Michael Franco Smit

Managing Editor · South Africa

Michael is a South African husband, father, educator, and elder at Evangelical Community Church in Abu Dhabi. He serves as Managing Editor of The Gospel Network, which he joined in January 2023, and as one of the chief editors of DEW Arabia Magazine. Michael came to faith in Christ at the age of twenty-seven after moving to the United Arab Emirates. Conversations about Christianity led him to recognise that he had never truly understood the gospel. He had understood Christianity as a system of personal merit and religious works rather than salvation by grace through faith in Christ. Through Scripture, he was enabled to see Jesus Christ more clearly and to understand that even his religious zeal to earn salvation stood opposed to the finished work of Christ on the cross. From the beginning of his Christian life, Michael desired to share the good news he had received and became actively involved in the life of his local church. The preaching and pastoral ministry of John Folmar, together with years of fellowship and study among faithful men in the church, profoundly shaped his convictions. He completed a ministry internship at Evangelical Community Church of Dubai in 2019–2020 and later served for a season on the staff of Evangelical Community Church in Abu Dhabi. His path to eldership grew through faithful membership, discipleship, teaching, and ordinary service long before he held formal office. Michael's theological convictions are Protestant, Reformed Baptist, and deeply church-centred. His interests include biblical exposition, systematic and biblical theology, soteriology, church history, pastoral ministry, editorial ministry, family discipleship, and the theological needs of the Church. Second Corinthians 5:21, Hebrews 1:1–2, and Jude 3 continue to shape his ministry. He is married to Claudia, and they have two children.