Central America Missions Outreach

DEAF OF CENTRAL AMERICA. 
Deaf people of Central America, who number at least 187,000, may be hidden in the cultures of their respective countries, but in many ways, they have their own Deaf culture that is shared among the Deaf of Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica and Panama. There are obstacles in communicating the gospel, such as a different sign language in each country and different “dialects” of signs from one end of a country to the other. But there are new developments that the Lord is using to get His truth out: chronological Bible stories in sign languages, DVD tracts and CDs where Deaf people can watch the gospel truths in their neighborhood cybercafe, and text messages over cell phones that the Deaf can read. The most exciting development and the most underused method is a Deaf church, where Deaf people can see preaching in their heart language, be led to the Lord as Savior by a Deaf Christian friend, and then be discipled by trained Deaf leaders--all in their “heart” sign language. Regardless of the history of a person’s deafness, their education or reading level, their socioeconomic level, their ability of or presence of speech, each Deaf person in Central America deserves a chance to “hear” about and accept Jesus Christ as Savior. Several hundred Deaf Christians, along with a handful of national interpreters and missionaries, are striving to reach Deaf Central Americans. Please pray for the evangelization of the Deaf of Central America. http://www.macregion.org/

NTERNATIONAL MISSIONS PRAYERLINE
INTERNATIONAL MISSION BOARD
Wednesday, February 4, 2009

“God, You are my God; I eagerly seek You. I thirst for You; my body faints for You in a land that is dry, desolate, and without water. So I gaze on You in the sanctuary to see Your strength and Your glory” (Psalm 63:1-2, HCSB).

Dear Intercessors, this is Eleanor Witcher of the Office of Global Prayer Strategy, praying with you for the Deaf living in Middle America and the Caribbean.

God is moving in powerful ways among the deaf of Colombia. Missionaries serving on the Colombia Hands for Life Team can barely keep pace with the requests for help in starting new churches and training church leaders. Pray for missionaries on the MAC Media Team as they complete the production of several products to be used in evangelism, church planting and discipleship training among Colombia’s deaf.

M is an 11-year-old Guatemalan deaf boy who lives with his deaf mother. His deaf father lives in another country. Because of the level of education at the nearest deaf schools, his mother and grandparents decided to send him to a public hearing school. He attends every day with no aides and no interpreter. Ask God to help M to make friends and to understand his lessons.

MD accepted Christ as her Savior at the recent Deaf Congress that took place in Guatemala. As MD returned to her home in San Miguel, El Salvador, deaf leaders L and Y, who live in her town, made plans to disciple her. Ask the Holy Spirit to bring patience and love to her family members who follow another world religion.

* Please pray that MD will be faithful to seek more opportunities to learn about Jesus and will want to follow Him in baptism.

* Intercede for M’s salvation and pray that he will one day become a Christian deaf leader.

* Ask the Lord to bless the media projects developed by the MAC Media Team for His glory and use the materials to draw both prayer support and individuals to salvation.

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