march 2026.

I know we aren’t even halfway through the month, but I have some important prayer requests to share with you.

To begin, It’s been a great start to this month as I turned the big 3-0! As my Kenyan friends told me, “Welcome to the third floor!” It was so fun starting the month off with a milestone birthday. I had a wonderful day at school receiving sweet handwritten cards from my students and colleagues. In the evening, I went out for a birthday dinner with some friends. It was a wonderful day! My dear friend Lindsay, also has a birthday ten days after me in March, so we went out for a birthday dinner celebration the two of us as well. 🙂

Big prayer & financial request – When I visited my friend, Dorcas, from the market this month, she shared a heavy burden with me. She confided in me about a huge life change that she’s gone through. She shared with me that in December, she was diagnosed with breast cancer. At the beginning of January, she had one of her breasts removed and completed 8 rounds of chemotherapy. She is incredibly pleased to say that from the removal and treatments, she is now cancer-free! However, she is extremely self-conscious about only having one breast and has been stuffing her shirt with a scarf so no one notices and says something unkind. She is a single mom of two young children and did not tell anyone about this for fear of embarrassment. In her own words, “I talk with God about this all of the time because I know that Scripture says to cast your worries upon Him because He cares for you.” She deeply wants to get a reconstructive surgery in the future, but she is left with a substantial medical bill to pay from her surgery and therapies. Her total bill is about 3,000 dollars. She is working to pay back 500 dollars every month, but the interest from her loan increases each month as well. Every doctor check up is also 40 dollars. She feels incredibly grateful to God for saving her life, but also incredibly burdened financially. Therefore, I wanted to ask you, if you might consider joining me in financially supporting Dorcas to pay for her medical bills. If you would like to send money, you can e-transfer me at joc.smart4@gmail.com and I will be sure to get the money to her. We would be so grateful for any amount you consider to give. I believe that we can bless her in this way and lighten this financial burden together as her community of support. Thank you for your financial consideration and your prayers for her during this time! I will be sure to update you with the amount we raise and even have dreams of blessing her with a massage or pedicure as an opportunity to rest, feel at ease, and feel seen after a period of extreme hardship.

A blessing this month was having visitors come spend the day with me at work! A lovely retired couple from Edmonton came to spend a full day-in-the-life with me to see my ministry here in Nairobi. They are volunteers with the Great Commission Foundation (the organization I receive my financial support through) and completed an operational audit on my ministry both at school and at the market. It was such a soul-filling, wonderful time for me. They encouraged me, affirmed my role and my talents, and took Noah and I out for dinner. It was truly a blessing to me. I thoroughly enjoyed my time with them. It made me wish I could host more supporters!

Another prayer point would be for Noah and I as we navigate paperwork needed for an international marriage. It is stressful to figure out all of the required documents and forms necessary to be legally married in both countries. We would greatly appreciate your prayers as we try our best to do this. Thank you!

Gratefully,

-j.