Deaf Deacon Hears and Meets Their Needs

It was an historic moment in the 60 year history of the Deaf Ministry at the First Baptist Church Texarkana and in the life of Terry Tribble and his wife Debbie. Terry was one of thirteen Deacons to be ordained at FBC Texarkana and the first Deaf Deacon to be ordained at the church. The service was held at FBC Texarkana during their Wednesday night service on January 30th, 2008. Dr. Jeff Schreve is the Pastor and he too was delighted to charge these Deacons with their Godly duty and responsibilities. It was also a memorable moment for the Deaf Community across Texas to see that God has not forgotten them as He continues to call forth Leaders and Servants to meet needs in the Deaf Community. Terry Tribble and his lovely wife have dedicated their lives to serving the Lord through meeting needs in the Deaf Community. Terry and Debbie are former members of the Silent Friends Chapel at First Baptist Dallas and have been serving in the Deaf work at First Baptist Texarkana for the past six years. Terry and Debbie are viewed as “the best huggers and hand-shakers” as they greet people at the church each Sunday says Dr. Larry Sims, Associate Pastor – FBC Texarkana. Terry is called on to make home and hospital visits to the Deaf Congregation. He also visits the Deaf Widows. It makes a difference to the Deaf when one of their own shows up to minister to them in their time of need. Dr. Rolf Wylie, Deaf Interpreter congratulates Terry and his wife on this special occasion. The couple was also presented a plaque from the Local Transformational Missions office of the Baptist General Convention of Texas for their dedication and service to the Deaf Community. May the Hand of God remain upon this couple as they live out their life of service to the Lord and the Deaf Community.

Deaf Ministry Across Texas, What are we going to do about it?

As the Deaf Liaison of the Baptist General Convention of Texas, I have asked several Deaf Leaders to describe the state of the Deaf Ministry across Texas from their perspective.  I’m sure that you will be enlightened by this fresh insight from individuals that are on the front lines of this very important ministry and a vast mission field.  Listen to Nancy Parrish, a very significant figure and leader to and in the Deaf Community.

“As I see it, Deaf Ministry is and always has been an after-thought of most Southern Baptist Churches.  I do not know a polite way to say this, but this is a people group that has no “VOICE” when it comes to speaking up for themselves.  Perhaps this is due to the on-going communication barrier between the deaf and hearing.  Most churches see this small group of people as a large Sunday School class and do not think of it as a rich cultural group of people with different communication needs.  In the past, churches began all services to the Deaf.  Churches provided interpreting services for appointments during the week, they provided family counseling, job placement, other social services needs all week long.  Any person with a need could come to the church for assistance.  Now, there are many other organizations who serve some of their needs.  No one, except the few churches with deaf ministries, is serving the spiritual needs.  Many years ago, people who are Deaf were educated in State Schools for the Deaf which taught Bible classes in the schools.  Then churches that surrounded the State Schools set up ministries to reach out to them as students.  Thus, grew a strong group of Deaf leaders.  Now, with many mainstreamed programs, the Schools for the Deaf are declining in numbers of students and are in fact closing in some states.  So are the churches that minister to the Deaf.  We are losing our young adults and the children as well.  We have few strong Deaf leaders left and nothing is being done to cultivate those coming along now.  The future does not look very bright as far as Southern Baptist Churches locally reaching those who are Deaf and bringing them into a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ.  Many other denominations and especially cults are actively reaching them instead.”

Hear what Aric Randolph; Pastor of the New Life Deaf Church in Fort Worth, Texas has to say.  “The work in Texas among the Baptist Deaf Churches is going along good, however, we are in either a plateau or decline state.  In my opinion the reason for a plateau or declining state is our failure to reach the young Deaf teens/children.  During my youth, the youth and children programs across Texas were very strong and vibrant and now we have all gotten older and many of us are gone.  We have not been able to reach those young people coming up behind us.  Why are we struggling to reach this specific group?  Lord knows!  This young generation is called the Millennials, Net_Gen, and Gen Y.  They are a civic generation and they are inner driven with the information revolution, striving to get ahead. (Population of this generation is 78 million and this covers those from 1982 to 2001).  Those in the generation between 2002 and 2025 are called the Cyber Generation.  Another thing is many of the schools are mainstreaming their Deaf students and dropping the self-contained Deaf classes and they are getting lost in the system.  Thus is the reason that I started the Deaf Empower Evangelism Conference with the focus on sharing the gospel and reaching the Deaf.  I remind each one of us that we are called to go out and reach people for Christ!”

As you can see from these two significant leaders in the Deaf Community, we have a problem!  Not only do we have a problem but we have the answer in Jesus our Lord.  What are we going to do about ministering to the Deaf Community with intentionality and strategically?  Nancy goes on to suggest the following:  “I see a great need for Bible classes and training for young people and people of all ages who wish to teach, preach, or become missionaries and who may or may not feel called to go to seminary full time.  Perhaps they are supporting a family, but desire to just become a better Bible teacher and leader, but they need training.  I think one of the main weaknesses in young Deaf people who want to serve in a church is their lack of knowledge in administration.  Basic skills in these areas are needed as well as on-going Bible training.  North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee are joining hands in the tri-state Bible classes held in their states.  They have classes several times a year in various locations and these hours count toward a seminary degree.”

What will be our response?  The fields are ripe for harvest.  What can you do to help us reach this population for Christ?  Feel free to respond to this challenge via an email to me at gerald.davis@bgct.org with your suggestions or comments.  We will be dialoging concerning this issue at the upcoming Texas Baptist Conference for the Deaf, June 13 – 15 at Baylor in Waco.  Thanks in advance for your prayers on this issue.

Gerald Davis

You Are On Missions!

The constant reminder of the Activity Director, “You are on Vacation” is still ringing in my mind as I write this article.  Her task was to keep encouraging the sailing vacationers to have fun and enjoy themselves because “you are on vacation.”  Doesn’t that sound like the continuous tug of the Holy Spirit on our hearts to remind us that we are always on missions, bearing the saving message of Jesus Christ and being His presence to those that He puts in our way?  God is passionately at work to redeem the lost and to reconcile the world unto Himself.  He chooses to use you and I in the process to be his presence so that the lost will be compelled to come into a personal relationship with Jesus.  Hence, You are on Missions.  II Corinthians 4:10-12 reminds us that “We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body.  For we who are alive are always being given over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that His life may be revealed in our mortal body.” (NIV)  Jesus was dying to self daily so that others could come into a relationship with God the Father and be the whole person as God originally intended them to be (Shalom).  When we die to self so that Jesus can live in our body and conquer the flesh and trials of life then others can see the power and life of Jesus in us.  This then is being on Missions, be it in and around our own communities or beyond where we live.  We can be the presence of Christ ministering to the needs of others so that they might see the life of Jesus in us and be compelled to come into a relationship with our Lord.  This is being on Missions.

The Activity Director also gave constant reminders of upcoming opportunities for shows, entertainment, shore excursions, etc.  The Local Transformational Missions team would like to make you aware of some Summers Missions and Ministry Opportunities around the state of Texas.  We have received these opportunities from Missions Centers and Churches from around the state.  The list is not an exhaustive list of every opportunity so therefore we would like to know of the opportunities in your area so that we can make the list more comprehensive.  This list will become a page on our web site where you’ll be able to have access to all the opportunities that have been submitted to our office.  So send us an email identifying the opportunities and we will update this list with opportunities in your community, church or mission center.  Remember, You’re on Missions!!

Youth Can Be On Missions Too!!

After a long awaited two years of talking and learning about being on Missions, The Cornerstone Baptist Church Youth embarked upon their first Mission Trip. They were filled with excitement and anticipation concerning the Missions trip to the Rio Grand Valley scheduled for August 12th – 17th. Cornerstone Baptist Church members and supporters contributed to the Mission Trip via a Rice Bowl fundraising campaign. The youth prepared craft activities and Bible lessons for 4 days of ministry prior to the trip. The excitement built and the monies were raised and on Sunday morning August 12th, Pastor Chris Simmons prayed for and commissioned these youth and they were off on Missions to the Valley. As it turns out it was indeed a missions experience designed by God for these young people of South Dallas. They conducted Vacation Bible School in the Colonia called “La Fruita” located in Mission, Texas. They ministered to 40 children and youth and distributed 25 back packs to children returning back to school. The Pastor of this particular Colonia (community) is Pastor Omar of Broadway Baptist Church. The church is in the process of building a parsonage for their pastor and family. The youth got the opportunity to paint the overhang of the parsonage roof and clear a trash pile from the property. Keagan Oka puts it in these words “Every second of the trip was valuable in teaching us lessons of faith, contentment, and relationships.” For you see these youth have been on the receiving end of being blessed and can now be a blessing to others and realize just how blessed they are. Here’s the rest of Keagan’s testimony:

“The way the children looked forward to seeing what activities we had planned for them made me happy and the way the children had little more than nothing and never complained made me question my genuine happiness. I mean God continually blesses me and the more He blesses me the more I expect from Him.
The time spent in Mexico made me wonder how people can live in such horrible conditions. One guy tried to sell us margaritas (alcohol) while knowing none of us are of drinking age. While crossing the bridge to get into Mexico, people would beg for money while starving underneath the bridge. I had never seen anything like it. I am very thankful for all the things I’ve seen while on this mission trip and I’ll never forget it.”

The week was topped off with a day at Fiesta Texas which was filled with fun even though it was threatened by the remnants of Hurricane Erin on Friday. Even in this God protected us and kept us from the storm and rains. The week was a good week of ministry and we appreciate your prayers and support. The youth are already looking forward to next year mission trip. We solicit your continual prayers for these and other Youths. We pray that they will continue to grow spiritually and in a deeper relationship with our Lord as we join Him on missions.

Gerald Davis
Minister of Youth
Cornerstone Baptist Church

Meeting the Needs of Mission Brenham

In the midst of our distress, God looked down and saw how humanity wandered like lost sheep without a shepherd.  He came in the flesh and walked with us.  He felt the pain of human existence,-rejection, disappointment, hunger, weariness, torture.  The Easter story reminds us of His great sacrifice culminated in our eternal good.

Brenham is like the rest of the world, a place with real hurt.  In the housing projects many moms are afraid to send their children outside to play, little girls are abused by rarely seen uncles, sisters murdered brothers, laziness, drunkenness, lonely young ladies looking for love in uncaring arms, generational poverty, generational crime, and generational abuse.

It is our inclination to move towards comfort, which inevitably moves us away from those whose lives are filled with hurt, violence, abuse, depression, hopelessness, and frustration.  In this matter we must make a conscious effort to move towards the need, like a fireman who runs into a burning building.  We must slip on the sandals of Christ and walk where our feet don’t always want to take us.  Not to just care for others from a distance but have compassion (which comes from the Latin “to suffer with”).

Relocation is an important part of our community development plan.  Living and working in or nearby the housing projects has always been our goal.  Chris Gaines (youth) lives in the Gayhill projects and Lauren Hall (youth girls) is moving into the Clayton projects.  Marcus Lawhon (director/pastor) and family will be building a home within a year directly across from “The West” projects on Burleson St.

Mission Brenham is set in May to purchase five acres next to the Clayton housing projects.  This will be another base of operations as we reach out to our low-income neighbors through tutoring, job training, chronological bible storying, Bible studies, summer camps, computer training…sharing our lives together.

A Volunteer Deficit in the Valley

I am sure that most of us are familiar with Luke 5:1-11 the biblical passage of the great catch of fish.  The part of the passage that really gets my attention is the part that says the catch of fish was so great that they had to ask for help from another boat to get them.  Then both boats were so filled with the fish that they began to sink.  (vs. 6-7)

The Passage goes on to say that all the people were “astonished” at the catch.  Jesus calmed them by saying “Do not be afraid, From now on you will catch men”.

Every summer we have hundreds of Summer missionaries come and help us with VBS.  Yet every year we can only fill about half of the 30-40 requests that we receive requesting VBS groups.  We are asking for your help to bring in this “big catch”.  Summer VBS is probably the biggest evangelistic event we have in the Valley every year. Let’s work together to answer the call for help.  God wants to bless us with a “big catch”.

Trust in Him,
E. Daniel Rangel
Rio Grande Valley Baptist Association
Director of Missions

For more information you may contact Vanessa Quintanilla, Mission Groups Coordinator, at 956-968-3161 or e-mail: borderministries.rgvba@gmail.com.