Prayer & Praise

New believers
Faithful workers
Funds for dorm in Davao
Neville’s long journey

Dear Friends and Supporters,

Thanks for praying for the travels mentioned in the March letter. Lill arrived safely home after having accomplished some mission related tasks in Norway. To Grandma’s great joy Lill was also given the opportunity to tell our “DMI story” to the residents of the Retirement Home where she lives. As Lill is an only child, we do appreciate your continued prayers for Grandma who once again is separated far away from her loved ones.

Raol helping with face painting at the camp in the Philippines

I left with the team for the Philippines while Lill was away. Our special thanks go to our boys who always take care of Ian during such times. Our whole family is involved to make the running of DMI possible!

Our team to the Philippines consisting of Craig and Jane Sheppard, Josie Donahue, David Van Namen and myself went to lead two camps for the deaf as well as take part in graduation ceremonies and other meetings and gatherings. They were fantastic and a real blessing to the Filipino deaf as I hope our deaf kids and staff were a blessing to them too. They preached, gave testimonies, lead activities, games, and spent countless hours talking to our people there and learnt a lot of Filipino sign language as well.

Febe Gavia

The first camp held at the beach near Legaspi had about 87 kids for most of the time but jumped to 137 on Sunday when we were joined by others. The Davao camp was held in a church then the last day was spent at the beach. The logistics of getting 208 deaf people into jeeps to take them to the boats to get across to the island and the beach then back home again was beyond me. No one got lost, no one misbehaved no one complained even though the first ones to arrive had to wait some time until all the others showed up before they were allowed to go swimming. By the time every one arrived the tide had gone out so we had to wait still longer for it to come in again. Each boat only held 20 people. The final camp activity was a baptismal service for 9 new believers in Davao. Thank you to all who gave to make these camps possible and thank you to the team who were such a blessing to all.

During the Legaspi camp we recognized the service of Febe Gavia who has decided to retire. Febe and her husband Lito were the founders of the school, which we now operate. After Lito’s death she continued on with the work by starting the Immanuel Deaf Christian Centre in Daraga, near to Legaspi. She has handed this work over to Marian and Nana Dumitra our missionaries from Austria who are now heading up the church planting activities in the area. Thank you to Febe for her many years of service to the deaf and DMI.

We also take this opportunity to thank Aslaug Kristiansen a Norwegian deaf missionary with DMI for her many years of service in the Philippines as she has worked along side Febe. She will be assisting Marian until she leaves for Norway in May.

The team that went to the Philippines: Craig, David, Josie and Jane

The team and I arrived safely back from the Philippines on April 7. Lill and I had two very short weeks to prepare for my next trip. The time was filled with a host of tasks including our AGM and rally on the 19th. Thank you to all who came, to those who participated and helped in various ways and also for the gifts of money for DMI projects!

My next journey started on April 21st. Money had been allotted for Lill to come along on this trip for us to maximize the speaking opportunities in the States. The timing didn’t work. Instead Lill is left with all the office work on her own while I am away. So please pray for strength and perseverance while we are separated for these 7 weeks.

When we were asked to come to Myanmar to hold a 4-day summer teaching seminar for the deaf little did we know what summer was like in this country. As I write I am still in Myanmar but will be well and truly gone by the time this reaches you. Dewayne Liebrandt from Thailand and myself have spent the last 5 days here holding all-day teaching sessions for our church in Yangon. Every day a faithful group of about 20 turned up and sat for hours in stifling heat and stayed awake and alert for it all. The temperature has hovered around 42°C or 108°F every day. There was neither air-conditioning nor fan for most of the time as the power was out and only came on for half a day on one of the days. Saturday afternoon in unbelievable heat we went on a picnic. They came dressed in their finery with barely a drop of sweat while Dewayne and myself have been saturated for the past 5 days. Never-the-less it has been a great time, the deaf are encouraged and one man has put his faith in Jesus and is willing to be baptised even though he might lose his home and job if he does so. A great step of faith for a deaf Burmese.

From here I go on to Canada and the US until May 20th. If this letter reaches you in time I can be contacted on 513 777 9779. I will be in Toronto until the 1st of May, Cincinnati area, Kansas City and Colorado Springs until the 15th, Portland Oregon until the 18th and LA until the 20th. It is then to Korea until the 31st of May then to the Philippines until the 7th of June and Singapore again until the 8th.

Your prayers for the rest of the journey would be appreciated and your prayers for Lill. We always appreciate and cherish your prayers for the whole family.

God Bless,

Neville, Lill and family