Greetings! I’m exciting to tell you that I will have a mission in Belém, Brazil with my new wife, Adriana. It will start on September 19th. This is for Symbolic Universal Notation (SUN) workshop for a week. SUN (Symbolic Universal Notation) is a program that brings Scripture to the deaf who is unable to read and limited knowledge of sign language as well as the deaf-blind. Using a symbolic system of writing, the illiterate deaf who may not educated in sign language as well as the deaf-blind can read God’s word for themselves. It would take years and years for illiterate Deaf to learn alphabet and words. With these symbols, they can learn much more quicker. In a week, they can learn over 150 symbols! In this event, it will be over 130 participants in Belém.

Prayer requests

• Already 2 leaders for this event are unable to go due to injury and family issue. Pray for us that there won’t be any more issue that comes up before/during this workshop.
• Wisdom and guidance to train a large number of participants.
• Help deaf participants to understand God’s Word by learning symbols.
• Opportunity to share God’s Word through SUN program in Brazil. There are currently about 10 million deaf people living in Brazil, only 10% have been in the scholar system.

Thank you for your continuing support and prayers!

Blessings!

Greetings! After Kenya conference, Parfait and I went straight to Uganda for DOT workshop. There was a team that did their DOT project in west Uganda for few years. And there is a new team in Kampala (eastern Uganda) wants to do Bible translation so we put those 2 teams together for this workshop. This workshop was bigger than we normally had in other workshops, about 40 participants in this event. We trained them both new and old teams together. They did a great job by completing 24 chapters of New Testament in two weeks. Pray that they will continue to work together to promote more unity, collaboration and mutual acceptance between two teams. Here are some pictures I want to share below…

Beautiful view from my hotel room in Kampala. We went to church on Sunday. It was a wonderful service.

We trained them for Bible translation methodology, quality assessment, and ownership of the project.

They worked hard to understand the passages and how they translate the passages into their sign language. Bible translation can be difficult but they really encourage and help each other.

They did a session for certain biblical words that they need to know how to sign. Parfait taught them for technical work, how to use a camera, set up a studio, and edit videos on laptop. The translators did a final filming on their chapter assignment. They did a community check for edited videos and gave some feedback.

It’s a honor to be a part of this amazing group! My hope is that they will continue together and promote more unity in this group so they will complete a New Testament someday.

Thank you for your time and support!

Greetings! I want to tell that this conference in Mombasa, Kenya was an awesome experience! I met some people that I have already met before mostly from Africa. It was great to see them again. I also met some new people. It was wonderful to see new faces there. I’m very happy that Deaf Ministries International (DMI) supports deaf people and churches in many countries. I didn’t know much about them before but I’m glad I did. We need more of these types of organizations like DMI to help people to know about Jesus Christ. There were about 15 countries that have representatives in Mombasa. Most of them already have DOT projects that we trained before. I did meet some new people there who may be interested in Bible translation project someday. Hopefully, it will happen in near future. I did take some pictures there and want to share with you. Enjoy!

Greetings! I was staying in Brazil with my fiancé for 2 months and it was great time to get to know each other before getting married on September 8th. I’m really looking forward to it! For now, I’m leaving on this Friday for Kenya for a week. It’s for deaf conference hosted by Deaf Ministries International (DMI). There will be deaf leaders and people coming from various countries. It would be a good opportunity to meet some old and new faces there. And then, I’m going to Uganda for a workshop. It’s for Bible translation. There will be a new group joining to their project. Uganda already has a DOT project for few years so I’m looking forward to see 2 groups work together.

Prayer requests:

• Arrive safely in Kenya and Uganda.
• Guide us to lead and teach.
• Wisdom and understanding the Scriptures for translators and interpreters.
• To grow spiritually in translators
• Ugandan Sign Language Bible translation will impact deaf people in Uganda.

Thank you for your support! I will update after Kenya and Uganda trips.

Greetings! It was my second time that I have gone to Nigeria. First one was for SUN workshop last December (deaf who are unable to read and do not know or know a little sign language). This time it’s for DOT Bible translation workshop. It went well. There were a lot of challenges. The translators realized that there is much work to do and were very glad for this opportunity to grow spiritually. There is a deaf/blind man who participated in this workshop. He was able to see when he was young but gradually became blind later. He is able to read very barely but he has good knowledge of Bible. Other translators were helping him with checking process and advised him to translate better. He was able to complete a chapter. He was a great inspiration for us. I believe they will continue to do translation work soon because they really enjoyed it. Pray for them for wisdom and guidance for the future work on their translation.

The training for Bible translation started.

They were working on translation for Book of Mark.

They did checking as group, preparing a studio, and making a final filming.

We did go to their church on Sunday and made introductions ourselves. We asked them to support a Bible translation team and pray for them.

They faced a lot of challenges in translation but they did a great job. They have learned a ton! Pray for them to continue their translation and there is a huge population of deaf people in Nigeria that needs to know Bible in their heart language.

Greetings! It’s been a while since I post my blog. My next trip will be Nigeria for DOT workshop. I have gone to Nigeria last December for SUN workshop. It was fruitful event. This time will be Bible translation. There is a huge need for Nigeria because of very large deaf population there. Pray for us (me, Parfait and Denis) to arrive there safely. I’m looking forward to train them to translate their sign language.

Prayer requests:

• Arrive there safely and protection during 2 weeks.
• Guide us to lead and teach.
• Wisdom and understanding the Scriptures for translators and interpreters.
• To grow spiritually in translators.
• Nigerian Sign Language translation will impact deaf people in Nigeria.

Thank you for your support! I will post a blog after workshop.

Greetings! We had a Bible translation event for Russians in Istanbul, Türkiye (Turkey) for 2 weeks. It was a great event for them. Their pastor had some experience doing on videos for years. They also brought in their own video equipment. They wanted to do their own filming. Normally we train people to do tech work like setting up equipment, recording, editing videos but Russians have a lot of experience. We just taught to do translation for their sign language. It was great experience for them. I pray for them to continue to do their translation in St Petersburg, Russia. Here are some pictures I took in Türkiye. Enjoy!

They did drafting in translation and did some checking. They discussed how to translate their sign language. It’s a challenge.

They did final filming for their chapters. They did complete 9 chapters of Mark.

Istanbul is a beautiful city with long history, culture and beauty. We really enjoyed our sightseeing.

Thank you for your time and your support! My next mission may be Nigeria for DOT event on May. Nigeria has one of largest populations for deaf people there. It’s essential for deaf people to know Jesus Christ. I’m looking forward to it!

Blessings!

Greetings! After 2 months break, I’m ready to go back on mission trip! This time will be a workshop with deaf Russians. We will go to undisclosed location where we will train Russians for Bible translation. We had been waiting for this opportunity with Russians for a while. Ukraine war has prevented us to go to Russia and we had to look for a neutral location where we can meet and have a workshop. I’m looking forward to it!

Prayer requests:

• To have all participants and leaders arrive in undisclosed location safely.
• Wisdom and guidance for leading a workshop.
• Help us to communicate better with Russians.
• For Russians to understand God’s Word to translate.

Thank you for your support! I will post some pictures after the workshop completes.

Blessings!

Greetings! I just want to say thank you very much for your support! It’s been an amazing year! I’m looking forward to 2023! The plans for 2023 are not yet official but there is a good chance that I may have sign language groups in various countries that needs to have Bible translation.

My prayer requests for 2023 are to have more opportunities for Bible translation and SUN events, more deaf people in the world to know about Jesus Christ, and to grow spiritually and love for God and people.

May God bless you with a joy, loving and peaceful celebration for this Christmas and all throughout the 2023!

Greetings! The event was great for all of us. For those who don’t know SUN, Symbolic Universal Notation (SUN) is a program that brings Scripture to the uneducated deaf who can’t read as well as the deaf-blind. Using a symbolic system of writing, the deaf who may not educated in sign language as well as the deaf-blind can read God’s word for themselves. It’s difficult for deaf to learn the alphabet and words which takes very long time to learn. With these symbols, they can learn quickly and may take weeks to know God’s Word. As Adefala Alaba in Nigeria said, “SUN is not a substitute to any Sign Language but it’s rather a compliment.” God has always find ways to reach out for uneducated deaf and deaf-blind people. We did have a deaf-blind man participated in this workshop. He was happy to learn symbols and want to learn more! I want to share some pictures during the workshop.

We taught symbols to deaf uneducated and facilitators. We normally use cards for symbols but this time we use PowerPoint to help them to learn more quickly.

It’s the facilitators’ turn to teach the deaf. One day, after the workshop ends, they brought SUN dictionary and Book of Mark to the hotel. They were really exciting to learn more about symbols and more importantly, God’s Word. They need to continue to teach more deaf people in Nigeria. There are over a million deaf people living in Nigeria. I believe they will do it!

There is a good possibility that we will have DOT (Bible translation for sign language) event in Nigeria next year. I’m looking forward to it!

This was my last mission for 2022. Right now, I’m taking a 2-month long break from missions. I will teach Bible seminary for deaf on January. My next possible mission may be on late February 2023.

Thank you for your support in 2022! It’s been a great year especially after COVID shutdown with many countries. God has opened the doors for us to go! Pray that there will be more opportunities in 2023! God bless you all!