September, 2015
Romans 8:28
"And we know
that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are
the called according to his purpose."
Dear Praying Friends,
The above verse is often quoted (and
misquoted) to justify some great problem that comes our way. We certainly
understand why after the past five weeks. Starting towards the end of August we
have seen one problem after another in our village. Over the past five weeks we
have been without electricity for a total of four of the last five weeks. It
started with a strong storm that passed through and destroyed some of the
network that supplies electricity to our quadrant. We do not know exactly what
it was, but it shut off the power from Guadalajara to us, about 15 miles. It
took five days for them to work from town to us. We were so thrilled when
finally power was restored. No power equals no lights (obviously), no
recharging, no Internet and no water (we have well water). The power was on two
days when a truck parked too close to the pole and we were without again. That
was restored and the wires burned completely in two for about two hundred yards
in front of our house. It took another day for the inspector to come, an
additional day for the crew to arrive, only to find out that they had no wire
to repair the problem. A third day was needed to rewire the area. Power was
restored and we regained modern living. Saturday the "knife" was
knocked loose again by a truck equaling no power. It seems that country living
is really great as long as you can keep the power on. We apologize for the
delay in this letter, but we have tried in vain to send the letter without
power - it does not work. Even the days without power we were reminded that God
still knows and is in control. Praise the Lord He knows how to deal with our
frustrations!
We are pleasantly surprised with the
growth seen in most of our deaf. We have taught and lived the Bible in front of
them for more than thirty years, but some of them are just now "getting
it." The deaf in the States have proven themselves by growing abundantly
and have made strong, passionate leaders. The deaf in Mexico are still in the
molding period and only a few have captured the whole idea that the Bible truly
is the guidebook for life. You must realize that when we started many years
ago, our deaf knew less than Kindergarten children about the Bible. Many of
those with us in the beginning have moved on, some to Heaven, some to the USA.
When we start again with a new generation it is like starting Kindergarten
again. We praise the Lord for what we are seeing and need your prayers that
they will continue on to find the rich rewards of totally wrapping themselves
in the Word of God.
We
are preparing for teaching a twelve hour course on "Deafness" through
Seminario Bautista Trinidad at Frontier Baptist Missions. The purpose is to try
to interest hearing pastors in Latin America with the possibility of starting a
deaf ministry in their church. The average pastor learns of our focused
ministry on the deaf and simply replies, "God bless you." No
interest. We are praying that with the proper approach, the Lord will touch
their hearts to have an interest in reaching the deaf in their community. Pray
with us as we tape these sessions that the Holy Spirit will empower us to do
the proper job and that He would touch hearts for the deaf throughout Latin
America.
Gary recently celebrated a birthday and
was pleasantly surprised by getting ALL of the family together to celebrate.
Then at church on Sunday, the deaf had quietly planned another party after
church to help him celebrate. It is always exciting to see them on their own
plan out and bring to fruition their plans.
Thank you so much for the contacts,
prayers and support you have given. We trust with a little electricity and
prayers, we can be more faithful in our letters. God bless you.
For DEAF Souls in Mexico,
Gary & Ann Layne
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