We opened up our ministry at DeafNation World Expo by passing out tracts at “The Freemont Street Experience.” We had 15,000 tracts available for the evening. We are not sure yet how many we were able to distribute, but they were very well received. Our group is separated into 5 teams–one of which was responsible for picking up any tracts they found on the ground. Out of the thousands that we did distribute, there were fewer than 100 thrown on the ground. It was an amazing reception by both the hearing and Deaf.

These tracts were printed especially for this week. On one side the tract had information about DeafNation and some of the events for the week. On the other side was a well written presentation of the Gospel that used information specific to this conference to get the reader’s attention.

As you can see in the picture, there were people actually coming to our team members asking for the tracts. One man said he was a teacher in another country and asked if he could have a stack to take back to his students.

We even had another Christian ask for a stack of tracts and helped us distribute them!

Thank you for your prayers for this week of ministry. Tomorrow we start distributing literature at 3 different booths and on the streets. Continue to pray for this tremendous opportunity that we have to share God’s Word with the Deaf.

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Tomorrow morning (Thursday July 15) I will be leaving my house headed to the airport in Buenos Aires, Argentina. It will take me more than 24 hours from the time I leave my house in La Plata to arrive in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Current prayer requests:

• Travel:
  • Safety on the roads and in the air
  • Luggage to arrive without problem
  • Transfers to go smoothly (have multiple connections going and coming)
• Finances for the trip. There is still a great need, but am trusting the Lord to supply everything.
• Wisdom on some important decisions the first couple of days
• Team preparation
• Team unity

Most of the team will arrive on Friday. The event does not start until Sunday, but we will be doing a lot of preparation of materials and logistics the first 2 days. The team members are made up of some very experienced men and women in the ministry as well as lay people and college students. The opportunity we have within the team to influence the lives of other team members is a tremendous blessing. Outside of all the witnessing we will be able to do in Las Vegas, we have a chance to shape the lives and ministries of these young people.

I will try to update the site every few days on the trip. I do not plan to send regular updates to my prayer letter mailing list during the trip, so please keep your eye on www.dpeach.com for the latest news.

A special thanks is extended to those who have donated financially. Because of your monetary connection, I know you will be praying more earnestly for the results of the trip. I hope these updates will be a help to you in prayer.

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Dear Praying Friends,
Thank you for praying as we have gotten settled in. We are now very actively ministering to the people around us.

We are learning the sign language well and building relationships with the Deaf in our community. In just a couple of weeks we will begin teaching a sign language class in the hearing church. We have already had one deaf man visit the church which helped create a desire in the church members to learn sign language.

I am spending quite a bit of time with a hearing man trying to share the love of Christ with him. Victor is 86 years old and sees no need for the Bible. Because of a mutual interest in bicycles—he has been in the bike business for more than 70 years—we have built a good friendship. Pray that I will show God’s love so that he can open his heart to the Gospel. I spend 2 or 3 nights a week over at his house tinkering with bikes and sharing with him about my ministry.

In July I will go to Las Vegas for the Deaf Nation World Expo. The event coordinators are expecting 50,000 Deaf from around the world at the event. I will join a team from Silent Word Ministries to distribute tracts and Gospel DVDs. Imagine the witnessing opportunity we will have with 50,000 people who are gathered for the sole purpose of interacting with strangers.

The cost of the trip is $2,200. Some friends have already grasped the tremendous opportunity we have and pitched in to make the trip possible. You can get more information on how you can be a part of the effort at www.dpeach.com.

Every few months I send out a packet of prayer letters from national pastors who work with the Deaf. I share these letters with churches and individuals who have shown an interest in praying for deaf ministries around the world. If you would like to receive these letters you can send me an email and let me know your address. I can mail the printed letters to you or send them in PDF format over email.

Thank you for partnering with us in prayers and finances to reach the Deaf both here in Argentina and around the world.

June 2010 Prayer Letter PDF

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In July I will take part in an evangelistic effort in Las Vegas, NV called Deaf Nation World Expo. I will work with a team from Silent Word Ministries to distribute tracts and conduct one-on-one evangelism. An estimated 50,000 Deaf will be at the Expo.

To learn more about the Deaf Nation trip and ways you can help prayerfully or financially take a look at the special page I have set up for the event.

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The last couple of weeks I have been working with an autistic man trying to teach him his need for salvation. Gilber is from Peru and is in Argentina visiting his brother. He traveled with several family members and will return to Peru in a few days.

Gilber is 26 years old. He is not Deaf, but does not speak very much. It is sometimes hard to know how much he is learning and understanding of what he is taught. I have taken my time with him trying to help him understand salvation. There was a time in my work with him that I was not sure if I would be able to continue due to lack of understanding, however I spent an hour with him yesterday and God has given me hope for his soon salvation. I left some of my teaching pictures with him so that he could play with them and tell his family the story I have been trying to teach. Tonight at church (our church is having a missions conference) Gilber’s sister-in-law told me that Gilber has all the story memorized. That was exciting to hear.

My next time, and probably last time, to work with Gilber will be Sunday morning. I am praying that God will open my understanding so that I will know how to proceed with Gilber so that he understands his need of the Savior and will accept the Lord that morning. Will you pray with me?

UPDATE: I spent an hour with Gilber teaching him the Gospel yesterday. My prayer is that he understood. He has typically shown an understanding several days after I teach something to him. I left our time together yesterday somewhat disappointed. I did not have the confidence that he did understand and accept the Lord. However, I am encouraged to know that God will continue to work in him.

My prayer now is that God will give me or the family a confidence that Gilber accepted the Lord or that when he does we will know. Thank you for your prayers.

Gilber leaves this week going back home to Peru, but the family is talking about returning later this year. I look forward to seeing Gilber again.

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Dear Praying Friends,
It is hard to believe we have been in Argentina over a month already!

We are helping two works: one to start a deaf ministry in a local church and the other to help plant a deaf church. Up to now we have spent all our time in the hearing church since the pastor of the deaf church is away on a trip. We begin working with him as soon as he returns. The deaf pastor recommended that we work with the hearing church pastored by Missionary Jeff Bush. God worked in the church long before we arrived to instill a great desire to reach the Deaf in La Plata, Argentina. Every time we are at church we get asked about when we will start sign language classes so that the church people can get involved. As we are still learning the language ourselves, it is heartbreaking to have to tell them that it will be a few more weeks.

Our main need and prayer request in the work right now is simple: we need to learn the sign language quickly so that we can communicate with the Deaf around us. We have met many Deaf while on buses, trains and walking around town. I give them a tract with the church information on it and write that we have a ministry for them. Until we learn the language we only have brief conversations. Finding the Deaf has not been hard here; they seem to be all around us.

When looking for a house we wanted to find a furnished home that we could move into without having to buy (and later get rid of) much furniture. Other missionaries informed us that a furnished home was either unlikely or impractical since there are few and the ones they had seen were quite a bit more expensive per month. Plus, the quality of the furniture would not justify the extra cost. At the end of our second house shopping day we found one for a fair price. However the owner had a problem—he had more furniture than would fit in his new house. As a help to him, he asked if we would keep the furniture in our home at no extra cost! We thank the Lord that He led us to this house.

Even though we found the house on our third day in Argentina, it took another three weeks to complete the paperwork. We are just now getting settled. However the “homeless” time allowed us to visit some cities nearby and share our goals with other churches. We pray that these churches will also have a desire to reach the Deaf around them.

We appreciate everyone who helped us get to Argentina through prayers and finances. We excitedly carry out the task that you have entrusted us with.

PDF version of  the letter.

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We have been in Argentina a little over a month. We found the house that we eventually rented on our 3rd day here. But it took us almost 4 weeks to take care of the paperwork and be able to move in. While we were frustrated by this, we hear that we were fortunate since it normally takes 2 to 3 months for a rental agreement to be signed.

We have met Deaf in various places. Just after trying to talk with a deaf man on a train, a deaf girl walked into our train car with her dad. I was not able to speak with them, but it was a reminder that even though we cannot communicate with the Deaf around us yet, they are still there. A few days later I met 2 deaf teens on a bus and was able to talk with them briefly. In all we have met about 15 Deaf and have friends in the church who can put us in contact with several others.

We have been learning some signs and are eager to put them to practice in teaching the Bible.

While we are working on getting started with the Deaf, we have been involved with a wonderful church in La Plata. I can’t say that I have agreed with every aspect of every church we have ever worked in, but I might be able to say that about this church. God is allowing us to carry out our ministry in a church that completely supports what we are trying to accomplish and I can fully support their program. The transition of working in a new country has been made easier because of the people we are privileged to work with.

Thank you for your prayers as we get settled in and get to work on the front lines.

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We arrived in Argentina on Wednesday morning of last week. We had a good trip with no surprises. All our bags arrived safely and at the same time we did. A wonderful answer to prayer.

Bro. Jeff Bush picked us up from the airport and took us to his house to rest and recover from the 10 hour overnight flight. Bro. Bush is the missionary we will be working with in one of the ministries we will start here. He graciously allowed me to preach and share my heart and goals with the church that night.

Thursday and Friday were spent looking at houses. Lord willing we will sign a rental agreement on a house on Monday morning. Because of the time of year and the dynamics of the town we are in there is quite a bit of competition for any available rental properties. We are praying to get one house in particular. However it is not a sure deal until papers are signed and money exchanged. Please pray that we will get the house the Lord has for us.

Saturday we met some Deaf in town and learned a few signs to get us started. The biggest thing we learned is that the sign language really is as different as we expected.

Thanks for your prayers through this first week. As busy as the week has been it has gone quite well. Praise the Lord.

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Here is a list of prayer requests that I passed out to a group of friends this weekend. These include a couple of immediate needs as well as short term needs as we arrive in Argentina.

• Wisdom in packing
• Safety in travel
• Finding a house quickly
• Learning the sign language quickly
• Learning the public transportation
• Wisdom in juggling the 2 different ministries (deaf church and deaf ministry in the hearing church)
• Churches that have had to cut back financially will be able to take us on again
• More churches and individuals to take us on as a missions project

Gifts and support can be sent to:

Baptist International Outreach
PO Box 587
Jefferson City, TN 37760

Indicate that it is for us or put our account number (567) on the check.

The above address is the new mission board office address. You can still use the old address for a while, but please start using the new one as soon as possible.

We will leave on Tuesday March 16 at 3:00 from the Ft. Walton Beach airport. We appreciate your prayers and friendship as we move into this new phase of ministry.

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Dear Friends,
We bought our plane tickets for Argentina! We load up and fly on March 16. That is less than 4 weeks away as I write this. While we are excited, we are also very aware of how much needs to be done between now and then.

By choosing a date into the middle of March we are able to attend our mission board’s “March Meeting.” This year is special for two reasons; either of which is significant enough to encourage us to stay. We will dedicate the new BIO Office building at the March Meeting. The dedication will be March 8. Anyone in the Jefferson City, TN area who would like to attend is welcome to join us. The dedication service starts at 6:00 PM. There will be an open house between 4:00 and 6:00 that afternoon. You can contact me or the BIO Office for more information.

The second big event that week is we will approve a new deaf missionary. He is a deaf man going to Tanzania to establish a church and Bible institute. This is the first missionary that I have been privileged to work with and bring through the approval process to join BIO.

We are thankful for some very generous offerings that have helped us raise $5700 of the $7000 we need for the trip to Argentina. We still need $1300 between now and the middle of March. Just as important as the large gifts from churches are the smaller ones from individuals. Whether the Lord leads you to help with this need in a seemingly small or large way, the important thing is obedience to what He would have you do.

We have solidified some of our plans for when we get started in our ministry in Argentina. We will work in 2 different ministries at this time. We also plan to work with other churches as the Lord opens doors. One of the two ministries we are involved with is starting a Deaf church with a  national pastor. That pastor has put us in contact with a missionary who  is interested in starting a deaf ministry in another town. We will work with that church to train people in the congregation to minister to the Deaf through interpreted services and church activities. We pray for other opportunities to help as many churches as we can while there.

Thank you for your prayers and support through this furlough. We are excited to get back to the field. Thankful as we are for the time we spent in churches telling others about our ministry, we long to be back to daily involvement with a work on the field. To do this we need more monthly financial support. Pray that the new churches we were in last year will join our team. If you plan to join us in a financial way, please let us know so that we can better plan our time in Argentina. Just $50 a month more can help us do that much more ministry. Will that $50 come from you?

PDF version of the letter.

Categories: Ministry Update, Prayer Letter
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