“…and
how shall they hear without a preacher…?”
Romans 10:15
First, we
wish to thank you for your patience with us. As you can see from our earlier
letter, things got a little wild with health, church and computer. Most things
have settled down now and we have a new drive in our computer. Gary’s health is
much better and God does continue to bless the church. However, the American
embassy still has a warning out concerning travel to many areas of Mexico. Some
areas are forbidden areas due to a lot of activity there. In our city, it seems
that things are relatively calm, but we do still receive reports that make your
skin crawl.
The church
has been going through a period of change as we see many of (us) the older folk
relinquishing the things we used to be able to do and trying to teach the
younger ones the skills that it took us decades to learn. We are thrilled that
God has given us a third, younger generation, but we have found most of them
have never painted a wall, patched a hole or repaired and electrical circuit.
These things the older generation learned by necessity. Now the younger
generation runs circles around us with the cell phone or computer. They are
learning to go beyond memorizing a verse to seeing how they can apply those
verses to real life. This is the future of all of God’s works.
Along with
many blessings there also comes heart-breaks. One of our most faithful men
decided to abandon his wife and daughter for a co-worker with the approval of
his parents. His says he wants us to “bench him” and then when his fun is over,
he will come back. He doesn’t realize that living in open sin causes him to
forfeit his relationship with the church. Please pray for repentance in the
heart of CS and for healing for his wife.
The first
of September we will be coming home for a furlough. There are so many things
changing in this world that we hardly know what to think. By simply changing to
a stateside address, our insurance will almost double. If we go to the ACA, it
will be more than $2500 a month! We are approaching our golden years but we are
certainly not ready for a rocking chair yet. We see the tremendous needs among
the deaf (worldwide) and are very concerned that they come to “hear” the Gospel
before they pass on. We have three missionary families in the whole country
that are dedicated exclusively to reaching the deaf. We are but a drop in the bucket.
We have often compared reaching the deaf in a third world country with starting
with kindergarten children and teaching them how to be leaders in their
churches. Many we have taught to use signs, to read and to begin to think
scripturally. It just doesn’t happen overnight! It requires the “line upon
line, precept upon precept.” Thank you for caring enough to help us reach this
deaf world.
Only
recently we have encountered other groups with a desire to reach the deaf.
Those who have been in the Word for a while know how to defend themselves. Some
of the newer ones do not see the differences. Some groups are Christian groups,
but with different doctrine. Others are some of the cults who seek to sway them
into dropping all Biblical doctrine. The deaf need the Word of God in a way
they can understand it and glean the deep riches of the Word of God. We have
little to no materials that the deaf can use except what we have translated or
written for them.
Thank you
for your faithfulness (and patience) in prayer and financial support. We look
forward to visiting with all of our friends and supporters. In these latter
days let all of us keep our eyes on Him.
Gary
& Ann Layne
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