St. Vincent

It's very hot here in St. Vincent - at the end of the day any breath of fresh air from the ocean breeze is welcome after sitting on stuffed buses to and from our hotel in Indian Bay to the capital city of Kingstown. Although it is just a few miles away, it often takes 30 minutes or more because of road construction and traffic jams.

People here are friendly and helpful, and although we are often aware that we are the only "white" bodies anywhere close, most of the time we feel safe. This is low tourism season here, but any tourists that do visit St. Vincent and the Grenadines are probably on one of the other 31 islands that make up this 32 island country. We stay here on St. Vincent because out of the total population of roughly 120,000 in this country, 110,000 are on this island. Thus, most deaf people, schools, and ministries are here.

We've visited one of the three or four schools with deaf students - it has 5-10 deaf students attending while the others only have 1-3 students. Visiting with Deaf Christians at the Kingstown Baptist Church has also been a highlight as we've heard more about their social situation here, their desire to know Jesus and the Bible more, and gathered language data through questionnaires and video recording some signs. They have been most helpful and we are looking forward to this afternoon's fellowship with them on the beach!

Please pray specifically for a young woman we met yesterday who we'll simply call "Kay". At 15, Kay is a very intelligent and kind girl who would like to work in computers but who has very little hope for the future because of her social situation. Her parents are divorced and her mother often tells her that she doesn't like deaf people (obviously including her). Although she does very well in school, there's not a lot of options for her in St. Vincent society once she needs to leave school at age 21 and find a job. Deaf people, and people with disabilities, are often seen as a detriment to society here and hearing people need to be educated about all that they are able to do and be so that doors open for them! Pray for Kay, that her heart would be encouraged and that she would know how valuable she is in the eyes of Jesus and many other people around the world!

And pray for us as we work to shine His light wherever we go. We will be leaving here in St. Vincent and heading to Grenada on Monday.