Call to Ministry Follows Inasmuch Day

From near death to a ministry calling – that’s the short version of Dr. Frank Smist’s story. In October, his church — Leawood Baptist Church, Leawood, Kansas — conducted their third Inasmuch Day. Frank participated.

And the result was far more than he or anyone else could have expected.
“God used our Inasmuch Day to call me into full-time ministry where I can do more of’what I did on that day,” says Smist. He is currently a seminary student preparing for’professional ministry.

The back-story is what makes Smist’s journey so amazing. A few years ago, Smist was a well-respected college professor and author. But his life took an abrupt turn…

… when he was struck by a vehicle traveling 53 mph.

Smist lay in a coma for months.  He was told he would never be able to function normally again because his physical and mental faculties were devastated by the accident. But three years ago, Smist began to improve slowly. Today, he has recovered almost 100% of his mental function while still dealing with some lingering physical problems.

Despite these challenges, Frank signed up for Leawood Baptist’s Inasmuch Day.

He was assigned to go with the Pastor, Rev. Mike McKinney and Inasmuch Coordinator, Brock Rowatt, to visit the sick and shut-ins that day. Something happened in those visits that neither McKinney nor Rowatt recognized.

“I felt God tugging at my heart,” says Smist, “telling me I am supposed to use the rest of my life serving people as I did during the Inasmuch Day.” Since that day, Smist has been licensed to the gospel ministry and he is a student at Central Baptist Seminary in Kansas City.

Reflecting on that experience, Frank says

I can never say enough what Operation Inasmuch means to me. It has given me a new direction in life.

“What an amazing story this is,” says David Crocker, Executive Director of Operation Inasmuch, Inc. “It is one more of what is becoming a very long list of stories confirming one of Operation Inasmuch’s core values: when we do what God tells us to do, He always has more in mind!”