Wow! We are in so awe of God. This afternoon’s service was amazing! Thank you praying for us! The skits & message were definitely orchestrated by the Lord! Our title for this week’s worship services is E.L.F. (Jesus is our Example, our Lord, & our Friend). Today, we did a couple of skits about from the Bible about following Jesus’ example. The first example was the feeding of the 5,000. Pastor Noah encouraged us to follow Jesus’ example of trusting in God to provide & also to set aside alone time to commune with our heavenly Father, because the first thing Jesus did after teaching & feeding the 5,000 was withdraw to a secluded place to pray. The other Biblical example Pastor Noah taught about was Jesus’ willingness to forgive. We acted out the Parable of the Unmerciful Servant as well Jesus’ statement on the cross, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” We then acted out how Stephen followed Jesus’ example because right before his murder, he echoed Jesus’ words, “Lord, do not hold this against them.” Both Jesus & Stephen did not hold bitterness against the very people who killed them. What a powerful example of how we should live.
We are all settled in Cluj now. Matt & Beti are staying with one of the families from the deaf church, Jacob & Noah are staying with the deaf pastor, & Maleah & Stacie are staying with another family who attend the deaf church. We’ve talked quite a bit with the mom, dad, & daughter who Maleah & Stacie are staying with. The mom & dad are deaf; the daughter can hear. The dad has an older deaf brother who is also a member of the deaf church; their testimony is remarkable! Their hearing father was a pastor; when their parents found out that both of their sons were deaf, they thought they would never get saved. The sons didn’t understand what church was all about as the church they went to was geared toward those who can hear. However, they faithfully prayed for their two sons for 30 years. When the boys were adolescents, they received a Bible with pictures & really enjoyed this visual aid! They both accepted the Lord & are serving Him in mighty ways. The older brother travels around to different cities & evangelizes. The younger brother, the one Maleah & Stacie are staying with, is an exquisite carpenter. Their home is full of furniture he has crafted from old wood he has restored.
Maleah & Stacie had the opportunity to talk with younger brother’s hearing daughter tonight. She will turn 15 on July 31st & is looking forward to going on a trip around Western Europe (Germany, France, Italy, Spain, etc.) with a hearing church. However, the trip is in August & doesn’t end until September 5th. Here in Romania, the kids have to take very important tests to determine which high schools they can go to. The tests are on September 4th. She has a meeting tomorrow with the school personnel to determine whether or not she can take the tests separately on September 6th. If not, she will either have to go to a high school concentrated in math, which she has no interest in, or she will have to miss the trip. She wants to stay in the high school where she can concentrate on studying different languages because she wants to start her own business that eventually networks with various countries around Europe. She aspires to be a lawyer who specializes in deaf clients. What a blessing she is to the Deaf World! Please pray that God’s will is accomplished tomorrow during the meeting & that the Lord is glorified in this decision.
Speaking of a lawyer who specializes in deaf clients here in Romania, she commented on how there are no services here for the deaf. Legal firms don’t take the time here to communicate with the deaf Romanians, so their service is not equal to that of the hearing population. Praise the Lord for opening this young woman’s eyes to this injustice. A couple other members of our team discussed with a hearing woman who goes to the deaf church the lack of interpreter services for the deaf. If a deaf person needs to go to the hospital, appear in court, etc., they have no interpreter services. The hearing daughter we talked with said she’s gone many times with her parents to translate between her deaf parents & hearing people. The fact that there are no interpreter services established for deaf Romanians has huge reprucussions in their lives. A communication breakdown in an emergency situation can mean life or death for deaf people (for example, even in America, deaf people have been wrongly convicted & sent to prison because of poor or no available interpreter services). This deeply touches our hearts, because deaf people deserve to have interpreters just as much as any other person who speaks a different language than the people around them. Please pray that this need will be recognized more & more so that deaf Romanians can be empowered here!
Tomorrow we will be visiting a few sites here in Cluj before planning & then conducting the next worship service at 5pm our time. Please pray that the word about the worship services spreads! The deaf Romanians live in all kinds of different housing (unlike the deaf Moldovans, who live together in the deaf hostels), so door to door evangelism is quite a challenge. Pray that God gives us opportunities to invite deaf Romanians to the service tomorrow! Thank you & God bless you!
God bless, The Romanian Team - Proverbs 4:18
Are those Moldovan deaf hostels (apartments) government sponsored?
I was wondering how these hostels “just for the deaf” appeared and developed over time?
a Deaf person in the SE USA-
Yeah, those Moldovan deaf hostels are sponsored by the government.
I’m not sure, but I have heard a story of how those hostels were developed. They said it started when deaf people from villages in Moldova immigrated into the city and, becasue they had nowhere to live and no job, settled in those hostels with their deaf friends until they had jobs and enough money to rent apartments. But, all of a sudden, when the Soviet Union fell, deaf people could not get new jobs and they had to stay there. Meanwhile, the government observed those places and decided to use those buildings to provide deaf people places to live.
-Noah
Thanks for your reply.
Noah, can you update us about your plans for further education?
(I recall you got accepted into an university in UK…I’ll have to go back and check your blog) I’m sure you will do that when you are ready.