Dear Grace,

I want to start by saying thank you all for your support, prayers, and for coming alongside of Gabby and I in ministering to the youth here at Grace. It has been a huge blessing and privilege for me to get to know each of these students and build relationships with them. Both Gabby and I have felt loved, encouraged, and cared for from the moment we got here and we can’t thank you enough for that.

Moving to a new place far away from family has not been easy. It has been a lot harder than we could have ever known without experiencing it. We have grown and learned a lot in our time here and we believe God brought us here for a reason. Still, after much prayer and many conversations with trusted mentors, we have come to the conclusion together that it is best for our family to go home at the end of May. As you may know, we have a baby on the way and that has only made it harder to be away from family.

We realize that this is not a decision to make flippantly or take lightly. We have thought a lot about the effect this might have on the youth and how this will affect Grace as a whole, but we trust that the Lord will use even this to bring these students to himself and to further the mission of Grace. Our intentions were never to come and go so quickly. One of the hardest things about leaving is the love we have grown to have for the students and for the people here at Grace. Even though it is a tough decision, we do believe that this is the right decision to make for our family. Our hope is that you all might understand where we are coming from and realize that this has nothing to do with Grace or any of the people here. Again, we have felt so loved and supported by all of you – and we thank you so much for that.

All For His Glory,

Sean and Gabby Smith