Dear    Friends,                                                                                                                       August 2004

Praise the Lord! We have been in Campbellsville for 9 months.  The Lord has been so good to us.  We have been especially blessed to see the Lord working in the lives of the Deaf.

Terry Beams and his hearing wife Sharon, have been praying for a Deaf pastor for 30 years.

They have done most of the leg work is locating and picking up Deaf who needed rides.  They had all the addresses and directions we needed.  Every month Sharon hears about or contacts Deaf that have come into Campbellsville.  They often drive 2 vehicles to church in order to both go pick up folks for church. Terry always meets and greets everyone each meeting. Sharon has worked with the children during the church hour. They have served in many other ways too. Without them, we could not have started the Church.

Paul Goble, who was saved 5 years ago when Fred Adams preached, has been growing in the Lord and in service to Him.  He comes to every single meeting and service at the Deaf Church .

He is the song leader and is acting deacon.  He and Rusty Milby act as ushers.  Mike has spent many hours with Paul, over these months, in teaching, training, chatting, working on the church and grounds together.  Karen, Paul’s Deaf wife, helped us set up our library and she decorates the church with seasonal crafts she makes.

Clifford Patton and his hearing wife, Libby, have been coming since about February and they are in the sign language class too. They are helping each other to learn new signs and to understand the other Deaf better. They have been a great blessing to us. Libby is a joy to have in our church and lights up the room with smiles when she enters. I remember how Libby’s jaw fell to the floor as she saw her husband understand and respond to my preaching for the first time.  Also, Clifford works with wood and volunteered to make Mike a beautiful light-weight lectern instead of the large pulpit that was in the church.

These 3 men have also attended the men’s Leadership and fellowship meetings on Saturdays.

The alternate Saturdays they come for visitation.

Rusty Milby comes to most services when he does not have to work O.T. He also helps his father with farming.  He is learning to pray in public and prays for the offering and also helps record it.  Delbert Caldwell was in another town but has recently moved into Campbellsville so he can attend the Deaf Church . He has no car and is looking for work. His spiritual background was varied, so Mike is discipling him now.

We thank the Lord for 3 Preacher-Evangelists that have come to help us reach and draw the Deaf: Allen Snare, Ronnie Rice and John Clark.  One Deaf man, Delbert, was saved!

We marched in the July 5^th parade to let the town know we were here. We passed out fliers about our church and about the special meetings.  We also are in the local newspaper and “The Silent Word” Deaf  Newspaper (Indepnd. Bapt.)  We also attended the annual Deaf Reunion at KY School for the Deaf in Danville , KY.   We had a display table up and announced our Church.

We thank God for all He has taught us and for His constant Faithfulness to us.  Our God is an Awesome God!     

Rejoicing in His Goodness,   

Bro. Mike  & Candy Bader