The angels are singing again! We had a cookout for the men of the Bible Baptist Church for the Deaf in Arujá on Saturday, April 13. One of our deaf men, Danival, invited us to his house for the cookout. We encouraged the men to invite their deaf friends, and although there were some that had shown an interest in going, only one deaf man showed up that I didn’t know. I preached from Joshua 24:15, encouraging men to be the spiritual leaders in the home. After the message, we had a wonderful Brazilian cookout, and we talked and laughed as we sat and fellowshipped around the tables.
Luciano is one of the deaf men from the church, and he invited Emerson, the visiting deaf man to go to church on Sunday morning. Emerson said that he couldn’t go to our church because he was going to another church to see a baby get “baptized.” Luciano asked him what the meaning was of baptizing a baby, but Emerson didn’t know. Luciano began witnessing to Emerson, and since I was beside Luciano he asked me to “take over.” After a few minutes of talking, I asked Emerson if he knew why Jesus came to earth and died on the cross. He didn’t know. I then began to simply explain the Gospel message to him. As I was talking, Danival got up and went inside to get a small “Wordless Book.” It was approximately two inches tall and one inch wide. It was all Danival had, but when I started explaining the meaning of the colors, it was as if a “light came on” in Emerson’s mind and heart. After nearly 45 minutes of Luciano and I taking turns in explaining the Good News to Emerson, he bowed his head and asked the Lord to forgive him of his sin and save him. We asked him some questions to see if he understood, and with tears in his eyes he assured us that he did. It was a “GLORY, HALLELUJAH” kind of cookout!
Working with the Deaf is not easy, and even though we don’t see a large number of new converts, it is rewarding. There are two Deaf Baptist churches that need pastors right now, one in São Paulo, and one in the city of Arujá. Please pray with us that God would send the right men to become pastors in these two churches.
Thank you for your prayers for us as we labor with the deaf in Brazil.
