Adventist Deaf Ministries International

Pastor Jeff Jordan's trip to the Phillippians

"Manila- We worshipped with the Deaf congregation at Pasay Adventist Church on January 31 an it was a privilege for me to preach to them again as this was my third trip to the Phillippines. About 80 deaf and hearing came for worship and I learned that they currently have 35 Deaf Adventists, which has grown from 4 when I first was there three years ago. John Blake gave a report about the Deaf work in different countries. The next day, we met again and Larry Evans gave a devotional talk and shared many stories with the Deaf.

- Lychel and Cheard Gabuco, along with their parents, are currently ministering to the Deaf.

- Our team drove an hour south to SSD (Southeast Asia-Pacific Division) HQ and met with Pastors Doug Venn and Germogenese Villanueva. It was a thrill to see Doug Venn because he is my friend! He took my class in Deaf Ministry at Andrews University some 20 years ago and he learned ASL. Even though he has forgotten many signs, he was able to refresh his memory of some signs while visiting with me. Anyway, both Venn and Villanueva are very supportive of the Deaf work. They think they can find funds for the Deaf ministry.

-Mindanao- Our team flew south to Cagayan de Oro City on this big island. There, we worshipped with the Deaf congregation at South Philippine Union Conference HQ the next day on February 7. About 40 Deaf showed up, including about 15 students from the SDA school for the Deaf. In the afternoon, it was an honor to baptize 12 Deaf students. All of them took the Bible class with their teacher, Daryl Famisaran, and they made a decision to be baptized and follow Jesus. We traveled 3 hours to the SDA School for the Deaf and we spent a couple of days there. A total of 24 students which has grown from 7 last year are attending. This new school was built two years ago and they are going to build a new dorm for the girls. A student who missed church came to school the next day and requested to be baptized, so I baptized him in the river.

- Daryl and Sarah Famisaran are Gospel Outreach workers and they live on the school campus. Sunny Suan is a Deaf elder of the SDA Church in Cagayan de Oro and he is now a new worker for the Deaf.