Way back in the beginning of the Fourth Great Awakening was a Great Revival. It began with high school and college kids and a few adults who were knocked off their religious horses on the way to personal gratification.Two that were brought into the move of the Holy Spirit during the Campus Revival at the University of Cincinnati happened to be Tom and Deb Smith. Tom grew up a few miles from me in the mighty city of Woodlawn, Illinois.
Every revival has people and groups that serve as engines of the Spirit and fires in the fireplaces of the Lord. The First Great Awakening is remebered for George Whitfield and Jonathan Edwards and for powerful groups of enlivened Americans who spread the gospel until it led to the American Revolution.
The people and groups this time included Billy Graham and other famous preachers but it was mostly powered by groups of students from Campus Crusade, Inter Varsity, Young Life and Youth for Christ. It was the kids on campuses all over America who were liberated and brought spiritual liberty to millions. We saw the power of God at work; the awesome move of God through ordinary people and it changed the world.
Tom Smith came to the University of Cincinati as Campus Minister for the Christian Church and hit the ground running. I was Associate Dean of Students responsible for the Student Groups at UC so Dale Adams, adviser to the Church, brought Tom to meet me at a lunch. Before long Tom had recruited a bunch of students who were excited about the Gospel. Tom was and is a gifted evangelist. He also met a beautiful young woman named Deb who soon became his bride.
Tom and Deb lived among the students at The Carpenter's Houses. There was one for girls and one for guys. God really moved among the students as they learned the Word of God and did His works of love and grace among. God used Deb and Tom to spark a revival.
Deb, although about the same age as the students, was a house mother, friend, counselor, worship leader, Bible teacher and nurse maid. She led many a home sick kid through the pain of growing up apart from their moms.
That started about 1970 and developed into a church plant, a national church movement and an international association of Spirit empowered congregations. Deb and Tom were partners who parented three of their own children as well as hundreds of children they "adopted" from around the world.
Today Tom and Deb live on the Smith Family Farm in Ashley, Illinois. Unfortunately, Deb is very ill with cancer. If you click on the link to her blog you can read about ways you can help them now. They have emptied themselves in service to Christ and His people for almost 40 years and it is our turn to support them spiritually and financially.
Please go to Loving Deb Smith and begin to pray for a series of miracles. They have taught about the miracles of Jesus for decades so let us ask for another one right now.
3 comments:
Thanks, again, Gary. You should know that this blog and your links to the Loving Deb Smith top the referral list after direct navigation to the site! So there...
PTL if people are connecting with Deb through Brave Heart. It is one of the great benefits of modern communication methods.
Gary,
Here is Tom's own post last night to the Loving Deb Smith blog. Tears one up:
Abundant Thanks and Update from tom and deb
Dear Friends in Christ,
Charity told us about the blog, and said "you've got to get ready to be loved". Wow, what an understatement. I logged on last weekend while Deb was in the hospital. But since our computer is on the second floor, and Deb can't do steps now, we had to wait until last Thursday when Darla brought her lap top out. You gave us not only an immense agape hug, but also fresh faith.
And faith is what we need. The last three months have been the most vicious warfare we have ever been in. The Enemy blindsided us. The first two Drs. we went to, and the first three MRIs, CAT scans and other tests couldn't discern what was really going on. It wasn't until a Physician's Assistant recommended a bone scan that we discovered the tragic truth that Deb had at least a dozen tumors on all her long bones.
Dr. Needles of the Pratt Cancer Institute in St. Louis did another round of tests including a biopsy and concluded Deb's cancer began as lung cancer and quickly spread to her lymph nodes and bones. Once the cancer gets to the bones it becomes very aggressive.
Need of the hour? A miracle. We still believe in miracles.
Thanks for continuing to pray alongside us.
Believing,
tom and deb
p.s. Your cards, gifts, and emails have brought us to our knees. Someone on the blog said the costs are staggering. This is true. In the past seven weeks we have spent just over $6000 at the pharmacy. Our health insurance has included several surprises. The big one being our pharmacy card is only a "discount card" which means they don't really pay anything, just negotiates a little off the price of the pills. Like 5 to 15 %. If you dear friends had not responded to the Spirit's prompting, I don't know where we would be. Thank you so much. Ephesians 2:10
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