Laynes' Line

Dear Friends,       We have excellent news to share from yesterday. Many times folks from the States will ask us if we have certain days of celebration here. Obviously, we have them, but do not celebrate as you might because our holidays are different (Thanksgiving, Fourth of July, etc.). On of the biggest days of celebration here is the 16th of September, comparable to your Fourth of July. The 16th falls on a weekday this year so we celebrated early as opposed to after the day. We planned a large Independence Day yesterday planning to feed about 50 with a local plate of pozole (hominy soup) with all the trimmings. We were asked to dress as Mexican villagers as they would have in the 1800's. The deaf also planned to celebrate my (Gary) birthday which is today.        Some of the deaf went out of their way to invite other deaf. We left our house about nine thirty AM with the help of one of our deaf couples loaded with food and de...

June 24, 2016 Dear Praying Friends,      We have been busy checking with friends and family in West Virginia and have failed to pass this on along to you. We ask that you pray for those in flooded areas of West Virginia that may have been affected by what happened yesterday evening and throughout the night. Parts of the state received one fourth of their annual rainfall in 24 hours. If you know West Virginia, you know it is the Mountain State so all of that rainfall runs quickly down the sides of the mountains causing disastrous results. At this writing, there are 15 confirmed deaths and I imagine more to be confirmed.       This is being called a flood of one thousand years - something no one has seen in their life. MANY places we know, have visited or have friends there are/have been in the area of flooding. All but eleven counties have been declared in a state of emergency. In areas, many houses have been washed away. They have been...

April, May 2016 22 It is of the Lord’s mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not. 23  They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness. Lamentations 3:22-23 Dear Praying Friends,      How true it is that we are not consumed by the very holiness of God and it is only His compassion for us that keeps us from being consumed! How wonderful are His mercies!       God continues to bless the ministry as we learn His mercies daily. Our deaf are growing spiritually each week and we trust that they are learning permanent lessons of how to walk with the Lord. We were surprised Sunday with the arrival of three deaf we have known for more than thirty years, but who have declined to attend. Many years ago when we started, some in the deaf community passed around that we were Mormons, partly due to the similarity in sign of “Bible” and “Mormon,” and partly because anything new HAS to be a cult. We h...

     As we pause to think and remember Memorial Day (Decoration Day to us oldies), our hearts are touched again by those who have laid down their lives for our freedom. From before the Revolutionary War until present, our family, like many others, have given a fair share of their members to years of service in order to guarantee the freedoms we have as Americans. Our minds always revert back to the our early years in Ironton, Ohio, when every school child marched with their fresh flowers in the parade to the end where the bouquets were loaded onto trucks and delivered to soldiers graves throughout the county. I remember well the soldiers who fought in the Spanish American War and the special floats for those who had fought in the Civil War and were no longer with us. I marched every year including the year I graduated, either with my class, the band or a special group on a float. It was a school day, so attendance was necessary, but no one had to be forced to do ...

April 9, 2016      Just a few moments ago we received word that Gary's brother, Mike, passed away around noon, Please pray for his wife and family in this time of need. Thank you for your prayers. Gary & Ann

January/February, 2016 “O sing unto the Lord a new song; for he hath done marvellous things.” Psalm 98:1 Dear Praying Friends,      We must first apologize for the month’s delay in updating our faithful supporters. Although this new year has been exciting, we have started off poorly and been struggling to get the weeks back we lost through sickness.   Additional details are in the following part which was actually part of the original letter.       We are excited to see the Lord continue to work wonderfully in this New Year. We ended the year with a real bang. Our Christmas program/fiesta was a tremendous blessing. There were more than 65 deaf there and it gave us a good opportunity to share the Gospel with them. Several of them included deaf who had been faithful in the past, but had disappeared from our services over the last several years. At least four of them have been attending another Gospel church with an interpre...

Dear Praying Friends,      I just want to bring you up to date on recent news. A full newsletter is in the making. We started the New Year on a good roll, looking forward to completing many new goals. I installed part of a tile floor in a closet for Cheyenne and since it had not been used since construction, it contained a lot of the dust from the construction. I have had bad allergies for years with dust, so I was not surprised when I had some reactions.      Sunday morning I awoke with fever, heavy congestion and total fatigue. By Monday, I was in a battle to breathe and started on medications to relieve the conditions, including injections. For the next week I faithfully took the medications waiting for the big kick to come along. By Sunday I was nearly ready to go to the hospital (I am male , a Layne , not used to taking medicine , etc,). When Cheyenne called the doctor, he suggested I needed to do just that (hospital). He added that I ne...