Andrew and Esther Schaeffer

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Prayer Letter/Ministry Update

DEAF CHILDREN SHARE THE GOOD NEWS

By Andrew Schaeffer, August 13, 2019

August is the month of camps here in Burkina Faso. There are Sunday School camps, girls’ camps, boys’ camps, youth camps and even a pastors’ kids camp. But there is one group that is often ignored: the deaf. It seems like nothing special is ever done for them.

But this year a camp was organized for deaf children too. Last week a deaf team from Salem Signing Service (S3) partnered with a local deaf school to host a camp for 43 children. While the campers ranged in age from 8-18, they had one thing in common: they were all deaf.

Before the Salem team arrived, the deaf school director called and asked parents and relatives to send their deaf child (ren) to the camp. When the team arrived on Monday morning for the opening ceremony, the campers lined up to welcome them.

No sooner had the ceremony finished and Colleen, a deaf member of the Salem team, began a signing game with a group of deaf children. As I watched, I realized that they were silently introducing their sign names, then repeating the sign name of the person(s) who had gone before them. I tried to retain each child’s sign name but was unable. But these deaf children went around the circle, successfully signing each person’s name. Before long, two other groups formed and began playing the same game.

When I remarked to the director about their ability to retain the signs, he explained, “These campers have sharp minds. They have developed a keen sense of sight and concentration.” “Sharp minds indeed,” I thought to myself. I was having a hard time remembering how to sign “good morning!”

The team and campers worked and played hard and had a great week together. At Friday afternoon’s closing ceremony, the campers performed a skit. They illustrated creation and the fall, Jesus’ coming to earth, his suffering and death on the cross, and the reconciliation with God he provides to each and everyone who trusts in him. It was a powerful expression of the Gospel that touched us all, including many of the unsaved family members and friends in attendance.

The Salem Alliance Team had a wonderful ministry and arrived back home in the USA today. But ministry to the deaf will continue, thanks to a couple who is staying to help: Mike and Renee Olivier. (For more: https://www.cmalliance.org/alife/the-deaf-will-know/)

Please pray that God will give the Oliviers a smooth transition and use them to help many more deaf children (and adults too!) to understand and explain the Good News!

Thanks,

Andrew and Esther Schaeffer

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CONTACT INFORMATION:
Andrew & Esther Schaeffer
Mission Protestante C&MA
B.P. 3050; Bobo Dioulasso
Burkina Faso, West Africa

Andrew: aeschaeffer@gmail.com
Esther: estherschaeffer@gmail.com

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8595 Explorer Drive
Colorado Springs CO 80920
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Our ministry is part of the worldwide effort of The Alliance.
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Prayer Requests/Answers to Prayer

August 13, 2019
1. Please pray for God’s blessings on each of this month’s camps. Pray that each camper will encounter God in a new way.

2. Last week a young woman accepted Christ at the hospital. Now she faces some difficult decision. Pray for wisdom and for her growth in Christ.

3. Several pastors’ families have been hit recently by illness, including cancer and malaria. Pray that they will be able to testify of God’s grace and healing power in their lives.

4. Recently lightning caused damage at the Bobo radio station. Pray for protection of the expensive equipment at each of the 4 radio stations during this rainy season so that the Gospel can be proclaimed without hindrance.

5. Andrew has been asked to serve on the board of the West Africa Alliance Seminary, now the Alliance University of Abidjan. Please pray for strong enrollment and God’s blessing on this strategic institution as it trains African leaders.

July 19, 2019
1. We praise the Lord for his continual drawing of people to Himself through the radio ministry. We thank the Lord for sparing the life of a young man who had decided to kill himself. As he passed by one of the last courtyards on his way to a river, he heard Christian music playing and stopped. The song spoke directly to his heart. Amid tears he went into the courtyard and asked to know more. He visited the radio station recently and shared about his decision to follow Christ.

2. We thank the Lord for a good spiritual retreat with our prison team. Pray as we seek to have an influence on the men prisoners and look to alleviate some of the suffering they are experiencing.

3. I will be starting an English Bible study this week in our home. Pray that this would be an effective way to speak into the lives of young women.

4. Pray as we prepare for the deaf children's camp and also the arrival of the Oliviers who will minister full-time to the deaf community. Pray that the Lord Jesus would provide all that is needed to make this camp life changing for these children as we present the Gospel of Christ.

July 2, 2019
1. I (Andrew) praise the Lord for safe travels last month and a wonderful visit with family and friends in the USA. I was able to attend two weddings and the Alliance Council. I especially enjoyed holding my precious granddaughter Hope, who continues to grow, thank you for your prayers!

2. At least 17 times in the Psalms the Lord is called “our fortress!” Pray that we and the believers in Burkina will trust in Him and not be afraid.

3. Praise the Lord for the healing of a woman in the Kénédougou. Now she is allowed to attend church! Pray that her testimony would draw many others to Christ.

4. Yesterday five Burkinabè pastors (all former students of ours at Maranatha) began a modular seminary program. Pray that they would continue to grow in their love for God and His Word and become more effective servants in His church.

5. Pray that the Lord will guide and use us as we continue to share the Good News here in Burkina. Pray especially that our ministry projects among the deaf will yield lasting spiritual fruit.

July 1, 2019
1. We thank the Lord for 29 years of marriage. We celebrated in the happiest way possible, preaching at a church plant where many of the leaders are people we have worked with, and then in the afternoon at the detention center with a group of young people from a local church singing and sharing the joy of knowing the Lord Jesus. It is a happy marriage where Christ is the center and focus. We are also so very thankful for our now seven children and our precious granddaughter Hope who is sitting up and gaining weight and being absolutely adorable in every way.

2. So often with the joys come the sorrows. Pray for a young couple in our church who lost their two-year-old daughter when she suffered severe burns. A pot of food just off the fire was placed by the door and the child was unaware and back into it, sitting down in the pot. Pray great comfort and that they would stay strongly attached to Christ.

3. Rain is desperately needed. Please pray with us that our Heavenly Father would be merciful to send the rain for this farming season.

4. Pray as I begin work on a new series of radio broadcasts. Pray that they would be practical for listeners and be an instrument of peace for this country.

Burkina Faso

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