September Update

     Thank you for bearing with us as we have received and then lost Internet every few days (always when something urgent needed to be sent out immediately). Cheyenne has not gotten a contract with the only available service and should be working this week. It has been one of the most frustrating times in our 31 years of service. Even family would write and before we could respond, the service was gone. We love living a little ways out of town since it is much cooler and a lot better for the smog conditions. BUT, village life is not the same as city life. If the power goes out, it could be days before anyone does anything about is. The same for phone or Internet.

     We are excited and disappointed with some of things that we see happen in the lives of the deaf. New ones come, receive Christ and begin to grow spiritually. Long-time Christians make dumb decisions of which they should know better. And so we are excited and disappointed. It is exhilarating to see the deaf devour the Word of God in the “extra” times after the services. It is often a Q & A about some relevant issue in their life the preceding week. Sometimes it is about UFO’s or ghosts. It is always interesting to see how their mind is working.

     We promise to keep you better informed (IF we can keep a connection). We do not trust going to a computer café with little or no security online. Since it is a village, a café is normally a room of someone’s house who rents out their connection for a few cents per hour. We have no “real” cyber to go to.

     The owner of the house we rent approached Cheyenne, our daughter, to see if he could interest her in a house on the same property as our house. He and his family were our neighbors and good friends for 21 years and considers Cheyenne almost like a daughter. The first floor was there but needed major work done. The local brick layer did not work out and we were praying for someone who could finish the house so Cheyenne could move closer. The very Sunday that the other man was laid off, Manuel (the deaf brick layer who did our church) came to the church and said he had been out of work for two months. He asked if there was any work he could do. We chatted and then told him if he could work Monday – Friday, he could stay at our house and not travel back and forth. We prepare his meals and give him a place to sleep so he can work every day and not spend all day getting there. He agreed happily and is working to complete the house while we care for him and are able to encourage him in the Lord. Since being in our home, he has – on his own – asked the Lord to forgive him for backsliding and has renewed his love for the Lord and stated his desire to serve Him.

     Thank you for praying.

Gary& Ann