We are wrapping up two weeks of intensive work with the deaf church here in Bogotá. Even with the purchase of ten new chairs, there have never been enough as attendance has swelled so some forty people nearly every Sunday. We borrow chairs from the hearing church, when they are available. But only so many will fit in the room we outfitted as a sanctuary for the deaf church. So a good number wind up standing for the service as there is no place to sit. But it would cost us around $1,000 to knock downa wall and buy more chairs. So many will continue to stand as they hear the Gospel for the first time as there is neither room nor chairs for all to sit. God has blessed the deaf church with so much growth, that they now make of a significant portion of the attendance on any given Sunday at the Normandia Church.
This past Sunday was a special day for the deaf church. We ordained what appears to be the very first person as a deaf minister here in Colombia. It was a moving ceremony that brought tears to the eyes of many as we laid hands on and prayed over our newest elder/pastor in the church here in Bogotá. Afterwards the deaf church invited the hearing church to the fellowship hall for cake and pop to celebrate what God was doing among them. It was a special day for everyone and many people stayed for hours afterward to chat and relish the moment.
Praise God with us for all that He has done in this new work. Pray that He will provide for the needs of this church as extremely high unemployment make supporting the church a difficult project. We have had to help out much more with this church plant as the deaf community simply has little or no income from which they can tithe and help support the establishment of this new church. If it had not been for the expertise and financial support provided by Dewayne Liebrandt and Deaf Ministries International, we could never have made such dramatic progress. We thank him and praise God for all that he has done. Join us in that celebration of harvest here in Colombia.