Praise God because only through Him can there be anything good!

Sam, Daniel, Elsa (the mother of Ana Elsa) and Ana Elsa

Do you believe in prayer? Do you believe that God is actively involved in our lives and the lives of others? I must admit that I sinfully have wondered at times the "why fors" in situations. Last night I was reminded that God loves us all so much.

Most of you remember a post that I had about a deaf neighbor of ours, Ana Elsa. We've been called up to her house on several occasions in the past due to family quarrels. I've gone up and found a noose around Ana Elsa's neck. She was very discouraged and wanted to just end her life. We've had friends often ask about Ana Elsa and I can joyfully say that she is now a follower of Christ!!! This past week she accepted Christ as her Lord and Savior! We've been studying and helping Ana Elsa understand the Scriptures for a couple of years now. Things move much slower with Ana Elsa as her vocabulary is limited and the way she processes information and truth isn't the same as it is for you and I. Ana Elsa processes most of what she receives by observing to see if what she is understanding is "true". Ana Elsa came over a year ago and asked about salvation. I can't tell you how many times and different ways we tried to explain the gospel. We illustrated it on the white board. We read from scriptures. We used real life stories... We could see that she needed more time. She did ask us what to say to God if and when she was ready. Of course we went to 1 John 1:9. I wrote out a prayer in very simple Spanish. I had forgotten all about it. Last night Natalie asked Ana Elsa what she did and what she told God. Ana Elsa pulled out of her Bible the prayer I had written and she went on to tell us how she knelt by her bed this past Wednesday and poured out her heart to God. Can you picture Ana Elsa, signing to God begging for forgiveness, admitting she was a sinner and realizing she can't save herself? Our powerful God knows every language and even knows how to sign!

There have been times we have been discouraged with how our deaf ministry wasn't growing or we didn't think we were being affective in the way we were communicating with them. Last night has encouraged us all to keep doing the simple, everyday acts of love and kindness and trust God for His timing and His results.

Praise God with us and please keep Ana Elsa and her family in your prayers. There are many folks around us that are sitting back and watching to see if our "truth" is really what we say it is.