For the first time, a DOOR women’s camp was completely led by the Deaf for the Deaf! Two days of Bible teaching, fellowship, food, prayer, worship, and a trip to the water park! And, no men in the bunch!
This is out of the ‘norm’ in this culture, but there’s a change in these women. That ‘change’ is Jesus at work in each of their lives and families. This has caused them to boldly share what they are learning.
Three Deaf leaders shared the teachings. For some of these women, it was their first time teaching in such a large event. Anu confidently shared from Proverbs 31, which is a sign of tremendous personal growth.
Ashwini explained about God’s design for marriage from the very beginning, and Geetha taught about the qualities of a godly wife.
“Hearts were touched by the Word of God,” shares one of DOOR’s missionaries. “Many of the women cried, sharing their testimony of how they had missed out on this kind of teaching from their parents.
"They were not really being shown how to love in a way that honors God.”
They didn’t have godly role models for marriage and family life. Their parents didn’t know sign language, so the language barrier prevented them from learning everything they could. The ladies confessed to ‘great suffering’ in their family life, simply from the lack of knowledge. They were thankful for the new Bible stories that gave them a better understanding of how to live. They were thankful for the promise of God’s help in the process.
Praise God for a fruitful camp, and His faithfulness in empowering His servants to boldly teach, plan, and travel on their ‘own.’ In this area of the world, women–especially Deaf women–do not travel and go on outings like this without their husbands or fathers. Pray that God will continue to strengthen these Deaf women to boldly train younger Deaf women how to love their husbands and children and live wisely.
