We have been praying for many different Deaf Missionaries around the world. Here you can find the latest report on some of them. Country names will be shown & names will be edited with *****.

Deaf Missionaries report in:
*Uruguay
*Ecuador
*Thailand
*Russia
*Japan

Uruguay: 01/01/07

The Uruguay Deaf Team asks that you join them in praising God for the first Deaf church planting conference held in Uruguay. They had 50 in attendance and it was Deaf led. Deaf taught other Deaf how to tell Bible stories and how to use evangelistic tracks. The hearing people that were involved were able to experience Deaf worship so they could incorporate the same methods where they are working. Each church led a worship service. It was a great weekend of praise, worship, training, and uplifting one another.
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Ecuador: 01/01/07
Pray that one DVD of Bible stories for the Deaf would be completed before the ***** go on stateside. (They will be in states early Feb. Their daughter-in-law is scheduled to have her baby tomorrow- Jan. 2. Pray for ***** and ***** and for ***** and ***** as they wait for the news tomorrow!! Pray that ***** and *****, two Deaf, would understand the gospel and put their faith in Christ. Pray for the Deaf work in ***name of church*** that the Deaf would be more active in the leadership ~~~~~~
Follow-up: 01/02/07
Thank you for praying for the *****'s daughter-in-law. A beautiful girl, *****, was born this morning. The ***** are itching to get on the plane to ** to see her. She will be a little over 1 month old when they get here.

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Thailand

ElijahTEAM #32
*****
January 1, 2007

Happy New Year! May the Lord bless you and keep, guard, watch you. May He make His face shine you and be gracious to you. May He lift His countenance upon you and give you peace…all these blessings every day of this year.
Blasts in BKK: I am safe.
The Lord’s work continues….

I witnessed to a bachelor-degree student by storying John 3:16. He mentioned seeing a white ghost. The way he explained it was that it was a special vision for him and he’s faithful Buddhist for 10 years because of it. Will you pray with me for him?

The Lamb of God house-church is hosting a Thai-German Christian wedding. One of its members ***** is marrying *****. Both are solid Christians. ***** desires her devoutly-Chinese mom to know our Lord. Will you pray with us for her?

We want the wedding to glorify God, to witness to unsaved guests, and to have fun together celebrating the union of the wedded couple. Will you pray for us?

*****, a pastor-friend of ***** and me, will officiate and also serve as MC. Will you pray for her…the mind of Christ, the Holy Spirit speaking through her? Please pray likewise for ***** (hard-of-hearing) who will interprets standing close to Malee, and if possible, one other interpreter.

Together, we have the faith to move the mountain into the sea. Tell you about the guy and the wedding in the next prayerletter…glorious tales of His might.

*** As you know, I will be on stateside assignment as of March 18. It will end on September 18, 2007. Will any of you be interested in me to sharing in your church/class/camp? Few of you have already indicated interest.

*****
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Russia:
Monday, 01 January 2007
Celebrating New Years

New Years is the largest celebration for most Russians. Because Christmas was banned during communism, New Years became the major holiday. This is the night when Grandfather Frost (looks like Santa Claus) and his grandaughter bring presents to the children. The Christmas Tree was banned at the beginning of the Communist era but was reintroduced as the New Years Tree later on. Russians will gather with friends on NYE for food, games, and to exchange gifts, then they welcome in the New Year. Around 12:15, they will all pour out into the streets to greet friends and shoot off fireworks. Fireworks go off all night long and it is often difficult going to sleep at all.

Here is a video file (approx. 3.5 mb) taken from our living room window to give you a sample of the fireworks. The "heavy duty" fireworks begin about 2 minutes into the clip. Notice towards the end how they are bouncing off the building.
Video File: http://mail.synapsenow.com/blogs/deaf/01012007(002).3gp

If your computer doesn't recognize this file type, you can play it with QuickTime Player.

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Japan:01/04/07

Dear Pray-ers,

Happy New Year!

In December, a former Journeyman to Japan brought a hearing group of volunteers from TN. Among the group was a woman whose son is Deaf. The two of them made time to meet with A**** and S****. Both had believed on Jesus in July. S**** was encouraged by the former Journeyman's testimony about her struggle with sin. S**** asked, "Please pray that I will be able to make amends when I wronged a woman three years ago." You recall that immediately after A**** believed on Jesus in July she said, 'I can't be Buddhist and Christian at the same time. My parents are Buddhist." She would not meet with us after that. Because of the volunteers, they had a time to meet again, go over the plan of salvation again, and talk about A*****'s relationship to Jesus Christ. A*****, a bright and cheerful person, accepted the witness positively. Please continue to pray that these two young women will grow in grace. Pray that they will make time to meet regularly for discipleship with the missionary.

Twenty-five Deaf ladies met for a Christmas gathering on December 25th at a rented room in Osaka. They have been attending Bible storying sessions since July. The program included an impromptu drama of the Christmas story, with them as the actors, complete with costumes for all the characters. After lunch together, E***** told the Christmas story using pictures. Then the selection of drama "volunteers" began. "Grandma" has refused to answer any questions or to participate in any way. She feels inferior because she had no education growing up because her parents refused to send her to school. She started learning sign language when she was 60 when her over-protective mother died. During the drama, she agreed to be part of the Heavenly Host. She "flew" in with the other angels and praised God with the other angels with a gigantic smile on her face! Each person got a chance to share something they had learned since July. Mrs. I*****, (nicknamed "Olive Oyl" since grade school) said, "God is a spirit. His Clean Spirit came down and Mary conceived a baby in her womb. That spirit became flesh and was born. That is amazing to me. That is something only God can do." Please continue to pray that especially Grandma and Olive Oyl will put their faith and trust in Jesus Christ.

Mrs. N*****, a hearing interpreter for the Deaf, believed on Jesus in December 2005. The church she had been attending had a terrible split and she quit attending that church. Her her faith in Jesus remained strong. However, she was afraid to be baptized because her husband was against it. If I am baptized, I will be persecuted even more by him and his family."In September 2006 she announced that she had decided to be baptized-but she could not decide where: at a traditional church or to join the > missionaries in starting a group of Deaf believers. "My heart tells me that reaching out to the Deaf is what I should do, but it's a very heavy responsibility. I don't know if I'm up to it." Then her mother died suddenly. Her mother's sister died two weeks later. After the funeral, the niece committed suicide. Mrs. N***** is trusting Jesus to get her through these difficult times, but has been unable to eat and does not sleep well. After reading scriptures about baptism, she remains uncertain about what to do about being baptized. Thank God that her faith has been strengthened during these dark days. Pray that she will step out in faith and be baptized and commit to taking the Gospel to the Deaf.

We will be going to the missionary annual general meeting January 4-9. Please pray that we will have a safe trip up and back and that God will guide all our conversations and meetings. We begin our regular schedule of Bible storying on January 11.

Love in Christ,

E**** & N**** *****

Deaf Outreach Team- Osaka, Kyoto, Kobe

Japan
Japan 01/03/07

Mrs. S is Deaf. Her husband and 14-year-old daughter are hearing. Her daughter gets angry at her mother, because they have difficulty communicating. It is not unusual for the daughter’s anger to erupt into abusive physical behavior. Mrs. S often has large bruises on her arms and legs where her daughter has punched and kicked her. Mrs. S attends the chronological Bible storying sessions in Osaka. She loves to re-tell the stories in class and remembers them from week to week. Pray that the truth of God’s Word will take root in her heart. Pray that God’s peace will come to this entire household and unite this family in His Love.

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