The Future

I recall a few years ago when a friend and I were having a discussion about the simple word “change,” and how it affects our lives.  I was at quite an immature state in life, and stubbornly believed that “change” was a bad thing.  In my nature, I just enjoyed things the way they were; “change” was risky, it was difficult, it took work, and the outcome was never certain.  Why take a gamble when you had a sure thing in your pocket?  My wise friend replied with this analogy which has stuck with me since.  He said, “Imagine a small pond that has been cut off from any supply of fresh water.  The pond just sits there over time, the water never moving, refreshing itself.  The pond will gradually become dirtier and dirtier as it fills with bacteria left from the environment surrounding it.  Eventually the water will become undrinkable and useless.  If a person became lost in the woods and dying of thirst stumbled upon this pond, drinking it would only cause him bodily harm because of the bacteria the water carried.”  “Now,” he said, “imagine a new pond, only this time with a river flowing through it.  The water is continuously flowing through the pond, displacing older water with newer water.  Thus when you look on it, the water appears fresh and clean.  Fish and other wildlife could either live in it or use it to sustain life.  If a person was dying of thirst this river would save his life.”  All I could do upon hearing those words was to simply bow my head in defeat and admit to myself the truth; “change” is not only good, it is essential to life.  One could say a rather big “change” in my life was 14 months ago when my wife Jess and I moved to La Ceiba.  It’s been astonishing to just witness the “changes” not only in Signs of Love but in the lives of the people we see consistently.

I’m a huge believer in growing the youth in the church.  I think it is absolutely essential in growing the church because of that same principal of change.   A passionate youth brings new life into a church, new ideas, enthusiasm, and so much more.  There is a reason that Jesus told us that we need to have faith like a child, because of what a child brings to the table.  In my opinion, one of the main reasons is a child or young person is eager to learn.  Not only are they eager to learn, they are also eager to share what they have learned.  You can just hear the voices of countless children coming home from school just saying, “Mommy guess what I learned today?”

Over the past few months it has been great to see that “youth movement” occur in our Deaf Church.  We now regularly have 6-8 kids who are a part of our Deaf class coming to The Deaf Church on a regular basis.  It’s also exciting that some of these kids are more advanced in their language than a high majority of our existing church base.  That opens up the door to the things they have the ability to learn about the Bible.  I’m at the point when I can simply look on them and see the potential, see the future of The Deaf Church, the future of Signs of Love.  They have been that refreshing water in the church.

I pray constantly that God will raise up leaders from these youth to take the reigns and launch this ministry into great new heights.  I can see it when they are grasping biblical concepts quickly, memorizing scripture, and setting a fresh example that even most of the adults could learn from.  I saw it when we were able to take every older kid from our Deaf class out to our village programs in February.  How most of them loved having the chance to interact with other Deaf kids without the ability to take advantage of daily schooling.  How they would create their own activities without prompting and implement those activities with ease.  How they would desire to teach their language to those who struggled to grasp it.  Every day after those village programs I was so excited that I felt like I could punch through a brick wall.  I truly felt like God was giving us a glimpse of what Signs of Love was going to be in the future.

I don’t expect this change to happen overnight, and it is going to take a lot of work and training, but I can see that fresh water coming to replenish and sustain a key part of Signs of Love… and boy does it look good.                                     - Daniel Fox 

Loving Nobody

The 'dazed' look from one
of the newer ones SofL
gets to love on 

Profound…perplexing….puzzling.  That’s what happens when we show interest in someone we don’t even know.  Have you ever had that happen to you?  That’s something we get to do almost every day here at Signs of Love.  You see, I’ve always been on the giving end of this, and for me, it just makes sense…that is until now. 

I’ve never known what it’s like being on the receiving end of this phenomenon until after losing my daughter, then my husband’s death, and my dear friend’s death.  This all happened the end of 2011, and my world as I knew it was shattered.   Because of these events, I have had people I don’t even know reach out to me in very real and tangible ways.  These people have wept over my sufferings.  They have prayed for me, covered me, lifted me up, and fed me. 

Now I understand why we get the dazed looks all too often in the villages where we find deaf people and love on them with all we have.  It’s a phenomenon that is God-breathed and driven, but to the receiver, it is rather baffling.  I mean, why should someone I don’t even know care for me?   Who am I?  I’m nobody.  That’s exactly it.  God sees and cares for the nobodies of this world.  His desire is that not any of us be destroyed (2Pet3:9). 

If we are really to be His hands and feet to this world, then we better get busy making this common place instead of a phenomena.   Who are you going to love in a tangible way causing them to be perplexed and puzzled, and experience something oh-so-profound?   


Remember, Love can be heard by all.  We love you... 

God Is Love

God is love. If He is in me, and I in Him, then I should be love... but how can I love if I do not accept the love that was first given to me? While in Honduras this past summer, working for Signs of Love Ministry, I experienced love, like I never have before. I experienced the out pouring of love onto others that I never could have given out from my human body. I experienced super natural, eccentric love that only could have come from the Almighty himself.

While on this beautiful journey I began to learn that I wanted everyone to know how much the God of the Universe loved and cared for them in such an enormous way, yet I refused to believe in my heart of hearts that that same God would deem me worthy of such love. I realized I had to be living a lie if I didn’t believe that the God Job described as the one “who laid the earth’s foundation, who gives orders to the morning and shows the dawn its place, who brings forth the constellations in their seasons, who sends bolts of lightning on their way, who knows when the mountain goat gives birth and watches as the doe bears her fawn” truly loved me. I began to beg God, the God whom I am unworthy to serve, whom I fail time and time again, the one who chooses to use me as a part of His mysterious plan, to reveal to me why, and how he could ever love me. As I see these words on a page, it seems ridiculous to even think that God wouldn’t love me, of course He loves me. Yet it was still hard for me to grasp in my heart, however, God began demonstrating His love for me in beautiful ways.

Love through Rubis: It was the last night of Deaf Camp that God gave me an example of His love. It was snack time, and the Signs of Love team was handing out a late night snack of a bag of chips and cans of juice. After we’d handed snacks out to almost all the kids, we realized there would not be enough juice for everyone. As I handed the last can of pineapple nectar to a girl named Rubis, I told the only girl sitting in the group that did not have a juice (Cecelia) that I was sorry, that was the last juice, and before I could tell her that we would have more juice in just a few moments, Rubis handed her juice over to Cecelia wearing the most generous grin I’ve ever seen. I immediately turned to walk away before I burst into tears in front of the girls. Obviously worn out from the days of planning and lack of sleep from the nights preparing, God pushed me to a breaking point as I received an amazing picture of a girl who had absolutely nothing, an orphan who was undoubtedly made fun of by hearing children since she was born, gave away what she didn’t know could be given back to her. I saw the love of Jesus in that little girl’s face that night. And it will stick with me forever. I have to wonder, if Rubis could understand and be a part of God’s love, then why couldn’t I?

As I reflect on the many things God showed me during my short time in Honduras this summer, I am slowly embracing and accepting this deep, vast, astounding, and consuming love that is for me that I may in turn love everyone else around me.

“I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know that His love surpasses knowledge – that you may be filled to the measure of all  the fullness of God”  - Ephesians 3:18-19


Kathryn Groseclose

A Ministry of Love

  The first time I met Robin, I was fifteen years old. I was in La Ceiba on a medical mission trip with my parents that summer, and my mom was determined to find someone who worked with the Deaf in Honduras.  My mom succeeded. I was sitting at the food court in the mall when the lady with the big red hair came up and introduced herself. Something hit me in that instant. It’s like I just knew that the ministry this woman had begun was going to play a very important role in my life.

My mom began bringing groups of college students to work with Signs of Love the next summer and she hasn’t stopped. I have had the incredible privilege to tag along for most of those trips. When I look back on all those years and I take a look at the ministry now, I am filled with warmth and amazement. It has grown in incredible and God-breathed ways. And I’m not talking about growth in size (although it has grown in that way too). It’s about the growth of each individual Deaf that has been touched by this ministry. Two faces pop out in my head as I sit here writing this: Amanda and Enrique.

            When I first met Amanda, she didn’t say much. She was quiet and timid. Ten years later, Amanda has grown into one of the most expressive and strongest people I know. And it’s because of this ministry. It’s because someone didn’t give up on her. She is now working for Signs of Love full time, and impacting many lives.  She is taking all that love and encouragement that someone has given her, and she is now pouring it into other Deaf children. It’s beautiful.

Enrique was 9 years old when I first met him. Like Amanda, he was shy and passive. Now, ten years later, Enrique is much more confident and animated. And when they play games at their monthly village program, he is the one telling everyone what to do. He glows. And again, it’s because someone believed in him.

That’s what I am learning this ministry is all about. Yes, we teach language to the rural Deaf. But what this whole thing is really about is believing in those who no one else believes in. The Deaf here are craving for someone to be Jesus to them: to love them, to hug them, to tell them and show them they are special, and to never give up on them.  That is what has been going on here in these past 12 years of ministry. The Deaf are being loved, empowered, cherished, educated, touched, defended, protected and taught the love of Christ.  It is incredible to see the kingdom impact that these 12 years have made on so many lives. And I can’t wait to see how God uses the organization in the next twelve years.

 “Spread love everywhere you go. Let no one ever come to you without leaving happier. “     - Mother Teresa

2010 Deaf Camp Signs of Love

You know that feeling you get when you go to your favorite place on earth and discover something new and different each time you go?   That’s one of the best feelings one can experience. 

The culmination of camp is one of those favorite places for me.  There is so much excitement and anticipation leading up to camp every year… this is the highlight of the year for a hundred Deaf Hondurans…and an eternal impact is at hand…and impractical logistics must be orchestrated with grandeur…and our volunteers must stay energized and faraway from amoebas…and and and.  And after it’s all over, there’s so much contentment that it splashes all over everything and everyone for several weeks. 

It all unfolded majestically this year at our 10^th Annual Deaf Camp.  This was the first year we were able to bus in all of our campers ‘on time,’ and we officially started on schedule!  All the countless tiresome hours of preparation paid off as hands started to fly, smiles covered faces, and love was in the air.  It’s almost impossible to describe that magic-like ambiance that engulfed this camp. 

Even though each camper has a story of triumph worth sharing, I’ll just briefly share Nayely’s, Madudy’s mom, Jilma’s, and Sixto’s.  

Five year-old Nayely embodies the reason for camp.  We had just met her the month before, and even though she’s as bright as can be, she had no language.  Her parents believe in her unseen abilities, and were thrilled when they met us, saying, “Hope has come to us today.”  Nayely was rejected by her village’s teachers because of her deafness. We know she’s going to prove herself to be the smartest person her village has ever seen.   She was a delight to all of us at camp.  Her mind was like a sponge, soaking up all her eyes could take in, and her heart was like a flower, blossoming in sheer radiance with all the Truth she was receiving.

Madudy’s mom was awestruck as she peered into the crowded auditorium filled with people just like her daughter.  She didn’t realize there were so many, and she didn’t realize they had their own language and their own lives, just like everyone else.  These were her thoughts as she stood there staring into the commotion.  This was the moment of Madudy’s liberation.  She finally grasped the truth, and realized the stigma she had carried those 13 years for her daughter was no more than a lie.  Her daughter wasn’t stupid, she wasn’t punished by God, she is perfect in His sight, she can learn and be just as educated as you and I, she can be the worship leader in church, and she can have friends…and if she so chooses, a husband and children one day! 

Jilma is a large, vivacious Garifuna woman who has been deaf her entire life, and has had to travel the hardest of roads simply to survive.  She’s been involved in our program for years, but has always kept herself at a distance.  A few years ago, Jilma shared with me the reason why she didn’t want to become a Christian.  She said, “I know once I decide to follow Jesus, I’ll have to change how I live.  I’m not willing to do that.”   More than anything, I wanted Jilma to understand that Jesus loves her where’s she’s at, and that she didn’t have to change a thing for Him to keep loving her.  The camp theme this year was God Cares.  Jilma must have allowed this truth to fill her mind.  On the last day of camp, as Elise (one of our extraordinary volunteers) was explaining the last Bible story drama, she asked the campers if any of them wanted to make a declaration in prayer of wanting to follow God’s ways.  Jilma raised her hand, stood up out of her chair, went and stood by Elise, and declared that she wanted to become a Christian.  …Tangible proof that God Cares.  

Sixto is one of the least of these and an outcast not because of his deafness, but because of the disfigurement that covers half his face.  His 76-years of living in poverty didn’t offer Sixto the same options you or I would have in his situation.  He has skin cancer, which if it had been removed within the first year, would be nothing more than a slight scar on his face.  Seven years later it is a gaping, swollen, cavern exposing the inners of his face – extremely sore, smelly, and unsightly.  He does use a bandana as an attempt to hide his wound and keep the bugs away.  Needelss to say, Sixto doesn’t receive any human contact except from his sister who takes care of him.  Despite his embarrassment, we were able to coax him to camp, and his life will never be the same.   Because of the open arms and hearts of our camp volunteers, Sixto was treated as if he had a perfect face.  There wasn’t 15 minutes that passed where Sixto didn’t receive a touch or hug from someone.  Another of our amazing volunteers, Miles, embraced caring for Sixto during these days, and there wasn’t a need that went unmet.   Sixto has never received so much love in his life.  Even though Sixto longs to die to escape from his painful and hopeless state, it’s an indescribable feeling to know that we had a part in bringing joy to his days.  Camp offered us the opportunity to selflessly love him out of this world…and we couldn’t have been more privileged.  

Here at Signs of Love, our hearts are filled with thanks to all of you who took part in this camp.  The reach of hands and hearts involved goes beyond our knowledge, and it is not our intention to overlook anyone who was involved.  We ask our gracious Lord to abundantly bless all of you who had a part in making this happen.  As you can see, from just the few stories above, camp is a powerful, life changing instrument.   We’re so grateful for our 24 volunteers who gathered from all over the USA (including a team from The Vista Community Church in Texas) – they sacrificed their time, energy, money, and much more to make a difference amongst the Deaf in rural Honduras.  We are also grateful to Hill Country Church in Texas for partnering with us at camp from afar.  Their sacrificial giving is humbling, and we are honored to be making a kingdom difference with them.  

We love you all!  

Her Name Is Juana

It all started with the man who came to the mission house a few days ago, and “knew of some poor deaf people for us to help” …well, I knew there would be a twist in it somewhere.  This man is a Deaf beggar, running all over town begging for the “deaf association” that doesn’t exist. Anything at all he can do to tie himself to us will be used to further his cause and his band of opportunists. The problem is he had what we wanted, information on unreached deaf.

We ended up going into the village with him, receiving his information in bits and pieces as we went. When we approached our dirt road destination, our first house appeared at the end of a footpath. A lady, of middle age with two children and a yard that was well kept, greeted us. She gave us a tour as we interacted with her sons, and then she pointed us to the next deaf person just up the road.  As we opened the gate, the elderly father of the deaf girl in her early twenties greeted us.  As I sat on the porch with him, I watched my wife, along with Orland and Amanda relate with our new friend. We came to find out that she is married and well taken care of by her husband who was working in the fields. Her father let us know that her husband makes her carry a “heavy load” and is hard on her. We said goodbye and reminded her we would see her again soon. The next person, a young man riding his bike approaching his house at the same moment that we arrived, greeted us in his yard just inside the gate. We were both friendly and quickly understood that he simply wasn’t interested in our services. We said goodbye and headed to the next house. One at a time, the “beggar” played his next piece of information, all the while keeping us wondering if the next house would be the last one. The team arrived at the gate a few minutes ahead of me, and as I approached I saw the look on my wife, Robin’s, face. I have seen this before…”this is the one”…with a glance my way. I then spend the next 15 minutes talking with the neighbor who comes out and has lived in California. The English-speaking starved soul tells me about all of his rentals back in the states and how great it is to be here. I agree. As we get back in the truck, Robin begins to tell me all that I missed while distracted by the chatty guy who lived in the states. “She is the one!”…”She’s the real reason we came here today,” Robin said with glee!

Her name is Juana. As I drive the dirt road out, Robin explains. Juana’s aunt poured out her heart to my wife. “I know she has thoughts and feelings, she just has now way of getting them out of her head,” explained the aunt, “She isn’t able to communicate with anyone and she has no friends.” The entire time Juana’s aunt talked with Robin, she was elated to see Amanda “talk” with Juana. Amanda drew her out gently as she began to grasp at what level she would “gesturally” use her hands to “chat” with Juana.

Robin tells the aunt about Deaf Camp and that we want Juana to come, and that we will be back and begin to instruct her in language. The aunt is elated and grateful. “If only she had someone to talk to,” she begins to get emotional, “she could learn.”  Robin then chimed in, “Do you see Amanda?…she works for Signs of Love…that man next to her is Orland…they are married and he works for Signs of Love also…they will be teaching Juana…not long ago Amanda was just like Juana…look at her now…”  Juana’s aunt stares at the conversation between her niece and her new friends…she is somewhat bewildered as she thanks everyone as we leave.

…love can be heard by all.

“Lord when you show yourself big in small ways…what are you saying?”

Jeff

History In The Making | 10 Year Celebration

 Anniversaries and birthdays are such wonderful times.  It causes us to pause in our busy lives and look back at cherished memories while inspiring us to dream about the future.  Signs of Love 10 year anniversary celebration was a beautiful example of both.  Sitting in the room watching the slide show chronicling the past 10 years and glancing around the room at the glowing faces of the mostly Deaf audience was an experience that defies description.  How many thousands of hours and buckets of sweat did it take to find these precious Deaf souls and give them a language and a sense of community and love?  Each smiling face represented a Herculean effort and caused me to consider once again that in God’s economy, one life, no matter how small and insignificant in the world’s eyes, is a priceless treasure. And while relishing the past is a beautiful thing, clearly Signs of Love is dreaming about the future.  Spending a few days with Robin and Jeff leaves no doubt that their passion to reach and empower even more Deaf around the world has not diminished in the least.  The twinkle I saw in Robin’s eyes back in 2001 when I first met her has intensified and is echoed in Jeff’s.  Signs of Love will continue to implement their phenomenally effective outreach and training programs for rural Deaf in ways that we cannot imagine.  There is no doubt that when Honduras begins writing their Deaf History books some day, Signs of Love will be there.  The only question remaining is will you be a part of this history-making organization? 

I hope the answer is a resounding YES!