When LOVE Transcends Words

 

The beloveds make the pages of the bible come ALIVE. Watching their lives is like seeing the pages in living color, with movement that reverberates the TRUTH written on those pages.  

Maria Elisa brings to life Romans 1:20. She’s a language deprived deaf woman in her late 40s who, from the start, left me in awe at her love/devotion to Jesus.  I’ll never forge
t our first time meeting her.  She lives with her elderly mother in a humble home.  With gestures she communicated how she goes to the church down the road, she loves Jesus and has Him in her heart. It was evident that her love for Jesus wasn’t because of the preacher’s sermons (she can’t hear them); it wasn’t because she read the pages of the Bible (she’s illiterate); it wasn’t because a friend communicated the Good News to her (she doesn’t have friends). It was because through everything God made she could clearly see His invisible qualities – His eternal power and divine nature. She has no excuse for not knowing God.  

When we were getting ready to leave, she motioned, “Well, aren’t you going to pray for me?” “Of course!” I exclaimed, and as we gathered around her to pray, she had her hands folded and eyes closed. I tapped her on the shoulder and said, “We pray with our eyes open so we can see the prayer; this is a prayer you’re going to understand.” THAT moment has been seared into my heart. Her love and devotion to Jesus wasn’t dependent on understanding prayers in the way I know. Her understanding of prayer transcends words! Divine. 

On July 23, 2023, Adrian (a Deaf disciple of Jesus who we are mentoring), Jessie, and myself gathered to baptize Maria Elisa! God’s faithfulness to her was FELT this day. Her desire was to be baptized and God brought Signs of Love to her: a community that ‘understands’ her and believes in her! We tromped down the narrow footpath through the brush and ended at the muddy, shallow creek. Maria Elisa got right in, and exclaimed to her 3 new friends, “Come on, I want to get baptized!”  It was a moment I wish every follower of Jesus Christ could’ve experienced. Another holy moment had been seared into my heart...there before me, on her knees with her hands raised to the heavens, was a woman whose love for Jesus transcends anything I can wrap my mind around. This day I fell more in love with Holy Spirit. He IS faithful and He IS enough. Once again, this day I witnessed that LOVE is its own language and can be understood by ALL.  

For those of you who pray for us and/or support us, thank you for helping us speak the language of LOVE. We pray you’ll experience moments with God that transcend words. 

Robin's Reflections on our First Year in Argentina

 

Jessie's Reflections on Our First Year in Argentina

For those of you that heard me speak as I raised support to move to Argentina last year, you heard me share on Joshua and the Israelites crossing the Jordan found in Joshua 3 & 4.

God knew that people are forgetful and that's why the command to "remember" is in scripture over 200 times. In this particular story, God told Joshua to help the people of Israel remember His faithfulness of helping them cross the Jordan, by piling up 12 stone. Joshua 4:7b says, "These stones are to be a memorial to the people of Israel forever.” God had done what seemed like the impossible. With the Jordan river at flood stage (about 2 miles wide of rushing river), He had stopped the flow of water so they could walk across on dry land!

I reflected with gratitude on the many "stones of remembrance" that God had given us during our 9 years in Honduras.

But there was another detail in the story that I felt like God was highlighting as we prepared to take the next step to Argentina.

Joshua 3:15 reads,” Now the Jordan is at flood stage all during harvest. Yet as soon as the priests who carried the ark reached the Jordan and their feet touched the water’s edge, the water from upstream stopped flowing. It piled up in a heap a great distance away at Adam…."

With a quick google search I found that the town of Adam was 15 miles upstream from where the Israelites were crossing! This wasn’t what was pictured in my children’ Bible growing up where the priests could immediately see a wall of water piling up as they stepped into the rushing waters.

It made me wonder: How long did it take for a river 2 miles wide to empty out after being stopped 15 miles away? How long were the priests waiting to see if God was going to come through?

As we prepared to begin a new branch of Signs of Love in Argentina with no contacts and no team on the ground with us, I could relate to Tyler Stanton’s quote: "So there are the elders, standing the Jordan ankle deep, waiting on a miracle. They are waiting on a miracle that God has already done. The water stopped immediately….but where did it stop? A great distance away. How long does it take for the waters to wash out from miles up stream? How long after God said “yes” and did the miraculous were they standing there waiting, just waiting there to feel the effects of the miracle that God had already done? See to feel the affects of the miracle, to walk in it, to experience what God has accomplished for us, it takes foolishness, and then waiting, and then walking.”

To many people what we were doing was foolishness and there was a lot of waiting and walking and more walking and more walking. But in all honesty it only took a few months here in Argentina to start to feel the affects of the miracle God was already preparing for us here.

Now I have another pile of “stones of remembrance” from this past year in Argentina. Just some of them include:

• 24 Argentinian volunteers
• 44 Deaf that we regularly serve and many more we are praying for, and 6 more we look forward to begin teaching that we found just last week!
• Serving in 13 different areas and connects with local pastors in many of these areas
• Countless opportunities to share about the ministry of the deaf with churches, universities, primary schools, conferences, radio stations and pastor councils.
• An amazing Argentinian church family that loves and supports the ministry and many other believers that have befriended and helped us

Adrian, a Deaf man who has been faithfully attending the bible studies at our house in the city since November, began regularly serving in the village with me back in April. I have seen him grow and learn and use his giftings to impact not only the Deaf and their families in the villages, but also members of the community that are learning about this unreached people group. As we drove back from a village program yesterday the song “Do It Again” came on and I was overcome by gratitude to the point of tears of seeing just how God was "doing it again" here in Argentina. Adrian reflected on the goodness of God tangibly seen in all that He had done in connecting us and in the lives of each deaf we have the privilege of serving!

All of this wouldn’t be possible without YOU! I am so grateful for the countless numbers of prayers lifted up, messages of encouragement sent and dollars given to support this ministry! Please keep it coming!You are making a Kingdom difference! THANK YOU for your PARTNERSHIP!

Deaf or Hearing ... It Just Doesn't Matter When Love Reigns

A concerned Christian requested we help a little deaf girl in an extremely rural village. I set out with one of His beloveds that we’ve mentored ever since she was 5 years old. She’s now 22, and despite her very challenging upbringing/life, she has been making godly choices this past year and was more than excited to join me on this journey. 

The entire 7-hour drive Roxana was practicing how she’d communicate the love of Jesus with this new little deaf girl we were hoping to find. I’d coach her, and she’d tweak her ‘message.’ When there would be bouts of silence, I’d ask, “What are you thinking?” and she’d reply, “The salvation message God wants me to share with Sindy.” YES, the entire way, this was Roxana’s focus – being able to present the good news to this child! 

To keep this short, suffice it to say, God majestically brought us to the home of this child. She lives on the side of a hill that requires a 15 minute walk through the fields. She’s an extremely timid 11 year-old to whom we fell in love with immediately. Her timidness was mistaken for deafness. Sindy is hearing!  It was awesome to see Roxana’s response when I told her Sindy’s not deaf. She immediately said, “So what. That’s okay because I love her so much. I know God brought me here to love her!”  God’s movement is in the unexpected! 

After visiting a short while, Roxana asked, “Can I teach her now?”  “Of course!,” I replied, and couldn’t wait to see how this was going to go down!  Roxana takes out her Bible and the foam figures we use with His language-deprived beloveds, and she starts pointing to corresponding pages in her action bible and showing Sindy the foam figures, using her voice as if she’s speaking but she’s profoundly deaf and doesn’t talk. Well, I heard her talk this day...not intelligible speech, but communication nonetheless.  It was a profound moment to say the least.

Sindy got to see a Deaf lady who has a lot of challenges. She got to see that this Deaf lady was kind, loving, and fun. She got to see that even though people tease this lady, it didn’t change the fact that this lady is a Princess of God, and her identity in priceless. She got to see that Roxana can share love and receive love. She got to see that Roxana didn’t let peoples’ rudeness or disinterest stop her. She got to see that Roxana was capable of loving her and praying for her.  These are all nuggets that I believe were deposited into Sindy and God’s wonders began a great work in her heart this day! 

Her mother was so moved and shared, “Thank you for coming to my home. You’ve treated my daughter so beautifully. I am not a Christian and you’ve given me a lot to think about today. I’m grateful for all you’ve done and the only thing I can do for you is give you each a plate of food if you’ll let me.” We savored this meal like no other and thanked God that His Kingdom came to hearts this day.

This day also worked wonders in Roxana’s heart.  As we were driving away I noticed tears streaming down Roxana’s cheeks. I asked, “What’s going on? Why the tears?” Roxana shared, “That was such a beautiful experience. I love Sindy and I know God loves her. He let me love her, and I’m so grateful to Him. I want to love more people like that. I want to find those that need to be found, and love them like God loves them. I know that's what you did with me." 

Our journey to her small home on the side of the hill was WORTH IT!  To those of you who pray for us and/or support us, thank you for your part in this beautiful story. You allow us moments like this...often! We are grateful for your partnership in ALL God has us doing.