Be Light

Honduras Leaders are learning to PRAY BIG.  With that comes endless needs.  Light continues to be spread throughout the country, and many are waiting in darkness...JOIN US.

Uganda We're focused on a rural village whose deaf are in darkness. We've begun training people to reach this village...Hope is on Its way, and language & love are being brought here! JOIN US in bringing Light.

Zambia We want to send a natural born leader who happens to be an inspiring servant of The Most High, and his hearing counterpart to South Africa to be trained in becoming pastors to the Deaf.  THE.HARVEST.IS.RIPE. Be Light. JOIN US.

Peru We plan on launching in rural Peru in the summer of 2017! We'll be intentional on reaching the Quechua deaf who are the most oppressed indigenous group of Peru. JOIN US in making Light known amongst them!

From the Heart of a Beloved Volunteer

Mary Ann doing what she does best - loving.

Mary Ann spent some time with us this summer in Honduras.  She's created history with Signs of Love as being the first Canadian to serve with us!  Following she summarizes her experience with us:

I may not be the most articulate person, but I am rarely at a loss for words. There were many instances however in Honduras, over the course of serving with Signs of Love, that words were not a sufficient form of expression. Sometimes it was tears, other times is was hugs, laughs, simply looking someone in the eye, raising hands or even using LESHO signs. Together, these articulated my awe, my heart break and God’s incredibly immense love for the Honduran Deaf.

Before the mission, I knew that there is no education system set up for the Deaf there, and that they are ‘rejected by society’- but when I arrived, I got a taste of what ‘rejected by society’ looks like. Real faces, real people, who, as I looked into their eyes, were maybe experiencing one of only a countable number of times they have felt loved. It looks like a mother who thought her child was ‘sick and going to die’ for many years, neglecting to feed him, only to be told he is NOT SICK, he simply cannot hear. It looks like a family moving towns without their two year old son because of his deafness. It looks like a ‘not uncommon’ number of families who, even at ages of teens and adults, do not know their Deaf child’s name because they have not used it enough to remember it. Each of these and many other people’s life stories came as a heart-shattering shock to me, because I went in with different expectations; I had wrongly expected them to at least be treated like people.

Thus it was amazing to take part in a ministry that does not only address the linguistic & communication aspect of the Deaf's situations, but shows them first and foremost Jesus’ love; which contrarily tells them that they have significance and value as a human being- as a beautiful child of God.

Through these 11 days, God spoke to my heart on a number of occasions about how to love deeper. He also taught me how in my own life, I need to be brought down into humility. That often I think I deserve God’s love, just for being human. God showed me however that these Precious Ones are already humble, more than humbled- beaten down, and they need to be elevated into His love. No, they may not be worthy of it (just like you and me), but they are in fact the object of it! This poignant message is what I saw manifest in my life, in the team and among the Deaf over those staggering 11 days.  -  Mary Ann Otterbein

Emojis!

Emojis. They’ve taken over.  They’ve even found their way into sms text messages amongst low-language Deaf in far-flung rural villages. With about 10 emoji, one may communicate paragraphs.  Let me try it here: 

Interpretation:  Your donation to Signs of Love is celebrated with joy! We remember you to God through our prayers.  We’re very grateful.  Sending our love now!

One study showed that 6 billion emojis are sent every day.  Why the popularity?  As social beings, we need feedback from others; we need validation; we need to be affirmed and accepted if we are to thrive. Emojis help to do that.

Emojis are a lot like sign language. They express so much more than just words. They express feelings and emotions that are felt.  At Signs of Love, we LOVE teaching language to these precious ones who don’t have any! We LOVE opening a world of feelings and emotions to them! We LOVE explaining to them the gospel message whether it be through sign language, dramas, drawings, or emojis. We LOVE teaching them their true identity where they find validation not through their social network but through their Father, The King of all.

Do You Love Me?

Something phenomenal is taking place amongst us in Honduras. Since the beginning of the year, Orlan has been preaching, and his sermons hold everyone captive – for great lengths of time! This is phenomenal considering Orlan has only been trained through Signs of Love; he cannot read; he cannot hear with his ears. Orlan is an extraordinary example of what it means to be anointed by God.  He diligently prepares for his sermons through praying and combing over the stories in his various picture Bibles. He doesn’t focus on all he doesn’t know – he simply thinks about what he knows, and then teaches that to others. He thinks about our beloveds who he knows oh-so-well, and he fine-tunes his sermons to speaking into their problems. Orlan cannot hear with his ears, yet he hears with great acuity.

Signs of Love’s tagline is “Love can be heard by all.”  This meaning is unfolding in Orlan in profound ways. We’re looking forward to our beloveds hearing like Orlan, and doing things that surpass anything we’ve ever done.  There’s freedom, great freedom in Jesus’ sole requirement to feeding His sheep; Do you love me? That’s all it takes for us to turn this world upside-down with His love…we just gotta love Him…and then, feed His sheep.
   

Mirrors

God desires for us to be mirrors, mirrors that reflect His image, His divineness. When we make the divine visible, it’s evident.  Recently Jessie brought to attention one example of this.  

One of the leaders at The Deaf Church starts most of her prayers this way, “Father in Heaven, Jesus is alive forever, and so I pray…”   How did she learn to pray like that? It was mirrored to her by faithful servants at Signs of Love; The Divine was made visible. This is a woman who as an adult had no language.  She communicated through miming and expression that is until we came into her life and started mirroring His reflection, started teaching her language, the bible, and Truths about the Christian faith.  

Now she’s the one who’s making the divine visible!  She’s the one who’s mirroring His image, and teaching others.

Focused On the Goal

Don’t you love it when something good comes from whatever it is you do?  We are extremely blessed to see the good that comes from what we do here at Signs of Love time and time again.  It helps to fuel us along, and keeps us focused on the goal (Philippians3.14).

We continue to toil, and keep sight of the goal for those like Enrique.  Enrique surprised me beyond belief a while ago. Enrique has been involved in our ministry for over 15 years (he's the one highlighted in the book Enrique Speaks With His Hands), and although we have witnessed God working miracles in his life, Enrique has extreme challenges in learning. We’ve been teaching the Deaf basic doctrinal Truth - 12 pillars of Christian faith that we call “The 12 Truths.”  In essence, it’s the Apostle’s Creed. I was visiting with Enrique and he says to me, “Let me show you what I’ve learned.” And he continues to rattle off the 12 Truths…perfectly.  I had some doubts though if it was just something he had miraculously memorized or if he really understood what these 12 Truths meant.  I questioned him specifically about some of the harder concepts, and his answers were raw, pure, and spot on!  He got it!!!! My eyes filled with tears as I processed this continual miracle before my eyes called Enrique.  God IS faithful.

Our Reach

It’s exciting that Signs of Love reaches the Deaf AND hearing. We received these words of encouragement recently from a beloved who served with us way back in our early days.  This is what she wrote: My experience with Signs of Love was a life changing experience and for this I am forever grateful to God for putting Signs of Love in my heart.  Thank you for your stewardship and commitment by being part of God’s primary mission, which is the essence of Signs of Love --- love and service. 

What an honor it is to love and serve all those He puts before us!  How wonderful it is to be reminded that our reach goes farther than what we understand.