Prayer Letter For February
February 2014
I will love thee, O Lord, my strength.
The Lord is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer; my God, my strength, in
whom I will trust; my buckler, and the horn of my salvation, and my high tower.
Dear Praying Friends,
We praise
the Lord for the wonderful way He has blessed since we returned. We continue to
see the Lord bless as we watch the church develop into a mature, although
young, church. The Lord has blessed us with five souls saved since the November.
Often with the deaf ministry, decisions come slowly and many times only after
allowing the deaf to “try” their new Christian friends to see if they are real.
We have four who are requesting baptism as soon as the roof over the baptistery
is fixed. The glass blocks overhead are beginning to break due to the sun. They
will need to be repaired or replaced.
One of the
salvation decisions was Lance, Cheyenne’s son. They often come out on Saturday
and help us prepare for Sunday. We decided to end the day with a camp fire.
Lance came and sat down with me and we began talking about the embers and what
Hell would be like. Cheyenne had dealt with him on many occasions, but he
always said he had prayed with Grandpa. When he was about three, Gary had
talked with him at length about salvation, but it was clearly obvious that he
did not really understand. He closed that early session with Lance by praying
that God would open his eyes and help him understand. Lance had stubbornly held
on to that as his “salvation” experience. At the fire we chatted about sin and
it was clear he now understood his sin. Gary asked if he had ever expressed his
repentance and asked the Lord to forgive him. He quickly replied no, but
immediately bowed his head and did so. Now he has a Biblical answer as to what
his salvation means.
We still
have a great desire to start new works. We have investigated the two cities we
have prayed about for years. Both cities are fair-sized cities approximately
two hours from here in opposite directions. Doing research, we discovered that
the government had again suggested that everyone stay away from that state as
it has become one of the most dangerous. Our state has even put up defensive
positions along our common border to try to keep out the violence. Is God able
to protect us? Absolutely! Should we be foolish and force God’s hand? We feel
it best to wait and see what He will do. The second city is still under
military control.
Again, it
was the Lord’s leading that we be here at the exact time we were needed. Many
of our deaf now are younger, both in age and in the Lord. One man came from
another denomination several years ago and was saved. He left just before we
came back. He started a “study” in his home by connecting with a Bible teacher
through the Internet. He started inviting the deaf to come. Fernando, our
leader, was also influenced by his friend. However, this Internet leader
started trying to direct the ministry of the church by long distance. Gary sat
down with Fernando and two others and started teaching them what a New
Testament church is Biblically. Fernando captured the teaching so well that he
preached a sermon on the church a couple of weeks later. He hit a home run.
After the message, the issue was settled in the minds of all. The only
questions that remained were beyond that scope, but were quickly answered with
the Word of God in after church Q&A.
Thank you
so much for your continued prayer and support. They are vital to our existence.
Although all deaf churches have suffered under these conditions, God continues
to bless with new souls and wisdom from His word.
For
DEAF souls in Mexico,
Gary & Ann
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