Archive for May, 2012

May 2012 Prayer Letter

May 30, 2012 3:48 pm

Dear Friends,
Wayside Baptist Church in Hagerstown, Maryland wanted to reach the Deaf in their area but no one in their church knew how to sign. Through God’s leading, Pastor Waddell contacted us about spending two weeks at the church to teach them how to reach their Deaf friends. We recently finished teaching them how to sign and witness to the Deaf.

The church members learned well and we were blessed to be with them. Sometimes, toward the end of a two-week class, we pray that God would give us anyone who would show a small glimmer of hope of interpreting and leading the ministry. That certainly was not a problem at Wayside. God gave us 16 faithful students, many of whom showed great skill and interest in interpreting the services.

We made many contacts in the deaf community. Even though there are other good ministries working with the Deaf in Hagerstown, they all seemed friendly to assist the new ministry and work together to reach the unreached. The church has even had a deaf man visit one of their services already.

Does your church want to reach the Deaf around you? If we can assist you in starting a ministry we would love to help. Our desire is to help churches and missionaries reach the Deaf. If your church already has a deaf ministry but needs more training and encouragement, please contact us about serving you in this way.

DeafNation World Expo

Prayer Requests

DeafNation Outreach
(July 28-August 4)

  • Safety
  • Health
  • Souls Saved
  • Lives Changed

Training School
(June 18-22)

  • Missionaries Helped
  • Godly Fellowship

A man called Silent Word Ministries a couple of weeks ago asking questions about the Gospel DVD in sign language he received two years ago in Las Vegas. The staff at Silent Word shared with him the Gospel via videophone and saw him accept the Lord as his Savior! This is continuing fruit from tracts and DVDs we distributed at DeafNation World Expo in 2010 in Las Vegas.

The biennial event is quickly approaching this summer. Stephanie and I are thrilled with the opportunity to meet Deaf from around the world who need the Gospel. A major part of our ministry will be handing out tracts and Gospel DVDs to tens of thousands of hearing and Deaf during the week of July 28-August 4.

We still need your help to make this trip possible. Your special gifts can be sent to BIO or through the PayPal Donate button at our website. Please mark all donations as Peach Las Vegas Trip. We still need $2000. Please pray for this special opportunity.

Training School

The BIO Missionary Training School is scheduled for June 18-22. Please pray for this important week. Many of our missionaries will be with us. We get to hear from pastors and veteran missionaries on how to more effectively carry the Gospel to the world. Though I am one of the speakers, I also look forward to learning from the others. It is always a great time of fellowship and education.

Thank you for all your prayers on our behalf. We appreciate you partnering with us in our ministry!

May 2012 Prayer Letter PDF

Sign Language Class a Success

May 14, 2012 9:00 pm

The final weekend for a two-week sign language class that we taught went very well. Though our main focus was on Saturday and Sunday, God gave us several opportunities to make new contacts and see some victories in the days leading up to the weekend.

We learned of an interpreting agency in the area that was very friendly and sympathetic to our cause of starting a deaf ministry in a church. They invited us to attend a deaf community meeting on Thursday night. I went to the meeting while my wife finished teaching the class that evening. I met a few of the key people involved in the social activities of the deaf community.

On Friday the church set up a table at the mall’s Deaf Awareness Day activities. We handed out tracts and invited people to our Saturday night fellowship at the church. Again we met other people who seemed to be excited about the church’s interest to reach the Deaf with the Bible. A couple of the students joined the pastor and me at the mall for the day. It was a great introduction for them on how Deaf communicate with one another. Needless to say, I think it was shocking to our new signers as to how fast everything looks when people who are skilled in the language talk to each other.

Saturday night we had a fellowship at the church. We do these as a way to introduce the Deaf in the community to our students and to give the students a chance to practice their skills. One of our Deaf friends was at the event. We played games, did skits, ate and talked. A few of the students were brave enough to try and carry on a conversation with the Deaf visitor.

On Sunday morning Stephanie and I did part of the interpreting while the students did the rest. Three of our students interpreted songs and announcements. They each did very well. For these classes we always leave after the morning service so as to break the dependence on us. A couple of students interpreted the evening service. We heard from one of our other students that they did very well.

We look forward to keeping a good relationship with the church in Leitersburg and helping them to become more effective in reaching out to the Deaf around them.

Week 1 Almost Done – Leitersburg, MD

May 3, 2012 10:12 pm

We are almost done with the first week of a two-week sign language class in Leitersburg, Maryland. There are 16 people who have stuck with us so far and they are all doing well. Thursday night of this first week is always the hardest, but the students are hanging in there and still learning.

The first week is all concentrated on vocabulary. They will learn 900+ signs before we leave! Or, at least I will teach that many. It will take them a few weeks before they feel like they have actually learned these signs. The students are getting them into their heads and certainly know much more now than they did when we started four days ago.

Next week we will spend all our class time practicing and learning how to use the signs properly. I will teach interpreting principles and how they can minister to the Deaf in a spiritual and physical way.

I praise the Lord for the many good students in the class. I am also thankful for the great contacts in the Deaf community we have been able to make. Though there are several deaf churches and deaf ministries within an hour of this small town, the ones I have talked with have been friendly and excited that we are starting a ministry in this little pocket of Maryland. There are three small towns around Leitersburg that have Deaf who would have to drive at least 30 minutes to another ministry. God can use this new work to reach those who have never had a church show interest in them nor share with them the Gospel.

We appreciate your prayers as we continue to teach. The students are doing well but feeling buried under a pile of signs that seem so confusing at the moment. I pray the weekend will be a welcome break for them and that they will be refreshed on Monday to start learning the new concepts.