Here is the group that attended
our first deaf ministry  conference!
Praise the Lord!

More info:

Fellowship Baptist Church
Pastor Merv Goodrick
(402) 477-7541
fbclincoln@juno.com

Dan Rhoads
Deaf Ministry Director
(402) 477-0897
dtrhoads@juno.com

    We had a great day exchanging ideas and seeing how other churches handle different situations.
     Debi Duryee gave a demonstration of how she explains salvation to the deaf through the use of flannelgraphs, and sign.
     Shirley is an aerobics instructor, and she demonstrated how to protect our joints and muscles, so we may continue to use them for God to reach the deaf.
     Dwight had fun "reading the signs" in the excercises!
     Debi showed a film, that made us all cry, and touched our hearts for deaf.
     We had gifts for each person attending, and had a door prize which we drew names for.  Before the conference had started, we talked with Debi and explained what we wanted her to do, and what the agenda was for the conference.  We showed her the door prize, and she said "I hope I win".  She was momentarily heartborken when we told her we weren't going to put her name in the drawing.  But she quickly brightened up, when we showed her a similar gift made especially for her.
     The door prize was a black teddy bear, with a rose color nose and paws, with a flower above her ear, and a heart necklace.  The bear was signing "I love you".
     The gift we had made for Debi was also a teddy bear signing "I love you", but it had a sombrero, and a poncho, in honor of her being a missionary to the deaf of Mexico.  This bear was a natural brown, with tan paws.
     The time came for the drawing, and everyone was holding their breath as we pulled the name.  The name was called, and everyone cheered!  It was the only deaf man who attended our conference!  Dwight!
     Dwight had made quite an impression on all of us that day, and we were all thrilled that he won the bear.  He was pretty excited too!
     At the end of the day, no one wanted to leave, despite having several hours of travel in front of them, the churches stayed for a couple of hours, just chatting.  We had all made new friends and it was hard to say good-bye!

Keep watching for future conferences.