in many small and large ways around us.

The journey so far

We would like to review with you our path over 30 years that many of you have journeyed with us. First, we were in Bangladesh. Scott went as a volunteer in mission of the PC(USA) in 1976 and worked in Tongi Refugee Camp while Melanie worked in the Adamji Refugee camp in Dhaka as a volunteer nurse supported by TEAR Fund, a Christian development organization in the UK.

We married in 1978 and lived in a small village named Khankhanapur where Kelli and Daniel had their first years and we worked in partnership with the Bangladesh Baptist Fellowship in a rural development project until 1986.

After a few years in the States living in Americus, Georgia, where we worked with Koinonia and Habitat for Humanity, we had two more kids, Timothy (1987) and Hilary (1990). We moved to Nepal in 1991 to work with the United Mission to Nepal. In 2000, we moved to India to work with Emmanuel Health Association, where Scott was involved in various ways until this year.

Thanks for your partnership

More than anything, we want to say thank you for the letters, cards, gifts, prayers, and even a few visits over the years. We feel we have a good relationship with many churches and would like those churches to continue to support another PC(USA) co-worker. K.T. Ockels is the person to help you with this choice.

One of the major learning

We have continually discovered in all the places we have served is that projects and programs, goals and annual reports come and go, but relationships continue. When we visited Bangladesh recently—and when Daniel visited Nepal last year—it was obvious that where, how, and how long you live in a community are probably the most significant effects you can have.

A favorite prayer

Life is short, and we may not have much time to gladden the hearts of those who travel the dark way with us.
So be swift to love and make haste to be kind.
And may our love and care bring healing to our own lives, our community, and our world.
And may God’s love and peace be ours and be for all people everywhere, today and forever.
Henri-Frederic Amiel (adapted by Alex Evens)

If you would like to be added to our email newsletter list, please drop us a note.

Scott and Melanie Smith

Our address will be:

A/6 Green Valley
Rajpur Road
Dehradun 248001 India
Melanie: melscofam@gmail.com
Scott: scottsmith4u@gmail.com

After a few years we will be living at:

1701 Ginger Lane
Blacksburg, Virginia, 248179

The 2009 Mission Yearbook for Prayer & Study, p. 106