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• 2003 March

Deaf Ministries Update

Bringing the Gospel to the Deaf

March 2003

Dear Friends and Supporters,

Usually I come back from Africa feeling like a wrung out rag and ready to toss it all in, but this time I came back on cloud nine. The month of February, spent in Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania and a short time in South Africa, flew by. I was not alone for about half my time there as Dewayne Liebrandt from Thailand and Pablo and Birger from Norway also helped share in the experience. Dewayne took a lot of video and plans to make a DMI presentation for use in deputation meetings and the like as we move around. Thank you to Lill who always has extra strain and stress while I am away as she has to continue with her DMI duties as well as family ones too.

Drama

The only black spot for the whole month apart from my brakes failing while heading for western Kenya, was the dramatic attack by a gang of robbers on my last night in Nairobi. Someone was praying and if you were that one, thank you. About 1:30am we were awakened by voices followed by loud banging as if someone was hitting pipes in the building and then by the sound of breaking glass. I was in the home of Gloria and Charles Okello and Charles being Kenyan understood the Kiswahili being spoken. He came into my room saying that we were being attacked by a gang of robbers with guns. I hid my money and credit cards around the room, my computer under Gloria’s bed, then lay down on my bed facing the wall listening as the smashing and banging came nearer and nearer. I had been told by David in Uganda never to look at robbers as they would kill you on the spot, hence my laying down facing the wall. They got to our door and I heard the glass break. Then silence. For some reason they come no further and left the building. We all came out a bit shaken but praising God for His protection. We found out later that none of the Christians in the building had been harmed or robbed. Praise God.

Uganda

The work in Uganda has grown by leaps and bounds. The main Kampala church now has some 140 members and there are three other churches and ministries in the greater Kampala area. In total, we have 23 churches or preaching points in Uganda as well as the Bible school meeting in the house that was purchased there some years ago. The general office, accountants office, David’s office, dining room, video production room and class rooms are all housed in the same building. A temporary building on the same property holds the secondary school. From our headquarters in Kampala, the work in Rwanda and Burundi is also directed by David Bulime.

Tanzania

Daniel in Tanzania has been working under quite difficult conditions. With his wife and children still in Kenya he lives alone and not only administers the work there but travels back to Kenya once a month to be with his family. We hope to rectify that soon and move them all to Tanzania. This means putting his kids in a private English medium school as education is all in Kiswahili in Tanzania and his kids are English speaking.

The Dar Es Salaam church has some 45-50 members. Three young guys are being trained as evangelists and are hoping to go to our Bible school in Uganda in the days to come. Many deaf communities throughout Tanzania are calling out for us to come and minister to them too, so the doors are wide open. For most of the time I was in Tanzania, Daniel was a bit under the weather suffering from malaria attacks.

Kenya

Kenya too was a great experience. Our churches there, for the most part, are growing and thriving. In Ikinu just out of Nairobi in coffee country, the group of deaf believers there have obtained their own land and have been raising money to build their own building. Our Norwegian visitors have promised to help so hopefully by the end of the year we will have a building there that the deaf can call their own.

The Nairobi Church is packed out each Sunday. Josephat is the pastor, a deaf young man who graduated a few years ago from seminary in Mombasa. He has an outreach in a local school for the deaf and runs a nightly fellowship in a suburb of Nairobi near the airport. We asked that Josephat be the coordinator for the growing work in Kenya.

School

Gloria is doing a wonderful work in her school in Oyugis in the west. Even as I was there more and more children from destitute homes or AIDS ridden homes arrived so the place is bursting at the seams. More sponsors are needed for the children. Land has been purchased so that a school can be built and thus move from the rented house being used at the moment. Three deaf teachers of the deaf and a deaf housemother make up her staff. Robert, one of the teachers, also leads the church meeting in Oyugis too.

Thank you for your part in making all of this possible.

God Bless,

Neville, Lill and family