Camp-Ready

Starting today, we'll be at Camp Nebowa for the Deaf Missions Bible Camp which runs through this weekend! If you're nearby (any neighboring states of Iowa) and have not made plans to join us this weekend, then join us! You'll have a blast!

Pray for some 95+ campers this weekend! May God continue to shape each of us into doing His awesome will!

Narrow

On the first day of the expo, Alex shared with us a devotional based on Matthew 7:13-14: "Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it."

As soon as he was done reading the Scripture to us, he explained why he thought of this verse. The night before, he looked out the window of the hotel where we stayed in and saw scores of people walking on the big sidewalk and bumper-to-bumper cars on the road. The city lit up as if the sun is out! There are hundreds of thousands to millions to billions of people on that highway. Those who do not know the Lord our God.

Small... How true this is! Only "few" find the small gate.

Narrow... No one wants it. Only a miniscule tread this path.

The gate; the path leads us to Jesus. It's the only small way toward something much bigger than Las Vegas alone! The "WIDE WAY", to those in the world, those without Christ, those whom may be "lukewarm", is much more comfortable. They won't be picked on. They blend in with those doing evil. They prefer the majority (not classified as minorities). It's much easier to live. But this lasts a short time!

If you want to live your life the "Easy Way", you'll have a difficult time after the end. That's why Jesus taught us in the Scripture, the small, narrow way will be tough! But in the end will be something you will never regret with the decision to live the narrow way.

Think "narrow".

Faces In The Crowd

Team Deaf Missions having a hearty breakfast before a long day at the expo!



The Bards from Virginia were there! It was great seeing them. I regret that we did not have a picture taken with the Ferris' also from Virginia.




These two were from Romania! What is awesome was Lizira was observing the Deaf Missions booth and I went up to her to introduce myself to her. She immediately said she didn't know ASL (in Romanian Sign Language). This encounter blew me away! Then I, rustily, signed Romanian Sign Language back to her. She was shocked! :) Then we chatted for a good while!



Who are these guys!?



Deaf Missions booth at the World Deaf Expo...



Chad and the gangs all ready for the 4 day expo extravaganza!!!

Hillarious!!!

At the close of the Expo on Wednesday, I decided to take some "non-pose" pictures of the Deaf Missions team.. Enjoy these hillarious pictures!! ;)

Reaching Out

Here's a pix of the Deaf Missions Team reaching out to the hearts and souls of God's children on earth. This team worked hard all day on Monday through Thursday. Deaf Nation concluded the expo this eve!

Chad shared with me that today more people were present at the expo's final day. Thousands of deaf and hearing people participated in the Las Vegas World Deaf Expo. We had a good number of people interested in God's work at Deaf Missions. We're pleased with having exposed our work for the Lord!

Pictured:
Background: Alex Abenchuchan, Alexa Abenchuchan, Jose Abenchuchan, Michelle Lowenstein and Mark Lowenstein
Foreground: Chad Entinger, Joseph Josselyn and Joe Kaplan

More pictures will be posted soon. So check back @ DeafmissionsBlog!

World Deaf Expo Las Vegas '10

Relentless...

Just learned that Chad Entinger and his family have been struggling on their road trip to Las Vegas with our Deaf Missions van. The van overheated on the way. He had to stop in York, Nebraska yesterday to have it checked. At first, I thought the van was low on engine coolant. But it was the fan that wasn't working. He had it repaired then took off to get to Grand Junction, Colorado.

Today, the van overheated again! And Satan is "RELENTLESS"!! I mean, he is unforgiving and that is his nature! Satan knows we're on the way to Las Vegas to show our Lord Jesus. Las Vegas is his fortress; his domain. He has his armies fighting to keep us away. All of the Deaf Missions' supplies/equipment are in the van on the road to World Deaf Expo!! It's really the "weapons of God" against the dark forces of the evil One!

We ask for your prayers on behalf of Chad and his family and the van. They're seeking assistance from the local churches (in Dillon, Colorado, I believe).. If you're reading this blog and know someone in the area, please help them. If not, please not only pray for them but for us all and the mission itself.

Pray that the "weapons of God & the soldiers of Christ" arrives in Las Vegas safely and just in time!

Blessings to you all!

Illuminate!

Tomorrow, the Deaf Missions team will depart for Las Vegas! This is a BIG, BIG OPPORTUNITY! We ask that you pray for the team and that the Lord will, as always, supply His light on this dark city. Do we need electricity to change the darkness to light? Do we need to pray for the sun to stand still all week? Do we need to make a huge bonfire in the middle of the Strip?

"And the city has no need of the sun or of the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God has illumined it, and its lamp is the Lamb." Revelation 21:23 (nasb)
The New Jerusalem (Heaven) will not need the sun or moon to keep the place lit up with light. It is the glory of God that ILLUMINATES the place! No sunburn during the day. No fireflies during the night. It is God who shines!

And we pray that the World Deaf Expo participants will see the light shining through the Christians among their presence.

Lord, be glorified!




We will be at the Treasure Island hotel this week! Surf back with us this week for updates on what God is doing through the Deaf Missions team.

Thank you for your support and prayers!

Blessings in Christ!

Storm & Rainbow

What a storm we had yesterday! 70 mph wind. Thunderous lightnings. Power outages. Electricity poles knocked down. Traffic signals blinking red. Neighbor's canopy (gazebo) blew away. Trees were moving as if it is a piece of rubber. Sirens blew. And the whole wahhhhoooomoola!!!

Why don't you use the "control panel" to slow down the video and/or pause the video when a lightning strikes. It was awesome that the cam was able to catch several lightnings! Joseph Josselyn and Jose Abenchuchan came into the studio to see what I was doing.. They were amazed to see all the lightnings with the rainbow in the background. Jose stated that he's never seen this before.

Then he asked this question, "What can we say to the viewers about this video and how it applies to our lives?"

We could say that this resembles what we will see in many places in the book of Revelation (peals of thunder and lightnings).. Especially this verse: "Then I heard something like the voice of a great multitude and like the sound of many waters and like the sound of mighty peals of thunder, saying, "Hallelujah! For the Lord our God, the Almighty, reigns." Revelation 19:6 (nas)

Or what about Moses and the Exodus in Egypt: "Moses stretched out his staff toward the sky, and the LORD sent thunder and hail, and fire ran down to the earth. And the LORD rained hail on the land of Egypt." Exodus 9:23 (nas)

Or even in Ezekiel: "As the appearance of the rainbow in the clouds on a rainy day, so was the appearance of the surrounding radiance. Such was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the LORD. And when I saw it, I fell on my face and heard a voice speaking." Eze. 1:28 (nas)

But, really, we thought it was an oxymoron (a figure of speech that's self-contradictory) like saying, "cruel kindness" or "to make haste (hurry) slowly)". A rainbow and thunderous lightnings.. Yet, that gives us some thoughts, right??

What came to our mind and heart was that God is always there amidst the storms of life. The rainbow is a symbol of His promise to us. Lightning is destructive. Rainbow is promising. When we experience something so destructive in our lives, we need to look beyond it and embrace the rainbow (God). He is and will always be there for us, no matter what.

Yesterday, we were thankful for the rainbow which is a reminder to us all that God is and will always be near, even through our storms of life!

Thank you, Lord! We feel your "colorful" love!

Bible Camp '10

Bible Camp for the Deaf

The first annual Bible Camp for the Deaf was held on the grounds of Camp of the Risen Son near Louisville, Nebraska, in August of 1971. Deaf Missions has sponsored this camp every year since then. Hundreds of deaf children, teens and adults have been blessed by this week of fellowship, worship and Bible teaching. Deaf people have come from as far as New York, West Virginia, California, Washington, Canada and even Australia to attend Bible Camp for the Deaf. These camps have helped to spark Deaf camps in other states as well.

Thursday, July 29, through Sunday, August 1, 2010.
Nebowa Christian Camp near Onawa, Iowa

Overwhelmed with guilt, stress, worry, challenges, disappointments or discouragement in your life? Come to Bible Camp for the Deaf this summer and discover how you may experience freedom in Christ!




Our speaker for worship this year is Alex Abenchuchan. Alex is a dynamic preacher. He is a graduate of Sunset International Bible Institute and Gallaudet University. He and his wife, Alexa, both have a desire to see deaf people experience freedom in Christ.




For more information about the camp and to register, go to Bible Camp for the Deaf. Time is running out!!!


Let's have a spiritually uplifting time there!!

Follow....

"Follow my example, just as I follow the example of Christ." 1 Corinthians 11:1 (niv)

Come and be a Deaf Missions Blog follower! On the upper right hand side of the screen, you will see a button, "Follow".. Click on that and be one of the followers for the cause of Christ!

Let's inspire each other on in the faith!


Mark <><

Game Over!

The World Cup is officially over! Congrats to the nation of Spain. It was a thrilling match between the Netherlands and Spain! I was hoping for a "Sudden Death" between the two. And I was hoping for the Netherlands to claim the World Cup. The Netherlands had 2 easy chances to score! But Spain kicked one in!

It's been a fun World Cup championship. The funny part of the World Cup was watching the players grimmace, yell, roll around the turf in "apparent pain" hoping to persuade the referee to flash his cards at the opponents. Only a very few that I've seen deserves "cards," but MOST, seriously, were obviously an ACT!

Throughout the course of the World Cup, I see scenes that resembles our faith in God and battles against the Evil One. To name a few:

1. We battle against our opponent: the Evil One.
2. We must "play" within God's boundary (we'll be penalized for going outside it; even Satan!)
3. The Faithful are often cheated by the Evil One. Then my question is, "Do we cheat against the "Evil One" to win the battle? (Answer that for yourselves)

"Should good be repaid with evil?" Jeremiah 18:20

4. We lose some battles. We win some battles.
5. The Spirit of the Lord is our "referee(s)".
6. We have rowdy "spectators" cheering us on in the faith. They are the motivating factor of our walk with God! Plus, we are an influence on them: when we lose, they are crushed; when we win, they are inspired.
7. No one battles in the "dark". Make sure you "fight" your battles in the "Light".

When we come to the point of "Game Over", this sums up with the following actions:

1. Be on God's team. (Galatians 3:26-27 - with God's uniform)
2. Practice, practice, practice. (Bible Study, fellowship, etc.)
3. Fight the fight of faith with stamina.
4. If you lose, learn from it and keep on fighting.
5. If you win, give God the glory.
6. Listen to the Coach (God). (Bible)
7. Beware of the "cards" from the Spirit. (Admonishment)
8. Stay within God's boundary.
9. Work with your team (teamwork) - "There's no "I" in team! (Church)
10. Represent God in all you do daily!

You don't compete simply because you're a "Christian" or how many times you've attended church, or how much you gave to the Lord, or.... Did you see the tears running down the players' cheeks? It doesn't matter if they lost the game or won the game, they're emotional players playing an emotional game! They have a heart to play, a heart to win. Ours is the "Game of Life", we must have a heart to fight to win (even though we lose some)!

When you live for God daily til "Game Over" and win the victory, imagine jumping on your fellow Christians like in the picture above for joy! That's the day we're looking forward to! But before that happens, make sure you're on "God's Team"!

Blessings!

Mark

Gideon

Here's an awesome DVD for just about everyone to watch! It's about Gideon and His 300 mighty soldiers against thousands and thousands!!!

Go to this link: www.deafmissions.com..

Cost: $10
Free shipping before September 30th!!!

Deaf Missions Las Vegas!!!

Volunteer Day

This past week, Deaf Missions had hundreds to thousands of "Deaf Missions Report" brochures to be prepped for mailing. You're getting the "First Look" at what Deaf Missions do every quarter! There were countless others volunteering! Here are one of the few of the countless others!













Alicia and her daughter working hard placing the tray full of brochures on the stacker.












Jolynn working stacking the brochures..










Alexa on the go with the brochures..



































Alex Abenchuchan

















Me!























Deaf Missions relies heavily on volunteers for the glory of God! If you (and your congregation) have a desire to serve the Lord by volunteering at Deaf Missions, let us know! We had a large group from Whiting, IA yesterday helping us out! They were a Godsend!!!

And, oh, one last thing! If you have not received a "Deaf Missions Report" or "Daily Devotions for the Deaf", let us know by visiting us at www.deafmissions.com.

God bless!

New Deaf Missions Blog