Prayer & Praise

Praise God for the positive interest during the WA trip
Pray for phase two of Ugandan building project-the bible school
Give thanks for the great outcomes during the Marriage Seminar in Colombia
Pray for safe travels as Neville and Lill present the work in Norway/Europe
Pray for positive response to 5th Conference and offers of assistance for some international attendees
Give thanks for the growth of the Glenna Makela Fund for Evangelist training

Dear Friends and Supporters I don’t usually write about our deputation meetings and travels but, I have to mention this one. Lill and myself, later to be joined by Ian who flew across the country to Perth by himself for the first time, had a marvelous experience representing DMI in the State of Western Australia. For those who get this letter and who do not live in Australia, Perth is on the opposite side of the continent; a 3,500 km drive from Melbourne. We cheated on the way over, putting the car on the train, but drove home again. We crossed the Nullabor plain - a flat, treeless expanse that stretches for hundreds of miles - a fascinating experience nevertheless. My first Nullabor crossing was in 1965 in a VW Beetle. Then the road was largely unpaved and reliable water supplies erratic but, I am happy to say that things have improved somewhat. Mobile phone contact for most of the journey was non-existent and petrol prices astronomical but, the road is great and the interesting people one meets en route, add up to a great experience. During our 4 weeks away we had 30 meetings in churches, schools, home groups and I also had two radio interviews. The only set back was that for some weird reason I caught pneumonia, which resulted in the cancellation of a couple of meetings when Lill had to take over for me. Our thanks go to Don & Jill Sonsee and Dave & Rhonda Stockbridge, who not only hosted us but also arranged all the meetings. We are also grateful for people in Geraldton, Bruce Rock, Moora and Adelaide, who hosted us during the time away.

Quirky road signs

Neville obliged!

Aboriginal Community

DMI has focused on deaf people groups for the past 30 years or so in areas outside of Australia. Our trip this time brought us to realise that there is a needy group right under our noses, deaf Australian Aborigines. The more aboriginal people we met and heard about deaf people in their communities, the greater the burden for these forgotten and isolated people became. I am wondering if one of our next focuses should be right here in Australia

Philippines

A more serious challenge concerns the property next to our building in Davao. I mentioned this need in our January-February newsletter. The house that we use for our study hall, dining room, kitchen and staff quarters is on the market.

We have just learned that it is to be sold to a business of some description that plans to put a factory right next to the dorm and school. Losing the place is bad enough but, to have a factory next door is even worse. We need another miracle. We have had lots of them in the past and we need one now.

The cost of the place is about $100,000. Pray with us for an extra large miracle.

Kenya

Meanwhile, a mention of Africa. I am so glad that I am not there at the moment, at least I am glad that I am not at the school in Kenya. Wesley wrote to say that it had been raining steadily for 3 weeks following a period of drought.

This caused some flooding, which unfortunately caused the school’s and the local pit latrines to overflow, resulting in a disgusting, smelly flow of refuse through the school. The kids were sent home until the clean up was completed. I think everyone is back again and life goes on.

Rodney the donkey continues to serve the school well; the cow (name unknown) provides milk; our new chickens will soon be laying and the corn is flourishing. I guess the rain and the overflow helped things along a bit in that quarter!

Kenya school has increased its self- sustainability thanks to these adorable animals

Two day old chicks

Chicken coup

Myanmar

Work continues (or was continuing) on the new building in Kalay. Gifts from Japan have enabled the building to go up and it was hoped that it would be finished by now - at least to a useable stage. The rainy season was supposed to have set in by now hence the urgency to get the roof on at least.

However, in my last communication with Pa Lian he stated that construction has slowed, not because of the rain but, because of the heat! Every day it has been 45-46°C which has made work on the building a bit difficult. Pray with us that the building can reach a usable stage before school starts back again shortly.

Egypt

Sobhy Yassa, director of the work in Egypt has requested prayer for his mother who has been in hospital for some weeks now following a stroke and having a tumour removed from her neck. Please pray for her and Sobhy, who is heavily involved in her care. While unable to leave his mother for any period of time, trespassers have been entering our land and trying to make claim to it. Please pray for protection of those involved in these situations.

5th International Conference

Registrations are coming in constantly for our 5th conference to be held here in Australia from 12th to 16th of October 2011. We encourage you to register even if you are not yet sure of coming as space is limited and it will help us with arrangements if we have some idea of who is thinking of coming. You can register on line at www.deafmin.org or contact us directly at info@deafmin.org If you require a brochure or a number of brochures to share around please contact us.

Fundraising

With the ever increasing battle to keep the ministry afloat financially, some of our people are coming up with ways to help generate some income. A group of ladies meet regularly at Susan Shannon’s home to make Christmas and greeting cards. Their unique designs make these cards a very attractive item.

We are also now involved with selling products made by deaf people working with Hearts and Hands in Kunming China. The sale of these items help the deaf ladies with a living, plus some income for our deaf ministry in China. Contact us if you are interested in purchasing, or helping with sales.

Colombia

A word from William Mora …

God is blessing us so richly in Colombia. Andres, Julian and myself have just finished our first class with FLET. Dale Mead is our professor and he has provided us with an interpreter for our classes. This is so wonderful! Every class lesson provides us with the opportunity to examine these wonderful Bible doctrines that we have never heard before. What a time to grow spiritually! We are so thankful to those who have donated to the Glenna Makela fund which has made this opportunity available to us.

We held a Marriage Seminar in late April. So many deaf couples in Colombia just do not understand what married life demands and entails. Dale Mead spent 5 hours teaching us, exhausting 3 interpreters in this Marriage Seminar. This was still not enough time and we will have a follow-up seminar soon. There were 85 deaf people in attendance. Given that the deaf have had little instruction on this subject before, we expect these seminars to help change their cultural view to become more like the Biblical standard for marriage.

We still do not have a rental property for the church and ask that you keep that in your prayers and hopefully with financial support too. We need another $500 per month to make sure that happens. We are also working hard by videoing our church services, FLET classes and seminars like the one on Marriage, to provide instruction for the deaf all over Colombia. Please pray for us. We have so few resources and so much work to do.

As always, we thank you for continued interest and support.

God Bless, Neville and Lill