August marked 8 years as missionaries here in Mexico City, working with El Pozo de Vida and experiencing a life we never even dreamed of. Thanks to all of you for supporting us and giving us this opportunity!
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It’s been a while since our last update. With all the work we're doing for El Pozo, we end up neglecting to keep you guys in the loop as to what's happening with our family specifically. So we're going to warn you that this is a long newsletter/short novel (but totally worth the read). Here's a truncated table of contents if you want to skip ahead to anything in particular:
• Our work with El Pozo de Vida
• A powerful immigration story
• Smith Family extracurriculars
• All things nuptials
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If you aren't already, please consider supporting the Smith Family for the work we're doing down here in Mexico City. You can click the button below to donate:
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Now that we got that out of the way, let's get to the rundown of 2024...
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Our work with El Pozo de Vida
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We’re so thankful that we get to work with an organization like El Pozo de Vida. We know that it’s exceedingly rare to find a balance like this, where you’re living the life you love, with the people you love, while doing the work you love. Saying yes to coming to Mexico eight years ago to work with El Pozo de Vida was life changing for us as a family. Having supporters who believe in us and the work that we’re doing is what allows us to remain in Mexico. Thank you so much for making this all possible.
So what has the past year looked like for us in terms of our work with El Pozo de Vida?
Tina is the head of Partnerships and Engagement for El Pozo de Vida, handling donor relations. That also encompasses fundraising. El Pozo’s annual operating budget has increased every year, and is now around one million dollars. It’s always uncomfortable to ask people for money, so a million bucks is a daunting number to raise.
But Benny and Janice have never approached fundraising from a dollars and cents perspective. For them, it’s always been about trusting in God’s provision, connecting with our supporters, showing people the heart of El Pozo, and inviting them to join this movement to end human trafficking. Whether people ultimately support the organization financially has always been secondary to raising awareness, joining forces, and enlisting as many partners as possible. So while the work can be stressful as we approach deadlines and have to stage major events with lots of moving pieces, knowing that the pressure is self-imposed, and not an organizational mandate, helps free us from a lot of the burden.
There were two major fundraising events in 2024. One was our Southern California gala back in May, and the other was our annual Mexico City gala in November. Tina is constantly trying to reinvent and supersede what’s been done previously, so the bar is always set a little higher. There will be another gala in Los Angeles in May, so stay tuned for more info.
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Highlights from the Mexico City gala
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We still volunteer at the safe house a few times per week, teaching English and music. That time with the girls makes us appreciate and respect the staff even more, because we just get to show up for a few hours at a time and then leave. Our work is neatly bundled up and compartmentalized, right there on site. All the drama, all the conflicts, all the struggles that the girls both live through and create every day- that's what the full time staff have to deal with and navigate. And they are extraordinary at what they do.
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Piano recital at the safe house
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All the staff, in all the projects, are equally extraordinary. It takes a special kind of person to do the work they're doing, knowing that the pay is probably lower than what they'd receive in another line of work. The hours are long, the subject matter is really heavy, and the burnout risk is high. But they are committed to the cause in a way that's truly inspiring.
We see it every time we get visitors, because we have the privilege of helping host teams. Every group that comes experiences most of the projects, since our teams coordinator tries to tell the full story of EPDV's holistic approach of Prevention, Intervention and Restoration.
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This spring, we were also thrust into the role of helping coordinate social media for El Pozo. That meant trying to capture the essence of transformed lives, after unspeakable trauma, in under 60 seconds, for an audience that loses interest in about six seconds. It has been challenging, to say the least.
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Instagram is a lot of work...
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Our respect for social media influencers and those armies of content creators out there has skyrocketed, because it's a ton of work to make something look like it wasn't a ton of work. Especially when you can't show any faces.
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One of El Pozo's most important prevention projects works with migrants. They are extraordinarily vulnerable to human trafficking, often fleeing failed states, political persecution, economic calamities, and extreme violence. The unfortunate reality is that they often end up experiencing all of that trauma again en route to the United States.
Over the past several years, the rhetoric around immigration has flared up. Migrants rarely get to tell their own stories, so no matter where you stand politically, it's important to hear. We met with hundreds of migrants from all over South and Central America back in 2018, when large caravans passed through Mexico City. But over the past few months, we met a family of five from Venezuela who's story is devastating.
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They fled to Colombia to escape the aftermath of the Chavez regime. There they encountered gang violence and extortion that pushed them to Ecuador. Abject poverty led them back to Venezuela, where the economic situation was even more dire.
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The husband has a heart defect that prevents him from doing most manual labor, their daughter has special needs, and their youngest son is about to turn six. Their journey from Venezuela to Mexico City, on foot, took almost six months. With nothing but the clothes on their backs, they somehow survived five days crossing the jungle of the Darien Gap, tragic accidents that left other migrants dead, police extortion, and being kidnapped by cartels just after entering Mexico.
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In mid October, they finally made it to Mexico City and waited to be accepted for a CBP One appointment, a process that can take nearly a year. Their family attended Vereda one weekend, after looking for a church within walking distance (for them about three miles). That Sunday after church, we drove them back to where they were staying and got to hear a little of their story. About a week later, their CBP One appointment was approved, and they headed north to Laredo, Texas by bus.
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In Mexico City a few days before they left for Laredo, Texas
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We heard from them when they arrived in Monterrey, just a few hours from the Texas border, but then nothing. They were kidnapped when their bus arrived in Nuevo Laredo, just on the other side of the Rio Grande from their visa appointment in Laredo.
They were imprisoned in a small, two bedroom house with about 40 other people. Family members in Venezuela had to liquidate almost everything and find loan sharks in order to pay the four thousand dollar ransom. Because of issues with Western Union wiring the money, their captors said they only received enough cash for one of them to survive. The family would have to choose which four would die, and one to live. They chose the eldest son, thinking that he would have the best chance to find success in America. He refused to leave, choosing instead to remain and die with the rest of his family. After three harrowing days, which saw other captives murdered, the money arrived and they were released. Their family in Venezuela is still being extorted by their own countrymen, and that debt has since ballooned to six thousand dollars with interest.
Miraculously, they were granted a CBP One appointment even after arriving more than one day late. After a nine-hour interview by Customs and Border Patrol, which involved near strip searches and separating the family to confirm their information, they were released across the border with an I-94 visa, granting them temporary legal status until their asylum request can be processed. If they are denied, they will likely be deported back to Mexico, a country that none of them are from, and where they were kidnapped twice.
They made it to Los Angeles, where the husband's nephew lives, and are staying in a migrant shelter while they wait for their temporary work permits to arrive, hopefully by the end of January. We had breakfast with them just last week, and could not believe that we actually got to see them again. Their ordeal has been so traumatic, yet the first thing they talked about when we reunited was God's faithfulness, and their gratitude for His provision.
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Miraculously reunited in LA
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Theirs is just one story amongst thousands, just like the girls at the safe house are merely a handful of faces amongst the millions of human trafficking victims around the world. Seeing redemption and transformation and joy, in spite of such unimaginable horror, is what makes the work we do so profoundly rewarding.
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Smith Family extracurriculars
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Bryson’s last year of high school
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We all knew this day would come. Kids don’t stay kids forever, but it is really starting to hit us that Bryson will be leaving for college next summer. It seems like just a few years ago that Randy was taking four-year-old Bryson to the flight museum at LAX, where he would chat up retirees about planes.
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Bryson at the controls of the DC-3 at Flight Path museum in 2011
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Now he’ll be going to flight school in Oregon next year, well on his way to one day being a pilot, and then a retired pilot chatting with a new generation of four-year-olds about the planes he flew back in the good old days. We feel very old.
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Recreating the magic in front of that same DC-3, Dec. 2024
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While going to flight school outside of Portland, Bryson will live on his aunt Sue’s hazelnut farm in Yamhill, Oregon. When grown organically, hazelnuts are surprisingly low maintenance, so Sue is normally at her farm only one or two weekends per month. Starting next summer, Bryson will be there all the time- hunting, fishing and tending the farm. It’s honestly a dream scenario for him.
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Bryson's future home, surrounded by hazelnut trees
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It looks like he’ll take a gap year to work and get his private pilot's license, and then start at Oregon State in 2026.
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As part of his high school’s international baccalaureate program, Bryson has to complete a large research project before graduation. He chose to study the water quality in one of the last remaining free-flowing rivers in Mexico City. The Rio Magdalena is spring fed, starting high up in the mountains outside the city, at almost 12,000 feet in elevation. Up there it’s shockingly pristine and filled with trout. By the time it reaches civilization, only about 6 miles later, it is laden with garbage and sewage runoff.
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Near the headwaters of the Rio Magdalena
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Bryson decided to sample the river every kilometer from its origin, right on the border with the nearby state of Mexico, down to the entrance of Los Dinamos, a national park that encompasses the river (which eventually flows into the heart of the city). Because Mexico City experiences near drought-like conditions in the dry season, followed by about 5 months of monsoon rains in the wet season, he had to take two sets of samples and compare the results. This meant hiking several miles up into the mountains and then back down again, stopping every kilometer along the river for a battery of water tests. It’s surprisingly remote and rugged terrain, and you would have no idea that you’re only about 6 miles away from one of the biggest cities in the world.
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It wasn’t that challenging in the dry season, but the final tests in October, at the height of the rainy season, were another story. The river had swollen nearly double in size, making crossing it impossible in some areas, and leading to a variety of sketchy cliff descents and bushwacking fiascos in driving rain and near darkness. Bryson is still analyzing the results, but the river is actually pretty healthy, especially before it reaches the more touristy areas further down the mountain and closer to the city.
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Some of the more manageable terrain
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Driving out may have been the most risky
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It’s a tough balancing act for the community of Magdalena Contreras, which lives inside the national park and is responsible for the ecosystem there. The river is essentially their only source of income, with thousands of people visiting the park, and its signature tiny, family-owned restaurants, each day. The problem is that with more and more visitors, the sheer amount of garbage, waste water runoff and stress on the river, if left unchecked, will eventually destroy it. Bryson’s hope is that the government and private sector can strike an equitable balance between protecting and preserving this river, and keeping the community of Magdalena Contreras economically viable.
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Parker is in ninth grade, but in Mexico that’s your last year of middle school. High school will start next year in 10th grade. When we moved to Mexico City, she hadn't even turned seven yet... With Bryson’s impending departure for college, the stark reality that Parker will also be gone in a few years is making us very nostalgic. I’m not crying, you’re crying.
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Anyway, this is her third year at a Japanese school, and she will likely transfer next year to Prepa Tec. It’s the same school that Bryson went to for one year, and one of the best high schools in all of Mexico, but pretty expensive. Parker will need either an academic or musical scholarship in order to attend. She has a great group of friends who are all very high achievers academically, and a few of them will be going to the same school next year. She's excited about the prospect of taking most of her classes in English. Over half of her life has now been spent in Mexico and her native tongue is getting a bit janky; just sticking "tion" at the end of a Spanish word doesn't magically make it English, and all of her math and science vocabulary will have to be translated if she goes to university in the US.
But in reality, she reads constantly, blasting through 800 page books in a few days. As a young, hopelessly irredeemable dork (see Exhibit A below), Randy's greatest english teachers were fishing magazines and Gary Gygax's Dungeons & Dragons tomes. That meant that Randy could wax poetic about Texas-rigged plastic worms and enchanted chain mail, but not much else. Parker will be much better prepared.
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Exhibit A: Nailed it! Middle school Randy just exuding coolness
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Parker and Bryson both went back to LA in November for a Newsong youth retreat, which they said was an extraordinary experience. Any time that teenagers can get together, without missing their devices, to have a profound encounter with God instead of their cell phone, it's worth it.
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This year has been all about Parker gaining confidence in herself, and embracing the gifts and talents she's been blessed with. The retreat played a role in that, but we could already see her starting to feel more comfortable accepting her inherent awesomeness (we're only slightly biased).
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Parker has really blossomed into an amazing violin player, and picked up the guitar and bass as well. She's already a talented visual artist, whether it's sketching, painting or graphic design. She's a great singer. As parents, we're so proud. But objectively speaking, it's kind of annoying. She just does everything at an absurdly high level. Even her handwritten notes at school are psychopath level beautiful.
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So it took a while, but Randy finally convinced Parker to sing with him on Sundays at Vereda church, and it has been amazing. To see Parker freely worshipping, and totally nailing the harmonies that Randy wants to hear, is awesome. It’s like they have a telepathic connection on exactly what he wants her to sing and when. Click here for a glimpse of them in action.
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Parker leading worship at Vereda
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She also got the chance to be an extra in the Netflix film Emilia Pérez. She absolutely hates seeing herself on screen and will be so mad that we're publicizing this, but the entire final funeral procession scene features her pretty prominently. We thought she would be unrecognizable, buried in a sea of extras, but she's right there in your face.
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Somehow these are all separate takes from the film
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Hopefully with her help (along with Bryson and Tina), Randy’s dream of recording an album of acoustic covers of 80’s and 90’s metal, with violin, cello and piano accompaniment, will be realized.
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Some of you helped support Bryson and Parker for their once-in-a-lifetime trip to Italy this summer. Thank you so much for donating, because it allowed them to have an incredible experience that would have frankly been impossible without your help.
Their youth orchestra toured throughout Florence, performing every day for two weeks, finishing up in Rome. They played in churches built in the 12th century. They went to the home town of Antonio Stradivari, and stood in front of exquisitely crafted violins that are older than the United States. They saw Galileo's telescopes (also older than the United States). Basically, everything was older than the United States and a mind blowing historical, architectural, and artistic wonder. It was so humbling to see the kids surrounded by centuries of European history, while representing the musical heritage of Mexico overseas.
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Some highlights from the Italy trip
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Randy continues playing basketball, to the detriment of his body. In the past year he’s broken his nose a few times, his finger once, shattered his kneecap and suffered bone edema in his forearm, possibly when diving to save a ball (his humerus and radius slammed into each other, leading to inflammation of the bone that initially looked like a fracture). He’s still playing with a group that ranges from around his age to literal teenagers. He’s hoping to become that annoying old guy that still shows up to play pickup basketball with kids who are younger than his own children.
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As a lifelong evangelist for the societal normalization of the fanny pack, it was always surprising that Tina’s own family had not succumbed to her propaganda and adopted its use. However, 2024 was the year that the rest of the Smiths begrudgingly adopted fanny packs out of necessity; Parker will literally lose anything that is not physically attached to her body, and Randy will stash important documents like passports inside random bags or articles of clothing.
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Fanny pack brigade reporting for duty
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Many of you know the story of Jess, who we first met back in 2015 when she was a beneficiary at the safe house. Back in October, she married our friend Paul here in Mexico city, and it's impossible to describe how proud we all were. We were honored to be part of the ceremony, to play at the wedding, to do the flowers; Tina even helped broker a great deal with a discount on the venue.
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Coupled with Bryson’s impending departure next summer, everything just reminded us of how fleeting this time is that we all have together, and how precious every moment is, even though we more often than not take those moments for granted. It was like watching our own daughter get married. Looking down the line, we will definitely not be able to handle Parker’s wedding.
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Smith Family wedding band
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Speaking of weddings, we’re friends with a group of people around twenty years younger than us, which means that over the past few years, a lot of them have gotten married. That means we attended a bunch of weddings, and more often than not, the entire family was enlisted to play throughout the ceremony. And with Tina’s skills as a florist, we became sort of a one-stop wedding shop over this past year.
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At our friends Isaac and Ale's wedding
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So that's what we've been up to. Thank you for taking the time to read this, and we're so sorry for not keeping you all better updated. A year's worth of happenings are tough to distill down to just one email, but we promise to be better in 2025. Stay tuned!
Please know that we are always thinking of you, and truly cherish your support. In a difficult spiritual environment like this, it is so comforting to know that we have partners like you standing beside us. We've been living in Mexico City for over eight years, and have never drawn a salary from El Pozo, because we want as many resources as possible dedicated to the organization. Naturally, after almost a decade, some of our donors have dropped off and it's getting tighter and tighter for us financially. So if you want to support us, please consider donating monthly. We could use your help now more than ever. You can make a tax-free gift to the Smith Family, through El Pozo de Vida, by clicking the button below:
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Feel free to visit us any time, because this letter only scratches the surface of what we get to live out every day. Come down to Mexico and experience it firsthand!
Love,
Randy, Tina, Bryson and Parker
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