Dear Pastors, family, and friends,

“Open Thou mine eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of thy law. Make me to understand the way of thy precepts; so shall I talk of thy wondrous works.” Psalm 119:18, 27. The phrase "Open my eyes that I may see wonderful things in your law" is a prayer that expresses a desire for spiritual enlightenment and understanding of God's Word. This prayer seeks guidance to perceive the profound truths and beauty within God's teachings.

Since the last letter, God has been extremely wonderful to us, and we see transformation among the believers in our church. In last year’s letter, I reported that Renato was saved and became my disciple. I went to his home to teach him how to read the Bible, how to have a relationship with his Heavenly Father, how to pray, and how to heed the Holy Spirit. He called me one day and asked me how to pray and how to use a prayer box.

Some deaf have a desire to evangelize the community, so they came up with a plan to hold a “barbecue fellowship” at church. Renato and another married couple made most of the plans for the fellowship. We are very proud of them! They got other deaf people involved in the plans, such as what they would bring and what their responsibilities would be during this event. My responsibility was to preach and talk with deaf. My wife’s responsibility was to plan the games and skit. We had about 40 people attend and about 15 visitors! The deaf cooked very delicious food! My wife directed a skit with 5 deaf men. The men did a wonderful job! My wife invited her sign language students, and three showed up. Many were touched by their skit, because it is a very clear presentation of the struggle of sin and redemption through God’s words. I preached the gospel after the skit, and Erika raised her hand for salvation. My wife has been teaching her about God, sin, and salvation. She still does not understand completely. Pray for Erika’s salvation, as well as Wilson. We continue to have new visitors.

In the last letter, we asked you to pray for our trip to the USA for the intensive 8 days of classes about spirituality in American Sign Language. We went, and it was a wonderful experience; we learned so much, and we look forward to teaching our disciples here what we have practiced and learned. It is very important to BE with our God in our daily walk and our DOing will be manifested by God.

Again, wherever we go, we always see God’s wonderful works and are blessed to be partakers of God’s wonderful works. We went to three deaf churches after the retreat. We were able to share our ministry and sing. My daughters were able to participate in the special song with us. We went to Illinois school for the deaf; my wife taught children, and I taught teenagers. Our daughters enjoyed playing with deaf children and CODA (child of deaf adult). We are proud of them for interacting and communicating well with all children through sign language.

We are glad that we returned to Brazil safely after an eventful trip to Miami. We ended up missing the connecting flight, and the airport gave us vouchers for a hotel and meals. The eventful incident turned into a blessing. We found out that two people we met at the hotel live in Goiania (our city) and were waiting for the same flight the following day. We were able to help them translate between English and Portuguese and to share some of the gospel and invite them to our church. Thank you for being part of our family and ministry. We pray that the Lord will bless you and keep you.

May God bless you richly,

Michael, Ruth, Giovanna and Roniya Douglas

 

Contact us by Email: cmrdouglas3@gmail.com or text us at (636) 575-7781 / our website: https://www.thedouglasepistles.org

Sending Church: Harvest Baptist Church of the Deaf -1314 Old 1314 Old Three Notch Road, Ringgold, GA 30736

office email: contact@harvestdeaf.org