EXPRESSIONS OF EMMANUEL – STEVE AND VONDA – SPRING UPDATE!

James 5: 7-8

“Be patient, then, brothers and sisters, until the Lord’s coming. See how the farmer waits for the land to yield its valuable crop, patiently waiting for the autumn and spring rains. 8. You too, be patient and stand firm, because the Lord’s coming is near”.

Editing, Editing, Editing!

Due to the pandemic, we have been at our mission home in Bonham, Texas, even more than we had planned! This is NOT BAD for us. We can accomplish MUCH at home. We have around 134 songs and 293 devotionals that still need to be edited. Steve is the editor, but I also give input and check the process. We need to be at our mission home to get this accomplished. Steve has already completed 9 devotionals since March 12. (Alien, African Girls Washing at the River, the Patient Farmer, Watch Out for those Dogs, Dogs who Love and Obey, Have Fun, Barber Shop, Precious Moments, Seals Encourage and Gingerbread Man) Voiceovers still need to be added. So thankful to God for Andrew Hawkins (WACC, Amarillo) as he will volunteer and edit some songs for us. We want to see these videos be completed so that God’s Word and music in sign language in these can be “LIGHT” in the Deaf community. PLEASE PRAY for the completion of these projects.

New Improved & Expanded Faces of Forgiveness Cyber or Traditional VBS Complete Program

Several years ago, we produced a 6 DVD set VBS missionary program. Becky Martin, EOE advisory council board member inspired us to expand the program. Becky has designed simple but wonderful VBS art projects. This VBS will teach 5 Bible lessons focusing upon forgiveness. We will also teach how to sign the alphabet, numbers 1 to 10, colors, introductions in sign language, and the daily memory verses. We will have a fun sign language game as well. This VBS program can be utilized in a traditional VBS format or a Cyber Format utilizing the computer and ZOOM. There is no cost for the VBS program (Except shipping if you want to use DVDs instead of YouTube private links), but we just ask that you collect an offering to help EOE.

Seizing the Day: Carpe Dieum with Social Media

Covid-19 has made traveling a challenge, but God is blessing us to work on making improvements to our website, YouTube channel, and social media outlets. We were able to post many items for Easter. Steve taped me doing an outreach for Easter that could be used for Sunday school classes online or for Homeschooling. If you did not see it… look on our Facebook pages with me dressed as a rabbit! We stressed that the USA has 49 breeds of rabbits, the UK has 106, and around the world there are even more breeds. But as cool as rabbits are… that is not the true meaning of Easter. We share the Biblical truths about Jesus’ death and resurrection. If you did not see it, look for it and share it with both Deaf and Hearing children and their families. I just ordered a couple of tripods for my phone so that while Steve is editing, I can continue to capture simple videos of Bible lessons to share on social media. Everyone is home and “ON” the internet more than ever before, so we are seeking to seize the day. Although we are not traveling much this year, our work has not slowed down at all. Working full speed ahead!

Spanish Church Mission Presentation and Spanish Language Tutoring

We are so thankful that we were able to share at the Jesus es el Camino Spanish Church in Leonard, Texas. Our friends, Diego and Christina and their daughters helped us. I made a manuscript of our presentation using Google Translate. Our friend, Obed looked at it for accuracy. Christina also checked it and although I spoke 2 pages on my own, she served as my excellent translator for the rest of the program. Plans were made for us to share a mission presentation at the Camino Real Spanish Church in Bonham, but due to the pandemic, the presentation was postponed. My friend, Jovita Laredo, asked her sister-in-law to tutor me so that I could be able to fully speak on my own. Mary had just arrived from Mexico for a visit and she tutored me all day long! God’s provision is amazing I look forward to sharing with the Bonham Spanish Church and other Spanish speakers as well. We are thankful for these churches who care and want to pray and serve!

Sign Language Classes

We enjoyed having our Deaf friend, Tracy Harris, come to visit us and then volunteer to help us with teaching our sign classes. We had 9 regular students and many of them desire to help us with the DeafNation outreaches; but due Covid-19, we had to put these classes on hold. However we hope to start classes on ZOOM soon, 6 of the students are youth, and they are willing to be involved in future video shoots with us. We are thankful that Answers in Genesis is allowing us to use their VBS songs to make videos for Deaf children. We are asking Group Publishing if they will also allow us to use some of their songs. We are excited that our sign students and other Deaf and Hearing children that we know can participate in the future taping of these Christian Children’s songs in ASL.

DeafNation World and Fort Worth DeafNation Postponed: 2020 Vision

We had planned to reach out at the DeafNation in Ft. Worth at the end of March, but it was postponed due to the Corona Virus (new date is pending). The DeafNation World in Las Vegas was rescheduled for July of 2021. We have a 2020 Vision promotional video which we would love to share with you. https://youtu.be/ROtskwqgMbk Honestly, having an additional year to prepare is a blessing. We need to do a lot more editing, production of DVDs, and acquiring tracts for the event. We are thankful for more time to prepare to reach out to the masses of Deaf people that will attend the DeafNation World event in 2021. We also did a lot of intern recruitment, but we are prayerfully considering whether we can accept interns at this time due to Covid-19. Please pray, give, and serve with us in this effort. We need lots of volunteers and lots of funds to produce free copies of DVDs and tracts to give away. We want all Deaf & Hearing to have 20/20 spiritual vision to see God’s Word, the Bible, and follow Jesus. Please join us in this effort.

Steve’s Medical Update

Steve has had ups and downs, but he is doing much better. Currently he just took his 6th chemotherapy treatment. Next week he will have a PET scan to assess his progress. The most recent scans were inconclusive. We pray that he will be NED (No Evidence of Disease). We are also in contact with a doctor in Shreveport that does pencil beam proton therapy. After his scan, the doctor will check if pencil beam therapy would be useful or needed. Please pray for Steve to be NED and for God to lead us in what He wants us to do medically. Thanks for your prayers, love, and support! We praise God that on June 1st, it will be 4 years since Steve’s first diagnosis. The first doctor said that Steve would not live one year. Glory to God that Jesus, the Great Physician said different! We are thankful for life and the opportunity to serve Jesus! May we accomplish all we possibly can to lead many to Christ.

Hamilton Home Highlights

Andres is on lockdown in his Houston apartment, due to Covid-19.

Selah and Nate are busy serving with the Compass Church mostly from their apartment. We are thankful that they are able to come be with us part of the time as they do their work from home. Nate’s maintenance work is done at the church building while he is completely alone. Working from home! Selah and Nate were able to baptize two friends on Easter Sunday while using gloves and staying out of the water. Praise God! Nate has been doing some preaching this Spring for our home church, Hillcrest Christian Church. Nate is a great preacher. Nate and Selah seek to carefully help their neighbors by helping to distribute food from the Compass Church.

Cloudi is serving by helping our Deaf friend, Edwin Westlake in Sapulpa, Oklahoma. She frequently visits our advisory council board members, the Huffs. This has been a blessing. We are proud of her serving in this way. She had hoped to minister with the Deaf in Ghana this summer, but due to the pandemic, this trip has also been postponed. We love her time at home, and her time serving. She too is staying in and staying safe. May we glorify Him in all that we do. Ladell and

Sharon Kirk are our extended family and they keep busy helping us with many of the EOE office projects. We are so thankful for them and all of our advisory council board members and supporters. We are thankful for God’s blessings and faithfulness to our family and EOE family. May we glorify Him in all that we do. WE LOVE YOU! We know that everyone has had challenging times, but please keep praying, giving, and serving so that we can together reach the Deaf for Christ. Your part of this work is vital! Thank you!

Tenative Calendar

June 22-26 Washington Avenue Christian Church Vacation Bible School Program, Amarillo
July 6-10 Deaf VBS, Colleyville, TX
July 20-23 El Porvenir Christian Camp Missionary Presentation for Children, New Mexico
August 30- September 2 SING the Scriptures Music Conference, Nashville, TN
November 18-22 International Conference on Missions, Indianapolis, IN

Donations

With our New — Website it is really easy to donate. Click Here to Donate. VISA, Mastercard, Discover, and American Express. On the “memo line” please put what it is for: example “EOE” or “Sponsor DVD” or “EOE Steve Med,” or mail to the following address: Expressions of Emmanuel, P.O. Box 62, Ector, TX 75439 Or Chase QuickPay. This money will go into our Mission Account. Use Steve email address hamilton.steven@gmail.com.
Click Here to Donate

Love in Jesus,
Steven & Vonda Hamilton and family,
Missionaries with the Deaf,
Expressions of Emmanuel