October Newsletter

 

March/April, 2024

 

O Lord, thou art my God; I will exalt thee, I will praise thy name; for thou hast done wonderful things; thy counsels of old are faithfulness and truth.    Isaiah 25:1

 

Dear Praying Friends,

            Our God is so faithful and His counsels are always right. God has blessed us and the services and travels that we have made. It blesses us to see how God is still working in America, even though many appear to have turned their back on Him. HE still is faithful and never changes.

            Recently, Gary’s closest friend, brother in the Lord and hunting buddy, Wendell Drake, passed away. Many times, we would arise early to hunt, eat breakfast, and then sit at the table sharing Bible verses or questions until afternoon. Thank you for those who responded that they were praying. Pray for the family as they adjust to this loss.

            Ann’s mother, Casey, was diagnosed with cancer just as we were preparing to come home on furlough. Through pin-point radiation, we saw that cancer die out. Very soon afterward, she developed a nodule in her lymph glands in her neck. That nodule, which became several, were like-wise treated with radiation. However, as the treatment came to a close, the doctors discovered two other tumors, one on each of her lungs. She is presently with the Lord, free of all sickness and rejoicing with her Savior. Until about 2021, she traveled every year by herself to visit with us, as well as many years of traveling around the world doing short-term mission projects.

God has blessed in many of the services as folks spend time after the service asking questions and often sharing things they learned about the deaf community. Almost without fail we give an invitation for one to trust Christ, and one person did recently. We have traveled in seven states since February and have stayed booked up with meetings, as well with caring for Casey. The travel seems to take a little longer, but we enjoy seeing our churches so much.         

            Our deaf church continues excited about serving the Lord and is seeing a slow growth in attendance. Pray that they will really get burdened for their friends around them. The situation is Mexico makes it more difficult on them because of dangers all around, but God is faithful! They need to allow the Holy Spirit to break their hearts for those around them. They do invite, but often fail to give those they invite the Gospel. Pray that God will really show them the final destination of any of their friends who do not know the Lord.

            Before long, we will be returning to Mexico to give a mentoring hand with the ministry.  Our desire is to serve the Lord full-time as He gives us good health. God called us, He has enabled us through good health, and we figure He will close the door when He says time’s up. Thank you for praying for us and with us and for being so faithful in your support. It is God’s work and God’s timing, so we want to make the very most of it. Thank you for caring.

           

For DEAF souls in Mexico,     

Gary and Ann Layne