Thursday, Nov. 17
September-October, 2011
4For the word of the LORD is right; and all his works are done in truth.
Psalm 33:4
Dear Praying Friends,
God is so faithful! At times we feel like the devil is winning, but then our Lord comes through and opens a new door or opportunity for His people, for His Word is right. We have shared over the past year how the devil got into a few of our folks who decided it was up to them to run off our pastor (in spite of a 97% positive vote). When they managed to do that, it appeared that the devil had won. More than thirty deaf had been run off little by little without telling us why in about a year. It turns out that the main man had cornered each one at different times and in different places and threatened them that they should not return. If a known past sin was involved, that was thrown up to them as reason why they could not attend. These were sins committed before the person accepted Christ as Savior, so they were under the Blood. However, this man managed to convince them one by one that they were unfit to serve God or even to attend church. These deaf have actually feared being in this man’s presence. None of us knew what was happening except several of them said quietly, “If he is there, I won’t come.” After all of this came out into the open, we have discovered that even though “he” is out of the church, there is a fear of returning.
Consequently, we have started the process of rebuilding the ministry. It is so much better the first time you reach them, since there is no past to be resolved. We have had several new ones who have come to services. We thank the Lord it was a single lady who invited some of her friends for the first time. As you know, the key to any ministry is to get the congregation involved and not just expect the leadership to reach out to new ones. We are praying that the Lord will help heal some of those offended, and that they would return. However, our hope is to continue to reach new ones while we reach out to those who were offended (and scared).
We are preparing for the holiday season and have two special days planned in the month of December. The first is our Christmas program and party (fiesta) and the second is a dramatic presentation of Creation pointing to the prophecies of the restored fellowship with God in the future. Our culture knows little of Santa and they make quite a production of not putting baby Jesus into the manger until Midnight, the first few minutes of Christmas Day. Our desire is to take the truth of the birth of Christ and apply it Biblically to give the TRUE story of Christmas. Pray with us for good results as we seek to exalt Him.
We thank God daily for faithful Christians who give, but especially those who pray for us as we serve Him. The evil is still here, but we praise the Lord for an opportunity to share His good news with the deaf. Some of our dear friends across this country have faced serious problems in the last 30 days, but have seen the Lord protect them. MANY of the deaf here have never seen a Biblical presentation of salvation, and honestly have no understanding until they see the Word of God come alive in their hearts. Thank you for caring and giving.
For DEAF souls in Mexico,
Gary & Ann Layne
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