July flew by! Every day was filled with events, camp, a mission team, and a hundred other “little” things that add up. We want to share a couple of these moments that especially touched us.
1. Deaf Event on July 1st: We invited everyone from the deaf community (deaf people, their families, interpreters, etc.) to an event for starting the Bible translation in Portuguese Sign Language. Our goal is to develop a video translation of large portions of the Bible. In this way, the deaf can use these videos, together with the written Portuguese Bible, so that they can better understand God’s Word. But to make this happen, we need the involvement of the deaf themselves. So, we worked hard to reach out and invite all the deaf in Portugal, and you prayed with us for God to bring the right people. Some deaf missionaries to Madeira (a Portuguese island) came. Interpreters and other hearing people who care about this project came. But, in the end, the only deaf Portuguese people who showed up were the president of the deaf association whose building we used, and another man we paid to interpret. We still did the presentation, and it was an encouraging time for all that were there. But we’d be lying if we said our hearts didn’t hurt at the lack of interest among the deaf themselves. Sometimes you plan an event, and everything goes great. Other times, it can seem like it was a lot of work for very little results. It certainly felt like the latter to us, but we will press forward with the project, and we know that God is moving even when we can’t see it.
Last week, the mother of a prominent Portuguese deaf person died. We went to the visitation, and it was like a reunion of deaf people we’d met over the years: our first sign language teacher, people who have come to deaf church, others we’ve met at the deaf association. We chatted with them and watched their conversations with others. Some were sad from their recent divorces; some were lamenting the effects of aging; one remarked that if your good works are more than your bad works you will go to heaven. It made me sad, and I silently prayed, “God, they need You! How do you want to reach them?” Interestingly, that evening God provided a reminder that we never know the impact we are having. One deaf friend, Sergio, told us how he had gone home to his hearing family this past Easter. Because his family doesn’t know sign language, all they could ask him was, “How are you?” and “How is work?” The rest of the time he sat there watching their mouths move and not knowing what they said to each other. Since he was bored, he grabbed his phone and started looking up our church’s sermons, because they were in Portuguese Sign Language. We feel like we have sown the gospel here with the deaf for over a decade, and we long to see Sergio and other deaf friends saved. Please pray for us to know if there is something more or different we should be doing, and to have the faith to keep watering and praying for seeds to grow.
2. Cooper and Eli are two nineteen-year-old guys who came and spent almost six weeks with us this summer. Initially, we wondered how this experience would go and how we could keep them busy for all that time. Thankfully, we had no reason to worry. They displayed three qualities that made their time with us a tremendous blessing.
Curiosity and a spirit of adventure. During the weeks they were here, they peppered us with dozens of questions, and their curiosity and desire to learn were refreshing. We love Portugal, and it was a joy to see them experience it for the first time and grow in their love for this country and for the people.
Willingness to do whatever was asked of them. Whether it was watching Lucas, lifeguarding at camp, teaching a Bible study, learning Portuguese, eating codfish five times in a week, or just befriending and listening to people, both guys came with a heart to serve. Their initiative and flexibility meant that they were never a burden. They were servants that encouraged our family and our church.
A heart to tell people about Jesus. I loved how they were always looking for ways to talk to people about Jesus. Despite the language barrier, they were bold. They went up to a 15-year-old guy on a soccer field and invited him to church. Sure enough, he and his whole family were there that next Sunday. They sat on a windy pier listening to an old man tell stories for an hour and attempted to share the gospel with him as best as he would allow them to. I could go on and give many more examples, but their intense desire to tell others about Jesus was very evident, and it left a powerful example. Thank you, Cooper and Eli, for giving most of your summer to serve Jesus together with us!
During their last week with us, their home church from Tennessee sent a team of twelve to serve with us for a week. Despite some travel challenges, the team did a tremendous amount of work and encouraged our church greatly.
- We were able to have a one-day retreat for pastors and their families.
- We helped two sister churches in neighboring towns with evangelism and passed out 6,000 invitations to those churches.
- Various members of the team taught rich and practical Bible lessons to the men and women of our church.
- We did several evangelistic activities in our own town, which went very well.
- Throughout the week, they had hundreds of conversations with people in our church and community and showed the love of Christ in a beautiful way.
We thank God that this month marks 13 years that we have had the joy of serving the Lord Jesus here in Portugal. It is a great privilege, and we are deeply thankful for each of you that help make this possible through your prayer and giving. We praise God for you! Let’s press on!
Our love be with you all in Christ Jesus,
David and Sarah
Booths in Portugal 