Hello, Family and Friends!
I am happy to be back informing through my newsletter. There was a pause with my newsletter because I was sick through most of April but I am fully recovered now! God is so good! Please pray for my health, and for my immune system to stay strong.
Deaf Church Ministry -
On March 31st we had seven deaf men baptized! They shared their testimonies before they got baptized. They were thrilled of their decision to follow Jesus. Since the baptism, they have continued to attend church and seek the Lord.
The Deaf church will be officially registered and will soon be the first Deaf church in Gambia! Also, Youth With A Mission hosted a special worship event called Tehillah 2019 in middle of April. Tehillah means "praise" in Hebrews. We had three deaf men on the stage to worship in Gambia Sign Language which was the first time for the deaf church. It was a wonderful event! Three weeks ago, we started having Bible study class on Wednesdays and Gathering Prayers on Fridays. It is going well, already we have people attending regularly.
In a previous newsletter, I made a request for Easy-Reading-Version Bibles for the deaf Gambians, still trying to figure out how to get these, I decided to ask my beloved friend Kees. Kees is from Holland (Netherlands), Europe. We met through Youth With A Mission-ASL Disciple Training School in DC and had our outreach trip in Brazil. He spoke with his deaf church Kadosh and they will send us a box of Bibles soon! I am so blessed, seeing God do His work!
Samaritana Ministry -
Paddy, from the Samaritana program, asked me to welcome five United Kingdom interns passing through to help a ministry group in Southwest England. I did icebreaker activities, writing back and forth on whiteboards to communicate. After the activities, I cooked a spaghetti meal for them for lunch and we continued to write back and forth to learn more about each other ministry group. It was an interesting experience for me to host this event.
God is showing me that I need to take every step, every opportunity in this ministry to learn how to work with deaf survivors. I had a meeting with a deaf woman who gave me some ideas about how to build a relationship with the deaf survivors. I will learn how to sew. Sewing is big here and will give me an opportunity to connect with the deaf women, build trust and hopefully get them to open up about their abuse and begin to heal. In addition with building that relationship, sharing the gospel will also be apart of that healing plan.
In the mean time walking around the Samaritana place, where the victims stay, I noticed a few hearing men working on sanding, painting, etc. to improve the place. I realized that with this huge project, they needed help. I asked Paddy if I could ask some of the men from the deaf church to do community service. He was thrilled to gather helpers and offered them free meals. I explained to the deaf men about Samaritana place, the importance of housing those who have no place to go. The hearing men and deaf men were gesturing to communicate to get work done. Of the four deaf volunteers after that day, two of the deaf men continued to show up helping for a whole week. Poverty is high in Gambia so I helped to pay their transportation from home to Samaritana, plus paying them for their work to help them meet their family needs. They were very appreciative. I love seeing how both ministries work together. Since arriving here patience has been my biggest lesson. Patience to trust, to open up, to heal, to come together & grow. God is amazing!
Speaking more on Poverty -
Most deaf people don’t have jobs or have jobs with little pay. They are often unable to support their family. Many would like to go to one of the four poor schools because it's better than no school at all, but can't afford to go. Often daughters are demanded to marry so their husband can help to support the family. The family culture is supporting grandparents, parents, aunts/uncles and cousins, this is more important than education. It is the primary reason why I pay money when they are helping me, the deaf church, or Samaritana, so they are able to support their families. I use the tithe from my mission funds which are also from your donations. I ask you please continue supporting the deaf Gambians in this ministry. Thank you!
Next newsletter will be on June 27! The pictures have been posted below.
Love in Christ,
Kevlasha
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