January 1, 2026
Happy New Year NCF Family, Friends and Partners,
In many ways 2025 and especially the last month since we arrived back home has gone by very quickly. Part of that is probably we only had two weeks of school before our Christmas break (PC: holiday break) and were almost back in the swing of things before our two weeks off ends next Monday.
We had a great Thanksgiving trip back to Texas again this year and travelled 4,700+ miles with very little issues. It was a little different schedule as some of our usual stops going to Texas were unavailable which actually was a blessing providing opportunities to see friends and ministry partners in the DFW area that we haven’t seen in some time. All of our visits with family and friends were blessed and reminded us once again of how God has cared for us over these last 11+ years. On a humorous note, we also learned that mechanics in Arkansas and Texas don’t recognize Vermont “undercoating” and can mistake it for a fluid leak!
We have experienced a colder than normal December with the temps dropping blow “0” on several occasions. We’ve had snow followed by rain, and it looked like we might not have had a “white Christmas” except two days before we got around 4 inches to return us back from “dirty gray” to “white”.
We had a great attendance at our annual Christmas Eve Candlelight Service at 5 pm followed by snacks for those who hung around until the 7 pm service with the people at the United Church of Chelsea/Living Water across the common from us. It is always a joy to celebrate with them and just be participants.
Christmas Day is fun for Jan and I as we go the Riverbend Residential Care Center here in Chelsea and help the staff pass out Christmas gifts to the residents. We laughed together, sang carols and I let out some deep resounding “HO, HO, HOs”. I was even told this year I’m beginning to look more like Santa (I’m trying not to read too much into that, but it’s more motivation to lose some weight in 2026). We spent the rest of the day resting and catching up on Christmas specials. A group from NCF gathered New Year’s Eve for another night of games, food, and fellowship!
The church members approved the church council to begin the process of searching for a new pastor after the first of the new year and the council will discuss that in greater detail on January 13. Be in prayer for NCF as we continue to pray for God’s will and His path to the person He’s preparing to shepherd NCF beginning in September. Our prayer is that we might be able to co-pastor throughout the summer so that he (and his family) might fall in love with NCF and Chelsea as we have.
Preparations for the spring and summer at NCF have already begun and we ask for your prayers for God’s guidance and provisions. We already have commitments for mission teams for a possible soccer camp in June and our VBS in August. Be in prayer for Jan and I as we strive to be faithful and finish strong over the next 8 months as well as seek God’s will, plan and provisions for ourselves in our retirement.
The reality of the coming changes and transitions have been setting in during the holidays as we have done things for the last time and tried to turn loose of responsibilities and help others to take the lead.
Thanks again for your faithful prayers, encouragment and support,
Bill and Jan Smith
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