Open Doors, Hard Work, and…

It’s been a busy time.  The Lord Jesus has opened up some thrilling opportunities for us to minister to the Deaf here in the Philippines.  We are ministering at a public elementary school three times a week; we will be providing sign language training to the hearing within the the next several weeks, which will include training teachers at an AG Christian elementary school;  we have expanded our weekly Deaf Prayer Fellowship on Wednesdays to include a Bible Study (new people are attending) and will be adding a chess club for after school kids near the church.  That’s right, a chess club.

Although the Lord had shown me for a few years that chess would be an avenue to pursue with Deaf kids and adults… we have been surprised at the connection chess has made with them.  Every Friday morning, which is PE day at the elemenary school, I teach the kids chess.  I have written the beginning of a Chess Theology and Chess/Bible curriculum, so it’s not chess for its own sake, but for the Glory of God in Christ. I will write a separate blog concerning chess and what’s happening with that, but just know that the kids are responding and are genuinely interested in learning the game.  It’s exciting to see because they WANT to use their mind!

…and that’s the other, more difficult part for us.  These kids, although in a public school for a few years some of them, are woefully under-educated.  In our class, there are 36 registered students although we have only seen at most 20.  They range in age from 7 to 29.  Although there is a range of knowledge across the class, these kids know virtually nothing.  The kids have no textbooks. The kids have no access to a library (in many of the schools the libraries are locked because the kids will “get the books dirty”… and there is no public access library system in the Philippines).  The kids have very little to no writing ability.  Math?… forget it.  Science?… nada.

But the great thing is this:  THE KIDS WANT TO LEARN! It brings tears to our eyes to see how incredible their hunger is to learn and to use the brain that God gave them.  They are excited and they voraciously attack any books we bring… no matter how simple they are.  In recognition of that, we have begun purchasing books – basic readers and basic science books – to start a lending library of our own. Due to the small number of books, so far, the kids can borrow one book per week, signing out for it just like in an actual library.  Every kid has borrowed a book.  And we are trying to get more, but most books will need to come from the States, since the selection here is sporadic and limited.  We’d only had one chess book that was suitable for lending out and it’s the hot ticket item, so we’ve recently ordered five more books with good visuals to augment that.  They should be arriving via a short-term missionary this month.

The local Assembly here has, just today, confirmed that we will have a dedicated room at the Church for our Learning Center for the Deaf and an office for our Deaf Church called New Life Deaf Assembly of God.  Well, let’s put a list of what your missionaries to the Deaf in the Philippines are doing and hoping to do:

• Teaching & Witnessing Christ three days per week at a local Public Elementary School
• Beginning chess clubs at the school and soon at the Church for after school Deaf/Hearing kids.
• Deaf Prayer & Bible Study Fellowship every Wednesday.
• Beginning to put together New Life Individualized Learning Centers.
• Initiating a soon-to-happen monthly Sign Language Seminar for the hearing.
• Working with Book of Hope in getting the Deaf churches throughout the Philippines to work directly with public schools and/or public outreaches in Evangelizing the lost deaf using Book of Hope and a unique “God Man” DVD filmed entirely in ASL by Deaf Missionaries in Southeast Asia.
• Putting together a cafe-style weekly fellowship and venue for outreach to the Deaf.
• Writing the study notes for a Deaf-focused Gospel of Mark using the New Family Translation (excellent by the way) which must be completed before January 2009.
• Completion of a Scripture-based chess curriculum that can be used by all.
• We’ve asked AGWM for short-term teams and a medium-term individual to help work with the Deaf.
• And as always, we are continuing to educate our kids at home…

Also happening this month… we have been approached by a short-term missionary to spend two weeks, out of their seven week stay in the Visayas, filming the Lord’s work through us for His Deaf Church.  It’s a professional who recently sold his stake in the ad agency he co-founded to work more full-time in missions.  We are excited at the prospect and will keep you posted.  THE TIMING FOR THIS IS AMAZING AS WE ARE JUST NOW SEEING DOORS OPENED UP!

As a family, we are grateful to God for His promised encamped host around us!  We are healthy.  And although our kitchen shelves have been bare, we have truly given great praise and thanks to God for spaghetti and popcorn!  Maddy (6) is excelling in homeschool and Caleb (4) has been writing praise songs and preaching sermons even in his own version of sign language!

Thank you all for your continued prayers and support… truly, we’re out here in the tropical heat, but it’s YOU who keep us before our Lord in prayer and who allow yourselves to be used to keep us on the Harvest Field for His Glory!

We’ll be sending out our latest newsletter by the end of this month.