Dear Praying Friends,
Thank you for your continued prayers and financial support. As mentioned in my last letter, I have some computer and networking projects I’m working on in the office. Thankfully, God has helped me complete one of them. I attribute that to your prayers and help from good friends. Even though some of these projects seem to be outside my abilities, I am encouraged by the completion of this one.

Local Ministry
During the last three months I have preached more than usual in churches in our area. I was thankful for each opportunity. This included a couple of services in a deaf church and being a “warm up” speaker for a church heading into their missions conference. I also helped with some interpreting during revival services where my friend Ronnie Rice was preaching.

Mom and Dad Peach’s 50th Anniversary Celebration

50th Anniversary
April marked my parent’s 50th wedding anniversary. My two brothers and their families were able to join Stephanie and me as we celebrated Mom and Dad’s 50 years together. I don’t say it often enough, but I am thankful for the good parents God has given and the example in marriage they have been for our family.

Non-Local Ministry
My best friend during my high school years was my youth pastor, Phillip Winn. He later pastored in Arkansas, Oklahoma and Texas while I have ministered in several places. We’ve not lived close to one another, but we stayed in touch for the 30 years we’ve been apart. Bro. Winn passed away in July. The church he was pastoring in Abilene graciously invited me to spend Memorial Day weekend with them for the purpose of honoring Mrs. Winn as she is preparing to move away and minister to her aging parents.

While I was in West Texas I got a chance to preach at our sending church and visit friends and family.

I will be headed back to the Bill Rice Ranch this summer. I am honored to work alongside Ronnie Rice, Allen Snare and all the staff at the Ranch for 4 weeks of camp. It is a wonderful evangelistic opportunity. There are Deaf who will be at the Ranch this summer who will understand the Gospel for the first time. Please pray for the four deaf weeks starting June 11.

BIO Office
Along with being at camp this summer, we are gearing up for our annual Training School with our missionaries. We have three families who will be with us this year. One works with the Deaf in South Africa. One family has worked with the Deaf (in Peru) and desires to get a new ministry started with the Deaf in Italy. The third family is headed to Haiti as hearing missionaries. After training school we trust they will go to the field with a desire to equip people in their church to carry the Gospel to the Deaf around them.

Thank you again for your prayers for our ministry.

You can download a PDF version of this letter for printing.

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Dear Praying Friends,
What a wonderful start to a new year! I am excited about what God is doing in, and through, our ministry.

James and me inside the Colosseum.

Italy
In the last letter I asked you to pray for a trip to Italy that our son James and I were taking at the end of the year. We spent the transition from 2017 into 2018 on a plane over the Atlantic ocean and arrived in Rome on the morning of the new year. We enjoyed walking around seeing, in real life, sites that were previously only pictures in a textbook for me.

We enjoyed the typical sites. I was very much interested in the history of Rome as it affected the world we read about in the New Testament. I was struck by the fact that everything was so old and that nothing we would ever visit in the US can compare to the historicity of that ancient city.

While visiting St. Peter’s Basilica it was our privilege to speak with a non-religious Canadian couple and share some of the differences in the teachings of the Catholic church compared to the Bible—particularly in what the Bible teaches about sin and our need of a Savior. Though I’ve seen how the Catholic church changes its doctrines from place to place, I was still amazed as to how different the church in Rome is compared to other countries I’ve been in. The church seems to integrate much of the false teaching from each local area it moves into.

We had a good week-long visit with Shane Rice and his family as we were there to encourage them and talk about future possibilities of deaf ministry in Italy.

I have made a photo album of our trip available if you would like to look through it.

SMART: Leadership Development
During the missions conference at Faith Baptist Church in Jefferson City, Tennessee I was asked to help teach one of our mission board’s SMART modules. This is a practical training curriculum that we have developed to “build more durable missionaries.” Though I have taught various subjects for SMART, this was my first time to teach our Leadership Development course. As is typical, I learned much more in my study and teaching than in the two previous times I have sat through the class.

Our SMART classes are available to any missionary who would like to attend. We do not require that they be affiliated with BIO. If your church would like to host a SMART session during your conference for the missionaries in attendance, please contact me and I will be happy to give you further information.

BIO Office
Part of my ministry in the office is in maintaining our computer systems. I am working on a couple of big projects that will update our infrastructure. I mention this to say that I covet your prayers on these projects. These are the kinds of projects that, if I do them well, no one will notice. Yet if something goes wrong it could mean days of stressful recovery to get back to where we were.

Thank you again for your prayers for our ministry.

A PDF version of our prayer letter is available for download.

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Dear Praying Friends,
Merry Christmas! In my last letter I told about the 18 who were saved on my Africa trip; however, I only gave details about Ethiopia. I also visited Tanzania and Zambia. Since then I have spent time at a couple of Christian colleges representing BIO.

Tanzania

Pastor Frank and Deborah Laurent

I was with Bro. Frank Laurent on my trip. Bro. Frank is a Tanzanian national who came to the US for Bible college and then returned to Tanzania to start deaf churches. Frank is Deaf and a man of God. The Sunday I was with Frank we met in the church’s new auditorium. The building is not complete, but it is usable. We saw 13 Deaf give their lives to Christ that day. Several of them have been baptized since then.

Bro. Frank mentioned again and again how important it is for Christians to visit the field and see the work for themselves. He is strongly convinced (as am I) that a trip to visit a missionary will change your life and your view of missions. If you would like to visit Frank, or any BIO missionary, please contact me and I will do what I can to help equip you for such an opportunity.

Pray for Frank and his wife Deborah. On December 11 Deborah gave birth to a baby girl. This is their first child. I pray God will use Frank and Deborah to mold baby Priscilla into an honorable servant for Him.

Enjoy pictures from the Tanzanian portion of my trip.

Zambia
Zambia was a refreshing time with missionaries Yohannes and Kidist Getaneh. Bro. Yohannes is an Ethiopian national who has been working with the Deaf in Zambia for almost 17 years. The Lord has used him to train more than 2 dozen deaf pastors who have started churches throughout the country.

After one service with the Deaf, we all went out to the main road in front of the church and handed out tracts. In a short while the Deaf brought out some chairs for Bro. Yohannes and me. The ones passing out tracts would bring the hearing folks from the street to talk with us. We saw 3 hearing people saved as a result of that ministry.

Colleges
Dr. John Yingling (President of BIO) and I represented the board at Pensacola Christian College for the Campus Church’s missions conference. I am thrilled to think of what God will do with the young people preparing for various ministries through PCC. I trust we will see many on the mission field in the future.

At Ambassador Baptist College, Bro. Terry Childers (General Director of BIO) and I had a wonderful week sharing our burden for missions with the students. I absolutely love the opportunities I have had to befriend the Ambassador students over the last several years.

Italy
Our son James and I will be visiting BIO missionaries Shane and Kathy Rice in Italy. Pray that we can be an encouragement and help to them during our trip from December 31 to January 12.

You can download a PDF copy of the letter for printing.

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Dear Praying Friends,
On the heels of a wonderful trip to the Philippines, I spent three great weeks in Africa. There were 15 Deaf and 3 hearing saved on my trip. Others were challenged to be a witness to those God brings their way.

I am going to talk about each of the three countries that I visited in Africa in three successive letters. This letter starts in Ethiopia where I preached 4 times in a 3 day conference.

Prayer and Thanksgiving Conference
Eighteen deaf churches in Ethiopia gathered for three days of preaching and encouragement. This was the 28th year of the conference that the late Pastor Bizuayehu Assefa started. However, it was only the second meeting since Bro. Bizuayehu passed away just over a year ago. Of the 18 churches present, 16 were ones that Bro. Bizuayehu either started or trained the pastor who started the church.

For more pictures from Ethiopia visit: dpeach.com/ethiopia

Letter From Tsehai (Bizuayehu’s Widow)
Sister Tsehai sent a good letter summarizing the conference from their perspective. This is a letter being sent to the ministry’s current supporters. I wanted to send it to you as well. I appreciate you taking the time to read it. The picture to the right is me with Bro. Bizuayehu’s family.

Your Help Appreciated
Thank you for praying for my trip to Ethiopia. I encourage you to consider supporting the churches in Ethiopia. One of the churches in particular, the one that Bro. Bizuayehu was pastoring, is in need of continued support. In Addis Ababa, where the greatest concentration of Deaf in the country live, buying land is cost-prohibitive. Practically this means the church must rent a space for services. Currently their rent is a little over $300 a month. As with any place, that amount will continue to go up over time.

The church receives about $150 each month in support. This is about half of what they were getting when Bro. Bizuayehu died last year. The church is struggling to come up with the additional funds for rent and other expenses. I ask you to consider helping this ministry. As with any missionary endeavor, any money that comes in above their normal expenses will help them do that much more ministry in other places. I have a list of 18 names of men from the main church in Addis Ababa who are either ready to pastor a church or are in training to do so. What they lack is money to help them travel to towns and villages so they can get new works started in the country. Any money received above the expenses of the church can go towards a bus ticket to send a man to investigate the possibility of starting another deaf work and reaching their country for God. Your $20 a month can make a difference in reaching the Deaf in Ethiopia.

If you would like to support this ministry, send a check made out to BIO with Assefa in the memo line.

Thank you for your continued support!

A PDF version of this letter can be downloaded for printing.

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[This letter was written by Mrs. Tsehai Mulugeta (the late Pastor Bizuayehu’s wife).]

Dear Friends,
Love and many greetings to you and your dear family in the most holy name of our Loving Lord Jesus Christ.

Part of the crowd for the conference.

Praise the Lord for the wonderful conference we had throughout the three days of August 25-27. The meeting was great and was a blessing to us all. Deaf groups from the region of Oromia (towns of Ambo and Nekemte) were unable to come due to rioting and lack of transportation. From other regions of the country more than 250 Deaf were gathered together and attended the conference. We thank God and glorify His name for Brother David Peach. Brother Peach was preaching and teaching the Word of God wonderfully. All the Deaf were so blessed and glad for him to come. They were filled with the blessings they received as they talked with one other. We thank God for bringing Brother Peach to us and allowing him to be a blessings to all. Everyone was very glad and praising the Lord. God is always good.

Two new Deaf accepted the Lord Jesus Christ and converted! Praise the Lord for the more than 10 backslidden Deaf returned back to the Lord. After the last sermon more than 30 Deaf stood and promised to witness to other Deaf in their home areas who have not heard the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Praise the Lord!

Brother and sister, this is a result of your prayers that the Lord has done great things in our Deaf ministry. Thank you for your continued prayer and financial support as well. We have received the gifts you have sent. May our almighty God bless you more and reward you many fold for your daily needs. Amen!

Please continue in prayer and stand by our side for future ministry as we do all for the glory of God together.

God bless you richly.

With Love, yours in Christ,

Mrs. Tsehai Mulugeta

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Dear Praying Friends,
In the church service I was in Wednesday night, the pastor mentioned that the Pacific Ocean was a large place. I leaned over to my wife and said, “Don’t we know. We flew over it twice in the last couple of weeks.”

Filipino Teacher Training

Philippines Trip
We just returned from visiting Chris and Carol Woodley, BIO missionaries to the Deaf in the Philippines. They are doing a great work through their church and school. They hosted a seminar for teachers of the Deaf. There were teachers from 4 different schools. One of the teachers is still in need of salvation. We are praying that she will soon recognize her need and trust the Lord. Pray that the Woodleys can maintain a relationship with her through their mutual connection of deaf education.

Bill Rice Ranch
As mentioned in our previous letter, I was given the wonderful opportunity to speak and teach at the Ranch for 3 deaf weeks this summer. We were privileged to see 25 deaf young people trust the Lord as Savior!

I have no idea what I was saying at deaf camp with my arms crossed.

Training School
Nestled between weeks at camp we had our annual Training School for BIO missionaries. We had 13 missionaries, both hearing and Deaf. As always, this is a great time of fellowship and getting to know one another better. It is exciting to hear testimonies of veteran missionaries as they encourage the ones just starting out.

Africa Trip
I leave on August 22 headed to Ethiopia. Will you please pray that the Prayer and Thanksgiving Conference at Ebenezer Baptist Deaf Church (August 25-27) will be used by God? Besides speaking for the conference, I will be learning how I can better help the deaf churches in Ethiopia. Our friend Bizuayehu Assefa, who was instrumental in training many of the deaf pastors in Ethiopia, passed away last year. The churches are doing well but need some encouragement and maybe a little direction.

On August 30 I will fly to Tanzania to be with missionary Frank Laurent. Bro. Frank is working on building a second deaf congregation. He is also constructing a building for their church at this time. I’m excited about seeing the work and being a blessing to Frank and his dear wife Deborah. They will celebrate their 1 year wedding anniversary while I am with them.

I then go to Zambia on September 6 to be with missionary Yohannes Getaneh. Bro. Yohannes is an Ethiopian national who has helped to train pastors and assist them in starting over 20 churches for the Deaf in Zambia. What a wonderful work God is doing through him!

Though Stephanie was able to go with me to the Philippines, I will be making the Africa trip on my own. I appreciate your prayers for her and our daughter while I am away. I will return September 13.

You can get a PDF version of this letter for printing.

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Dear Praying Friends,
What a wonderful whirlwind of activity since I last wrote. April started with a trip to West Coast Baptist College. Since then I have been to 3 other colleges representing BIO and being encouraged by the young people who are looking for ways to minister. We also interviewed a couple of new missionaries working with the Deaf who have applied to the mission board.

Pastor Ruffin and me at camp last year.

I am encouraged by the young people from the various schools who are preparing to serve the Lord. Some of these young people I have known for several years. It is a blessing to see them grow up with a developing passion for God. During this time I have also been blessed to see older friends who continue to serve the Lord faithfully. This last weekend I was in a church that is pastored by a friend I met 29 years ago during my freshman year in Bible college. He surrendered to serve the Lord in ministry as an adult and has continued to be faithful to the Lord.

I am honored again to speak at the Bill Rice Ranch this summer. Pray that God will use us to impact the eternal lives of deaf young people. I will be at the Ranch June 12-16, July 10-14 and July 24-28.

As soon as our last week of camp is over, Stephanie and I will go to the Philippines to visit missionaries Chris and Carol Woodley. The Woodleys are involved in church planting and deaf education. While there, I will speak to public school educators about how to more effectively teach the Deaf. This will be from a Christian perspective and I will use biblical examples so that I can incorporate the Gospel in my presentation. I will also preach to the Deaf in the church. This trip will be August 1-12.

Shortly after we return from the Philippines I will travel to Ethiopia, Africa to preach and teach in the annual Prayer and Thanksgiving Conference that Pastor Bizuayehu Assefa started. Bro. Bizuayehu died last summer and I long to be back with my friends during this conference to see how the churches are doing without our beloved friend. We expect more than a dozen churches to attend this meeting. These are churches that Bro. Bizuayehu had an influence in either starting or training their pastors. Pray for this conference from August 25 to 27.

While I am in Africa I am trying to work out a short trip to visit Bro. Frank Laurent in Tanzania. Bro. Frank is a young deaf missionary who has done a wonderful job in witnessing to and training his fellow deaf countrymen in Tanzania to do the work of the ministry. That trip will probably be immediately after the conference in Ethiopia.

Beyond praying for the spiritual needs for these trips, will you also pray with us for the financial need. Plane tickets alone will be $5000. Pray that God would provide the needed funds and consider that He might want to provide for this need through you.

Important Note: Any regular support or special gifts sent to BIO on our behalf must have BIO (or Baptist International Outreach) in the payee portion of the check. This is because of a change in bank policy. Soon checks will have to be returned to you if they are made out to us personally.

You can download a PDF version of this letter for printing.

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Dear Praying Friends,
At the end of last year I met a man, not on his deathbed, but at his funeral. I attended the funeral of a man I had never previously met—but I sure wish I had. Audley Hamrick was a career missionary working in New Mexico. I learned about him through stories that his five children told at the funeral. I wonder if these things could be said of you and me?

A Faithful Witness
Bro. Hamrick’s oldest son told the story of the hardest spanking he ever received. Bro. Hamrick spanked himself for an offense that the son had done. This was his way of teaching each one of the children that God took our punishment on Himself for our sins.

The youngest daughter told of a vacation trip she and her parents went on. She enjoyed a long, casual conversation with a stranger while her dad patiently waited beside her. As soon as she was done with the conversation, Bro. Hamrick stepped forward with a Gospel tract and began witnessing to the man. The daughter was convicted by the example of her dad’s concern for souls and how that she needed that same concern.

We should seek to use everyday events to share the Gospel of Christ with those around us. I had one such encounter last month when I witnessed to a friend who was near death but had never given me a clear salvation testimony. I was pleased to learn that he had accepted Christ as his Savior as a 12-year-old boy.

A Godly Example
The second child in the family told how patient and compassionate their dad was when she, in disobedience, led a group of other teenagers on a hike and got them stuck on the side of a mountain. In the dark, Bro. Hamrick climbed the rock face to rescue the group of kids. In his quiet, gentle way, he taught the lesson that God is patient and forgiving with us even when we are disobedient.

Another son told how, that as an adult who was frustrated and impatient with his co-workers, he sat down to read the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew. Even in his low-level rebellion against his parents, he began to see how his dad was a shining example of everything he read in the Beatitudes of Matthew 5. His attitude towards his parents and those around him began to change.

Finally, the third daughter told how that their parents were always willing to counsel the children and point them to the Lord—even when they crawled up in their parents bed in the middle of the night.

May we each look to God to help us be a witness and an example of what we learn in His Word. We should live out our lives in such a way that our children and the world around us can see that we are a child of God and seek to glorify Him. I look forward to meeting Bro. Hamrick in Heaven and thanking him for being such a powerful example for me.

For more personal news this month, please visit www.dpeach.com where I give a detailed report of the last couple of months.

You can download a printable PDF version of this letter.

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Dear Praying Friends,
Merry Christmas! This time of year is a great reminder of why we are involved in ministry. Yet it is also an opportunity to slow down for a few days and enjoy time with family.

For a fifth year in a row I was privileged to represent BIO at Ambassador Baptist College during their missions conference. I enjoy being with the young people as they remind me that God is still calling people into the ministry to do His will. It is a refreshing and encouraging week for me each year.

We had a wonderful time of fellowship with other missionaries and pastors at our annual November Meeting at BIO. This year the meeting was held at Faith Baptist Church right next to the BIO office. The church took care of the audio recording. This freed me up to focus on interpreting for a few deaf friends and missionaries who were with us. If you would like to listen to the messages from the conference you can find them at the BIO website.

Merry Christmas!

One of the churches with an active deaf ministry near us is Belle Meadows Baptist Church. They invited our family to be with them for their annual Christmas party on a Saturday night and for me to preach on Sunday morning for them. We had a wonderful time with our deaf brothers and sisters in the eastern tip of Tennessee.

Many of you will remember the extreme flooding that Louisiana experienced in August of this year. BIO and Faith Baptist Church in Jefferson City, Tennessee organized a mission trip to help rebuild a couple of the churches destroyed by the rains. The damage is so extensive that the churches are essentially keeping the external walls and having to rebuild/replace everything inside. At least one of the buildings is scheduled for bulldozing. The church members are not able to dedicate a large amount of time to rebuilding their church because many of them have had to bulldoze their own homes and are in the process of putting their lives back together.

However, as horrible of an experience as they have had, there was a wonderful spirit of love and unity within the churches. While I don’t remember anyone expressly saying they were thankful for the flood, the vast majority of the church members were beaming with joy because they are actively experiencing the presence of God in a way they have never seen before. They were so thankful for the work we accomplished. I was so thankful just to be in their presence.

Thank you for your continued prayers for our ministry. Please pray for our brothers and sisters in Louisiana and consider reaching out to those in your community who need to see God’s love.

David Peach

You can get a PDF version of this letter for printing.

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Dear Praying Friends,
This month we celebrate 23 years of marriage and the completion of 22 years of ministry!

Missionaries at the BIO Training School

Training School
We held the annual BIO Missionary Training School at our office in June. We hosted our missionaries who are working with the Deaf. This meant that Stephanie and I either taught or interpreted each class.

Bill Rice Ranch
I was asked to help preach and teach at the Bill Rice Ranch for two weeks in July. We enjoyed being back where our ministry began over two decades ago.

During the first week of camp we saw 4 Deaf trust the Lord as their Savior. There were 6 more who trusted Christ during the second week!

Norman was one of the boys in the class that I taught each day during the second week. It was exciting to have him come to me at the invitation and declare, “I thought I had to be baptized to be saved. I thought I had to go to church to be saved. Now I know that I need to trust Christ to be saved.” At that point, without any prompting from me, he began to pray and ask the Lord to forgive his sins and to save him! Pray for Norman and his spiritual growth.

I was also asked to be part of a team that was preaching to a group of Korean young people who came to camp. They are visiting the United States from a school in South Korea. Though they go to a Christian school, the teachers knew that many of them were not saved. I was only involved in their first of two weeks at camp. During their second week, after we had laid a very clear foundation for the Gospel, 10 of the students asked the Lord to save them with 3 others receiving help with assurance of salvation. Praise the Lord!

Ethiopian Ministry
On my trip to Ethiopia in December of 2012 I met Bizuayehu Assefa, a deaf pastor who quickly became a dear friend. Recently, after suffering a massive stroke, Bro. Bizuayehu passed away in July. Pray for his family and for the churches that he helped to lead. If you would like to help support Bizuayehu’s widow and the churches in Ethiopia with a financial gift, you can send that to the BIO office with his name clearly marked on it.
As always, thank you for your continued involvement in our ministry.

A printable PDF version of the August 2016 Prayer Letter is available for download.

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