Stories
Through Speed the Light, our missionaries are provided the tools they need to speed the gospel around the world. And they are grateful for the sacrifices students have made and continue to make so that people can hear the message of hope. If every student gave just $100 to STL each year, every missionary's vehicle and equipment needs would be met!
Here are just a few of the testimonies we've received from our missionaries and the students who have sacrificed:
Ministry to Deaf in Philippines
Tue, 19 May 2009 - 12:04 PM CST
Blessings to you!
We are new missionaries, having just completed language school, and are thrilled with our new STL van! This minivan will be an integral part in finding, meeting and ferrying new deaf believers to church and home groups.
You see, we have become members of a Deaf Church and now help at a School for the Deaf there. It is clear that there is a huge need for this large population that is almost completely neglected. We have discovered that at over 250 million people worldwide, the deaf are the single largest unreached people group in the world. As there are only five missionary units working exclusively with this large population worldwide, the Lord led us to Deaf Ministry.
We are stationed in the Philippines, where there are at least five million deaf individuals. Since most of the deaf do not know how to communicate or read, our God-given task is to find and teach the deaf how to communicate and read so that they can "hear" the gospel of Jesus Christ. Our mission is to build a vibrant, Christ-centered Deaf Church with deaf leadership. We are literally starting from the ground up. Thankfully, there are ministries, such as Speed the Light, that help make this daunting task possible!
We are currently using our STL vehicle to get us to a public elementary school where there is a class of 36 deaf kids ranging from 7 to 20 years old. Unlike stateside schooling, these kids are considered "buang," which means crazy or retarded. We have been given the incredible opportunity to minister to them directly in the public school, using our own gospel-centered material, open witnessing, and will hopefully be granted the beginnings of a vibrant, deaf-run church. We expect to use our STL minivan in the months ahead for the many transportation needs of the deaf church. We do not want to contain ourselves to just the city, but will also go out into the countryside (and islands) to establish churches and learning centers for the deaf at AG churches...which will require STL!
Speed the Light is, truly and without hyperbole, the greatest support ministry in the Assemblies of God. It is vital for missionaries to have a vehicle. Without it, many ministry opportunities would be lost or, at best, would be severely curtailed. Personally as well, STL helps by allowing the missionary to focus on reaching the lost instead of having to worry about the oftentimes difficult aspects of transportation needs in daily life. STL means so much to us that if we were to stand in front of those who give to Speed the Light, we'd only be able to hold out our hands in gratitude and wipe away tears of thankfulness.
Speed the Light is incredible and, truly, speeds the light of the gospel to a desperately lost world.
By His Grace,
Missionaries to the Deaf
