Glancing Global

We have some very exciting news for you:
Dan and Sarah Eberle reached their needed ministry budget expectations and will be joining our team on August 15th! We are excited to have them move out here, get to know them, and be part of our team. They are assigned to the Eurasia Area but will be with us for at least a year to learn the ropes of sign language assessment. It's a good feeling to be a part of different Areas in the world in various ways. Julia came over a year ago and is now in Asia. Holly will be moving on to Africa at the beginning of next year. And Dan and Sarah will be focusing on Eurasia after their time with us. Others, too. It's neat to be a part of it all as we rub shoulders with people that God has on unique trajectories specifically designed for them.

We're also anticipating the completion of Round 1 of SL survey in the Americas Area and Jason's MA around late Spring or early Summer next year! Being a goal oriented person, I can almost smell the rubber burning on the road as I'm tempted to peel out for the finish line. But I have to remind myself that this particular finish line is still almost a year away and this is still a long-distance race and not a sprint. But just for the record, I am more of a sprinter (actually, a hurdler) than a long distance runner. I'd appreciate prayers for pacing. That said, people are starting to ask what is next - and not just other people - but we are asking that of ourselves too. We have some ideas but would also really appreciate prayers for discernment and direction. There is no doubt in our minds that the road we have walked in the last 4 years is exactly the one we were supposed to be on - but we are looking ahead now so that we are prepared for any necessary transitioning. Thanks for not expecting us to know. And thanks for your prayers that we will in perfect time.

As a reminder of the overwhelming need, let me leave you with this:

Global Estimation

With an estimated global population of more than 350 million, the Deaf and partially hearing world is one of the last groups to be reached with the gospel, according to David Stecca, president of Deaf Video Communications in Chicago, USA. "We're in an uphill battle to recognize the Deaf as a mission field," he said.

There are 56 countries that each has a total Deaf population greater than 1 million. Worldwide, there are approximately 365 million Deaf people. Nearly two thirds of them are located in just 10 countries:

China: 75.2 million out of 1.2 billion
India: 60.4 million out of 1 billion
USA: 16.6 million out of 278 million
Indonesia: 12.7 million out of 212 million
Brazil: 10.1 million out of 170 million
Pakistan: 9.3 million out of 156 million
Russia: 8.7 million out of 146 million
Nigeria: 7.7 million out of 111 million
Bangladesh: 7.6 million out of 129 million
Japan: 7.5 million out of 126 million

In each of these nations, this represents 5.69% to 6.93% of the total population. The Deaf harvest field is ready...where are the workers? Let us pray for more workers in the Deaf Harvest.

(Extracted from DeafLink, UK - Spring 2001. A full report on Deaf ministry appears in the March issue of "Charisma" Magazine -March 2001)