Laynes' Line

Dear Praying Friends,      We are praying for you as you continue to pray for us. We are still quarantined and have just passed the top of the mountain concerning the Covid-19 disaster. We have not heard an "all clear" but it appears that our trouble spots concern Mexico City more than here. We have heard of a few we know that have been sick, but it has been lighter here than in other places. We are still under a strict facial mask mandate and are unable to ride in a car or enter a store without social distancing and a mask. It does get old but like so many, we lost ancestors during the 1918-19 flu epidemic, so we realize that safety does make a huge difference in final numbers.      As you can see, I am including a picture of Lance and I. We have not included pictures for several years after it was discovered that much of the evil of past days was caused by posting pictures, information, etc. and the guys in the penitentiary were capturing pr...

Dear Praying Friends,      Thank you so much for praying concerning the witnessing opportunity today. I believe that God gave the victory. We arrived at the hospital and I quickly saw how ravaging cancer can be. Juan's mother could barely move although she is in her early 50's. She has had three operations in the month of May. Juan was not fully understanding the situation until his sister pulled him apart this week and told him the doctors have predicted five days or less.      Juan was on one side of the bed and I on the other with his father nearby catching it all. I was able to give a simple presentation both in signs and voice with many Scriptures. Just as I was bringing the Scriptures to a close, I felt someone slip behind me. It was a nurse who checked everything so I kept on sharing. When she turned to leave I noticed she had a syringe and had injected it into the IV. In just a few seconds, the mother's eyes started to roll and they were un...

     Without any details, please pray for the opportunity I have tomorrow morning to share the Gospel with the mother of one of our deaf. She is dying with cancer and has given the OK for me to talk with her.      Second, we are still under strict quarantine, so pray we will not have difficulties with the authorities. Thank you. Gary 

Dear Praying Friends,      We praise the Lord that we are able to keep in contact with our deaf through video conferencing and WhatsApp. They all seem to be doing well, but it is hard to tell through social media. I am preparing and sending out a devotional nearly every day. The only time I miss is if my blood pressure has me all messed up. We send it to all of our folks who want to receive it and then also to several other states to Deaf who have requested it. Some of our group then sends it on to other family members, including some hearing folks - by the way it is only in sign language, but they still enjoy it. I always try to visualize the verse first by explaining words they may not understand and then in the explication, I try to be clear with examples as well.      I mentioned that it takes hours to prepare everything to teach. I usually prepare my mind and heart the evening before. The next morning I will print out the verse with "hin...

     Well, week before last we had no Internet. That finally got fixed and so I doubled up on the devotionals for the deaf. It takes several hours a day by the time I fix the visuals, video it and then send it through the channels to be ready for them. As you well know also, things which took minutes now take a long time. So after a good week with classes there has been a few developments. The mother of one of our faithfuls was diagnosed with cancer, so we are praying especially for them. One of our deaf men said he was really strained at only getting half pay. I shared with him that he should be praising God for that half pay since most in the world are not even getting that. He changed his attitude,      This week I started so wiped out that I was late getting started on our devotional. Several dominoes started to fall and suddenly we were without a good connection again. We got that back yesterday only to have it start sputtering again befor...

     No, we have not disappeared! We live in a foreign country and when something happens, it goes by clout. We live along side of a four lane highway that connects with the coast. Nearly every double trailer arrival comes through here. They often park beside the highway in front of our house. It has not been prepared for that, but they use the area anyhow. Through the years we have lost Internet MANY times because the double trailer carries sea boxes that are a little higher than a normal trailer. Usually when they leave, if they have parked closer to the wall, they will take something with them: our wires; electricity, cable, telephone, anything. Now, living outside of the city limits normally mean we are put on the bottom of the list for repairs. During this crisis there is no one answering the phone, only a recording. Anyway, we are now connected again (until the next truck).      We are doing fine here as far as the virus. I read before th...

Praying Friends,      God gave great blessings yesterday in a little different service. Several months ago we noticed that the roof over our baptistry made of glass blocks had started to crumble due to the tropical sun. Relatively large chucks periodically fall directly into the pool. We have had several deaf that were waiting to be baptized until we could repair (replace) the roof. One of our ladies again offered the use of her sister's country retreat equipped with a small pool. The church decided to have our service at the retreat and baptize while we were there.       The pool was filled a little more than half way. All the deaf assembled a little late after one car got lost trying to get there. Fernando preached a message and we all moved to the pool. One of our deaf who desired to be baptized was not able to come due to the untimely hospitalization of his grandmother on Sunday. Fernando was baptizing for the first time and was clear...