My name is Barbie Smith and I am the wife of Pastor Matt Smith. I am so blessed to be married to such a wonderful man of God. The Lord has blessed us with 5 beautiful children, Selah, Samuel, Elliana, Joyanna, and Sophia.We also have 3 little blessings waiting for us in Heaven.
I had the wonderful privilege of being raised in a Christian home. At the age of 6, I remember realizing how much of a sinner I was, even at such a young age, and I remember wanting to spend eternity with Jesus. That day I asked the Lord to forgive my sins and come into my heart and save me, and just like he promised He would, He did!
I had the wonderful privilege of being raised in a Christian home. At the age of 6, I remember realizing how much of a sinner I was, even at such a young age, and I remember wanting to spend eternity with Jesus. That day I asked the Lord to forgive my sins and come into my heart and save me, and just like he promised He would, He did!
All throughout my childhood I remember my heart being stirred every time a missionary would come to our church or I would read one of their testimonies. I knew that the Lord wanted me to be in His service. As I became a teenager I lost sight of God’s will and began pursuing other things. I would never say I was a “bad” kid, but I was definitely not seeking the Lord’s will for my life at the time. My heart began to be convicted through the preaching of the Word, and at the age of 15 I surrendered my life to the Lord in the area of full-time Christian service. I did not know what His plan was yet, but I was completely open and prepared to serve Him in whatever capacity He would have me serve. Around the same time I began to spend some extra time with a boy from my youth group. We became very close and a few months after my 16th birthday, he left me to go to Bible College. I was very sad, but as he left for “Pastor Training” I began to think that the Lord might have me be a pastor’s wife. I felt so unworthy of that and could not see why the Lord would want to use me. While reading my Bible one day I came across the verse in II Corinthians 3:5, “Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think any thing as of ourselves; but our sufficiency is of God”. I then realized it was none of me and all of Him and that He would make me into what He would have me be.
At the age of 17 I joined this special guy at Bible College. I was so excited and loved being surrounded by other young people like me to be trained for the ministry! My boyfriend Matt proposed to me and we planned to be married the next summer. We used to always talk about our future and wondered what the Lord had planned for us. I remember Matt having such a burden for New York State and a desire to plant a church there.
A month after I turned 19, we were married. It was the most amazing day of my life other than that of my salvation! Two months later we enrolled in our senior year of college and the Lord blessed my husband with the opportunity to be a youth pastor at a church in a nearby town. We learned so much and praise the Lord for that opportunity. As graduation came closer the Lord opened the door for my husband to be an Associate Pastor at a church in Osawatomie, Kansas. We had so many wonderful opportunities there and learned so much. We fell in love with the town and its’ people. We were comfortable there and very happy. One night after a sermon on church planting my husband and I went to the altar to talk to the Lord. Together we asked the Lord to show us what He would have us do. The very next morning my father-in-law called my husband and told him of a city called Binghamton that was in need of an Independent Baptist Church. I knew right away that the Lord was answering our prayer and was shocked at how fast he did! One month later we were in Binghamton starting Tri-City Baptist Church. (the name has since been changed to Lighthouse Baptist Church)
Since then we have seen the Lord do so many amazing and miraculous things. So many souls have been saved and as I look at the people the Lord has placed in our church, I am amazed at the growth I can see in them. I still feel so unworthy, but I praise the Lord for enabling me and teaching me daily what He would have me to do. There is nothing more satisfying than knowing you are in the center of the Lord’s will.
