SMART, EH?

By Dr. Gerry Baughman - Director CAMP BIMI * SMART

Did you ever do something stupid and then say to yourself, ‘That was real ‘SMART’? I’m sure you are no different than the rest of us. Come on! Admit it! You’ve been there…done that! A few years ago, Wall Street had an article on the front of USA Today stating that SMART is the new buzz word in business. Atlanta has SMART CARTS at the airport to carry luggage and even Wal-Mart sells a round green luggage tag called SMART TAG. There is SMART START cereal and even SMART BALANCE dairy spread. Remember the crazy detective show ‘GET SMART’?

Looking back over thirteen years of SMART trips in Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Puerto Rico, Venezuela, Guatemala, Bolivia, Germany, Romania, South Africa, Ivory Coast, Ukraine, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Philippines, China, Venezuela, Ecuador, Québec, Manitoba, Haiti, Dominican Republic, Zambia, Tanzania, Japan and Alaska, I ask myself, “is it still SMART?” and I must answer a resounding “Yes, yes, yes!” SMART 2007 will find additional prospective missionaries going to New Zealand and Samoa. I encourage you to be a vital part of this team. Make that call today!

I have wonderful memories of each trip. Of course, those would not include a four inch scar, a ¾ pull out bed surrounded by mosquito net with holes, or sleeping on a table in a church basement with no bathroom. Those ‘souvenirs’ pale in comparison to Adam Lewis returning to South Africa to take the reigns of his SMART ’98 missionary host, or Don and Lisa Thatcher who serve in Ireland with their five children after being there on a SMART 2000 trip, or Aaron Oesterle heading to Alaska as a result of SMART 2006. Space does not permit me to name everyone who is now serving as a full time missionary in the country they visited. What’s exciting also is that many others confirmed missions was for them through a SMART trip but are now serving in countries where their SMART team did not go.

My favorite definition for a SMART trip is that it is a ‘deposit ministry’. When team members meet the people, experience the culture and foods, see the needs through the eyes of the host missionaries, and get involved in ministry opportunities while there, it is amazing to see what the Lord does in each heart. Hearts are deposited, only to be picked up on the day they return to that country to serve the Lord full time for a life time.

If the buzz word in business is SMART, then the buzz word for serving the Lord should be SMARTER. Remember…Our greatest fear should not be that we would fail, but that we would succeed in that which does not matter to God. It’s time to take the challenge. Let God complete the details. Be willing to deposit your heart. Now, that’s SMART! Make that call today.

CAMP BIMI I and II 2007
June 23-30

CAMP BIMI I 2007
June 30 - July 7