Over the past month, our coworker, Amanda, has been meeting with three deaf people to prepare a rough draft translation of Genesis 2 in Portuguese Sign Language (LGP). This is a first step to putting larger portions of the Bible into video in LGP. While Amanda knows the Bible, she needs their help choosing the best signs. The three deaf people know LGP, but don’t know the Bible. But as they worked together, every bit of Genesis 2 fascinated them. They asked questions like, “When God made Adam out of the ground, did he make Adam lying down or in a standing position?” Well, we don’t know. The Bible just says He formed him out of the dust of the ground. That is fine for a written translation, but when you make it visual in a signed language, you show God forming him, so it helps to know which position Adam was in. The team pored over books on Biblical archaeology to see how clothing, buildings, and other items looked at that period, so that they would sign things accurately. One day, they studied Genesis 2 until 2:30 in the morning! They were so interested that they didn’t realize that they’d been going over it for 7 hours. While in the past, they had been exposed to the Bible some, and we have tried to explain parts of it to them, digging deeply into it for themselves to translate it has made them understand it, and hungry for it, in a way they hadn’t known before.
On Saturday, we had an event open to the whole deaf community with the hope of sparking excitement for the project and receiving feedback on how to make this project accessible. There, these three shared their experience to the other deaf who came. At one point, they broke into groups to answer questions and practice translating the Bible. Eight of the deaf people at this event are not saved and know almost nothing about the Bible, but it was beautiful watching them interact with God’s Word. Please pray for Ana Bessa, Paulo, and Carlos, the three deaf people who will most likely be part of the translation team. Pray for their enthusiasm to continue and for their understanding of the Bible to increase, and that they will be saved. Pray for Amanda as she guides them through this project and for me as I assist in different ways. Please also pray that God will touch the heart of a Portuguese deaf believer who will be willing to be in front of the camera as the “face of the Bible” in LGP.
At the hearing church, encouraging things are also happening. In the area under the new roof, we built three new Sunday School classrooms! Several church members helped mix concrete, paint the rooms, and put in flooring. After all the hard work, it was a joy for them to see the rooms full of kids of all ages learning God’s Word. Thank you to every one of you who prayed for this need. While there is still much to be done, we are making good progress on improving our building. It is such a wonderful gift.
The most beautiful part of all this has been seeing the Bible taught and then OBEYED! Several months ago, two ladies in our church had a “falling out” with each other. Initially, they were sad over what had happened, but not ready to take the first step of forgiveness and reconciliation. But after much prayer, God convicted each of them, and they forgave each other. They told David that one day they would share their story with the church. Well, this past Sunday he preached from II Corinthians about having right relationships, and at the end of his sermon, they came up and shared how God had changed their hearts and brought about forgiveness and restoration. As church was dismissed, I saw a young man whose mother had remarried. He doesn’t get along with his stepdad, so the young man had moved out. Yet, there he was, stepping across the aisle and hugging his stepdad. Praise God for the obedience and humility of these two women, and now the obedience and reconciliation of these two men. What a blessing to see the Bible taking root in people’s lives and helping them grow and obey!