While in Antigua my team and I are working with a church called Inglesia Del Camino. It is an amazing church with a multi-cultural congregation, bi-lingual services and a multitude of ministries.
One such ministry is an outreach to Deaf children in Antigua. Gustavo, a Deaf pastor from Guatemala City rides the bus to Antigua each week to teach them about the truth of the Bible and the love of Christ.
This past Wednesday I had the privilege of sitting in on one of these classes. I watched as the children excitedly learned signs for the books of the Bible and colored pages representing stories from Jesus’ life.
After this hour I walked with Gustavo to take the children home and later to a public school where he shares Bible stories with a Deaf class. While I am far from fluent in sign language (especially Spanish Sign Language), I felt more competent in communication than I have at any time in the past two months.
Gustavo also pastors a Deaf church in Guatemala City, so Sunday Kara and I traveled to the city to check it out. What a fantastic experience! I understood more than I have of any Spanish service to date. We signed songs and met the congregation, who were very welcoming and patient with my ‘Spanglish’ Sign Language.
When I do not have the opportunity to be involved in Deaf culture or communicate in Sign, I often forget how much I love the people and the language. But God has been faithful to bring me back to this love and remind me that He has placed this desire in my heart.
While I have always been drawn to Sign Language and Deaf Culture I have also always felt that God would call me to serve Him in among the nations. Until now I have been careful to keep these two passions separate. Fearing that to acknowledge one fully would exclude the other. But Sunday, as I sat in the silence of the church service, God spoke to me. He assured me that both of these dreams are from Him and both can be used to share His love with the world.
