April Newsletter
April 2011
Psalm 121 1I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help. 2My help cometh from the LORD, which made heaven and earth.
Dear Praying Friends,
As I write this, we are making final preparations to travel to our BIMI Field Conference near Atlanta. We praise the Lord for His working recently in preserving what He has begun. As I reported in our blog, two families had apparently made a commitment with another disgruntled deaf person that as soon as we left for the field conference, they would jump Fernando Casillas, the acting pastor of the church, take his keys and then work to sell the church from under the deaf. However, the plan was openly discussed by them among LOST deaf who promptly reported it to us! After several days of investigation and prayer, the men decided that we needed to confront them openly and publicly. We did that in March, and were they ever surprised! The main leader attempted to proclaim that he knew nothing about it, but when we presented information that one of his close friends was the person who told us, among others, he clammed up. His wife broke down and with many tears pled for forgiveness. Apparently, that action cut off any plans they had made. They have not protested the accusations nor tried to explain away their actions. They have just fallen quiet.
One of the greatest blessings which came from this action is that many of our faithful deaf were hesitant to continue faithfully because of threats of the leader. Since he was “withstood to the face,” they realized that God would protect them and punish the evil ones. The church constitution states that anyone who leaves the church without notification and joins another is immediately stricken from the roll. That means that the wayward deaf have lost all influence and have no voice or vote in the functions of the church. They must return in repentance and prove their sincerity to be reinstated. The deaf have also learned to stand up for the truth and not just let things so untouched. It has given the church a wonderful spirit.
The Lord has blessed us personally as He has given us several opportunities to witness at length with Mexican nationals on both sides of the border. As the church service ended at Central Baptist Church in Harlingen, Texas on Sunday, a young resident asked if I spoke Spanish and then said he had come to make sure he was saved. Pastor Matt was dealing with a couple of other problems and nodded that I talk with him. We talked Scripture for more than two hours, but his problem is not failing to understand; he comes from another religion and was so confused that he could not just trust Christ and be sure. He even quoted Scripture while he sincerely prayed and asked the Lord to save him. However, he left with the same lack of assurance as before. He has returned for other services and he certainly knows how to be saved. The other religion had taught him such insecurity, that he is not sure he has truly “trusted” Christ. He feels that maybe his flesh is deceiving him and that he is not “fully trusting” Christ and therefore still lacking in assurance. Pray for Isaac.
Please continue to pray for Mexico. No one knows how far or how long these terrors will continue. Less than two weeks ago, the State Department sent out a special notification that they had learned from reliable sources that the drug cartels have stated they will kill any American they find in Tamaulipas (border), Nuevo Leon (Monterrey) or the state of San Luís Potosí, whether they are US agents or citizens. These things concern us, but we know that all of us are completely in His hands. There are many Americans who must travel through these corridors to get out of the country. Worse, this shows that they are ramping up the level of violence and have no intention to shut down their operations. The recent discoveries of clandestine burial grounds have brought the reality of this war even clearer. We have now lost count of the number of bodies found but at last count the number was above two hundred.
Please continue to pray for us as we seek to be used of Him until He decides that our work is done. Pray for our deaf church as a body and for our members as individuals. These happenings have given them strength, but only after tremendous thrashing of their security due to these threats. Pray that they might heal, that the evil might be turned to good, and that they would glean great blessings from the Word of God as they walk these paths.
Thank you so much for supporting your work, for praying for us and for being available for Him to use you. We appreciate all that you are doing in the name of the Lord.
For DEAF souls in Mexico,
Gary & Ann Layne
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