Day 17: Great conversations

Hello again everyone! Yesterday was a great Sunday. We had a really good time and were able to have a lot of great fellowship with the deaf in Bucharest.

The deaf church started at 10:00. We showed up at about 9:50 and were the first ones there. We were surprised when by 10:05 there were only two people and the pastor hadn’t even shown up. Little did we know that this congregation is used to showing up extremely late. There were still tons of people filing in even an hour and a half after the service started. We had more people at the church yesterday then we have had any day this week which was a blessing. The deaf pastor of the church gave a sermon, and when he was done he invited Noah to preach, which was about the time most everyone had come.

After church we spent a few hours fellowshipping with the deaf. It seemed that a lot of the conversations we had were a lot like conversations we’ve had with other deaf over the past three weeks. It’s the same story over and over again, but it’s a true story. And the sad part is that the only reason it’s true is because of discrimination. We talked to so many people who expressed to us how horribly the deaf were treated. They kept telling us how hearing people think they are stupid and will push them down. That leaves them with no money and a hard life. Many of the deaf Christians expressed their frustrations with family members who are alcoholics. If you remember us talking about one of the women who accepted Christ in Moldova, she struggled with an alcoholic husband who could be abusive to her and her son. They truly do live in a silent world, because it’s a world of silent oppression. No one realizes that it’s going on, or stops to think it’s a bad thing. That’s part of why we’re in this ministry, because we have a heart for this cultural group, and want equality. It’s hard to tell the same story again and again but it’s one that needs to be told, and one that needs to be rewritten.

I’m sure many of you know the joke about the man stuck on his roof during a flood. A man in a paddle boat, a man in a motor boat, then a man in a helicoptor come by to save him, and the drowning man brushes them aside saying God will help him. When he dies he goes to heaven and asks God why he didn’t save him, and God tells him that he sent a paddle boat, a motor boat, and a helicoptor, what more could he ask for! We acted out this joke as a drama for the deaf in Romania and two people now have come up to us asking us where in the Bible that story was, saying they had forgotten where. This really struck us hard because the deaf really have no complete knowledge of the Bible, and thought that this joke was in the Bible. One of these people who asked us was a leader. The Bible Translation work is so important so that the deaf can understand the Bible and be able to read all of it instead of trying to make sense of the bits and pieces that they can read.

It’s also amazing how the deaf are taught that some things are taboo. We talked to several adults who expressed frustration that they were never able to go to college because there is no deaf college in Romania. It would be extremely difficult to get deaf people into hearing colleges though. Everyone is always surprised when they find out that Noah went to a hearing high school and is going to go to a hearing college. They can’t believe it. They also can’t believe that there are couples where one spouse is deaf and the other is hearing. They don’t know why a hearing person would ever want to do that.

Also, one important lesson learned: Never tuck in your shirt near an embassy. We were about to go into another church we visited during the evening, and Jacob wanted to tuck in his shirt. He went down the street behind a trailer and started tucking in his shirt, but he was right next to the Israeli embassy. The security guard at the gate saw him and started looking at him very suspiciously. He watched him the whole time, walked away for a few seconds, and then came back and started talking to Jacob in a foreign language. Jacob put his hands in the air and said “I’m just tucking in my shirt”, and that seemed to appease the guard. Praise the Lord that we didn’t start an international incident.

Prayer Requests:

1. Safe travel to Cluj tomorrow. We’ll be traveling eight hours by train.
2. The ability to plan well for our time there.
3. That a lot of deaf in Cluj and surrounding areas will hear about us and come.
4. For good planning for any meetings we may have with leaders.

 God Bless,

The Romanian Team-John 15:15/Jeremiah 33:3