I sure wish we could afford to travel down to Belem in May. That would be a dreamlike trip. We delight in so many memories of that place and especially of the people we met. We miss it terribly and will never be the same. Currently Mindy and I are living in Dallas. Just west of the Trinity river in Dallas is an area that is riddled with poverty. It is the 11th poorest zip code in the country. A place where only 8% of high school student end up graduating and 1% are able to complete a college degree. It is a hurting place. We have moved into the community and love it. We live right next to the 6 housing projects which are the home to over 1,000 kids. We aim to match these kids up with Christian mentors that will walk alongside of them from 4th-12th grade (we currently have 450 matches). In addition our entire life has become about serving this community and showing them the love of Jesus Christ. Kids are always at our home and it seems like we are always cooking up warm meals (last time we counted is was something crazy like 50 a week). We love where God has us and believe living at AVA has prepared for this work he has before us now. We love you all and send our absolute best!!!!!
-Garrett (aka Mr. Smith)
