Contents 3-4
Birth of Jesus
5-6 Luke’s Christmas story
7-8
Festival Day
the UK
Deaf Youth 4 Christ
13-14
17-20 News around
Happy Christmas to you all! Many thanks to you all for reading the magazine throughout the year and I look forward to sharing 2011 with you. Or, may be you were given a year’s subscription as a present and this is your first magazine, welcome and enjoy the read! If you know other people who would enjoy the magazine, why not share your magazine with them and then encourage them to sign up. This is our first special Christmas issue, and it gives us a great opportunity to reflect on Jesus’ birth and celebrate what Christmas really means.
10-12 News around
Editor’s desk
the World
Meaning of Christmas
23-24
“For to us a child is born, a son is given to us. And the government will rest on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counsellor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.” Isaiah 9:6 (NLT) What a message of hope and peace! Imagine what it would be like if Jesus hadn’t been born . . . our hearts would be empty and we would have nothing to live for. No freedom from guilt. No comfort, love and strength from Him when we go through difficult times. No hope for the future and eternal life with Him. As Jesus said before He went back to His Father, “I’m leaving you with a gift - peace of mind and heart. And the peace I give isn’t like the peace the world gives. So don’t be troubled or afraid.” John 14:27 (NLT) Christmas is an opportunity to enjoy spending time with our families and friends, but let’s not miss out on the love, joy and peace that we find as we celebrate Jesus’ presence with us. Go! and celebrate Christmas with Jesus! God bless you all.
Esther Maycock (D)
GO! SIGN Christ in the Deaf Community Through
Growth, Renewal, Access, Churches and Evangelism Magazine Editorial Team: David & Bronwynne Buxton, Karina Downing, Karen Gutberlet, Esther Maycock and Elizabeth Thomas-Morton Trustees: Franco Beschizza, Jo Pestell, Marlene Rayner MBE, Revd. Bob Shrine and Jonathon Bosman Council: Raymond Abernethy, Laurie Banks, Gill Behenna, John Delve, Bob & Gabi McFarland and Marlene Rayner MBE
Registered charity no. 1071830
GO! SIGN is the working name of Christian Deaf Link UK
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What do you think of Jesus at Christmas? Every year Christmas poses a question to the world about Jesus’ birth.
Some argue that Christmas is wrong, some say Christmas is not true, but it is the season to celebrate the coming of the Christ-child. People sing of Christ and they share gifts. There are many different views.
What really matters about Christmas and Jesus?
Christmas should simply be the wonderful reminder of Jesus’ beginning as a child in this world. His birth shows the power, glory and salvation that would be revealed in His life, death and resurrection, whether his birth actually took place on 25th December, in late September or on any other day of the year. We should use every opportunity to reflect on Jesus Christ and His message of hope for us all.
Some people asks me what would I do at Christmas? Christmas is the reason that I give thanks to the Lord because He came to save us from having no future and no hope. He spent his time here on earth travelling and spreading the “Good News”, so we should celebrate his birth. For me, Christmas gives me the opportunity to have fun and spend time with my family and friends but most important of all is celebrating the birth of Christ. It gives me an opportunity to talk about the birth of Jesus as part of my witness to others,
“Jesus is the reason for the season.”
I would like to share with you for Christmas...
God showed his love by coming among us; he sent His one and only son into the world that He might live on earth through Him. “We love because He first loved us” (1 John 4:19) and He sent His son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. “…the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord”, Romans 6:23 1. Accept Jesus – I want to accept Christ’s gift of eternal life but I don’t know Him. 2. Rededicate – I am saved but I have not been living like a follower of Jesus. I want rededicate my life to Him right now.
Get personal with Jesus at Christmas...
Simply ask Him into your heart! Jesus said “Behold, I stand at the door and knock; If any man hear my voice and open the door, I will come in.” We have the opportunity of a relationship with Jesus; He is the one, if He comes in that will be the best gift you ever have. Hope you enjoy reading this magazine! God bless you Raymond Abernethy (D), Belfast
hristmas! C Y P P HA
S U S E J for
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s u s e J f o Bir2t:1h -20 Luke
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m App ‘Children’s Bible’ fro of p ap e fre e th d oa You can downl ble stories! iPad, to read more Bi d an ne ho iP r fo e or St
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Toni Matas © the biblical text, Good News Bible, American © Barcelona Multimedia 2010 © the drawings, Picanyol © the script, t is prohibited by any means. All right reserved. The partial or total reproduction of this documen
Bible Society, 1992.
© Photos by Gregg Gift Company 2009
Luke’s Christmas story My friend said to me some time ago “Jesus did not tell us to remember His birth. He told us to remember His death. Jesus is God, so He didn’t have a beginning. He has always existed. He came down in the womb of the virgin Mary and became a human to reconcile us back to Himself.” I thought he was right but we should celebrate Christmas because it’s the birth of our Saviour, Jesus Christ, who died for our sins. He is sinless and takes the sins of the world upon his head. We love him so much. We remind everyone of his story by celebrating his birthday. We feel Christ in Christmas by reading Scriptures, listening to Christmas hymns, decorating our homes and our churches, by praying with sincerity, by showing love to family and others and by helping others – the poor and the needy people.
We know Christ wasn’t born on 25th December. As Luke stated, “The shepherds were out in the fields.” They were not out in the wintertime. Of all God’s servants, in the New and Old Testament, none celebrated “birthdays.” In Luke 19, Jesus tells us how he wants to be remembered, and it was not by his birth. I am sure many of your friends ask you about the true meaning of Christmas? There is much more to Christmas than having wonderful Christmas parties or lunch or even giving Christmas presents, or sending Christmas cards! We should simply respond that the whole point of Christmas is the message of Jesus Christ, receiving God’s amazing free gift of eternal life, forgiveness and peace through Jesus Christ.
“To us a child is born, to us a son is given… he will be called Wonderful, Counsellor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.” Isaiah 9:6 Thinking about the Christmas message, I would say the best known Christmas stories are found in Luke 2:1-20.
“Peace on Earth, goodwill toward all people.” It is hard for me, and I think it must be equally hard for you, to imagine any time in history that has been more in need of peace and goodwill among all people. Where do we look for hope? Only Luke and Matthew, out of the four Gospels, give us birth narratives or stories about the birth of Jesus. We have often run these stories together and had the shepherds and the wise men all appearing around the manger at one time. Cribs, Christmas pageants and live Nativity scenes in front of churches usually have the full quota of shepherds and wise men. It is only in Luke’s Gospel that we find the angel appearing to Mary and telling her that she was chosen to bear a child born of the Holy Spirit. It is only Luke who gives us Mary’s song of acceptance, the marvellous Magnificat, and it is only Luke who gives us “shepherds abiding in the fields, keeping watch over their flocks by night.” Luke does not give us wise men, rich and wealthy kings from foreign places; Matthew does. Luke gives us shepherds.
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But we were talking about the Christmas story, weren’t we? About the fact that Luke had the angel appearing to shepherds in the fields to make the most wonderful announcement that the world had ever heard. And who were the shepherds? Shepherds were rough and dirty fellows for the most part.
I have to ask why. Why did Luke leave out the wise men and give us shepherds? Did he have some purpose in mind? As a matter of fact, he did. Luke’s Gospel, while often parallel to Matthew and to Mark, gives us a slightly different perspective. Some might say a radically different perspective. For example, remember it is Matthew who gives us what we call “the Sermon on the Mount.” In Matthew, Jesus went up onto a mountain to preach; Matthew says that “When Jesus saw the crowds (at the foot of the mountain), He went up the mountain; and after He sat down, His disciples (not all the crowds of people, just His disciples) came to Him. Then He began to speak, and taught them (His disciples)...” So the Sermon on the Mount that Matthew reports is not preached to the crowds of people but to His disciples. But Luke Chapter 6 tells us that Jesus had spent a whole night on the mountain in prayer. And then He came down from the mountain with His disciples and “stood on a level place, with a great crowd of His disciples and a great multitude of people from all Judea, Jerusalem, and the coast of Tyre and Sidon.” There He healed people and spoke. Down where the people were. You see, Luke had an overarching purpose, both in the Gospel of Luke and in Acts, and that purpose was to demonstrate clearly that Jesus cared about all the people!
We are told that more than likely they were out in the fields and not on their way to register because they were not even considered citizens worthy of being counted in the census. They spent all their time driving the sheep across the land of so many different people and provinces that they could not really call any place home. In addition, they probably smelled more like sheep than anything else.
Luke, do you mean to tell us that these were the people to whom that message above all messages was delivered? Read the whole Gospel of Luke. “Peace on Earth, goodwill to all people!” Luke’s theology required that he let us see from the beginning of his Gospel the wonderful inclusiveness of God’s love. Why, in chapter 1 of Luke, Mary sings the Magnificat. Read it. It is filled with images of justice: “God has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts.”“God has filled the hungry with good things, and sent the rich away empty.”
So it is that shepherds, the poorest of the poor, with no place to call home, find themselves in a field blazing with the light of God, the glory of the Lord shining on them. No wonder they were afraid! Yet they stopped being afraid and they made what was surely the most important decision of their lives. They decided to get up right then and go to Bethlehem and see for themselves. Not only did they do that, but they became witnesses to what they had seen and heard. And Mary, possibly in need of just such reassurance, received their words as though they were precious gems brought by kings. She took their words and treasured them in her heart. Then, the shepherds returned to their fields praising and glorifying God! What a night! What a journey! In conclusion, Christmas is not mentioned in the Bible, but the birth of Jesus is. We celebrate Christmas to celebrate the birth of our Saviour. Christmas is for giving, not for getting, but people have got the wrong idea about it. It now seems to be the other way around. Luke teaches us to learn something from Mary and the shepherds for our lives today – God loves all the people, poor people, deaf people – join the shepherds and Mary in praising and glorifying God in our everyday lives because we know why Christ was born to us! David Buxton (D), Surrey
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13th Nov 2010 On Saturday 13th November 2010, over 160 deaf and heari ng people attended the Go! Festival Day in Birmingham. Sign The guest speaker was Jan Ta usen Zachariassen from Denm and there were lots of other ark activities too, including signe d worship, Go! Sign Cross Dr exhibitions reminding us of ama and what God has been doing in the Deaf Community in the UK! It was an awesom e message by Jan Tausen Za chariassen from Denmark. He talked about Adam an d Jesus. He described it very clearly with his own native si gn language. It was a blessing to me. Karen George (D ), Essex
! Sign ye d the Go I really enjo ting ee was go o d m Festival. It new ans - so me Deaf C hris ti other e m so also friend s and en for I haven’t se friend s, who rtant po It is so im a long time. fun ve is tians to ha for Deaf C hr ng abo ut n was teachi together. Ja second Jesus as the Adam and o d. The go was very Adam, which was lm ss Drama fi Go! Sign Cro y jo and I d id en very go o d me to ed d in - it rem watching it go Can’t wait to help people. Festival Day! to the next son (D), Nicki Steven h Peterboro ug
@t
It was great to se e many friends, bo th deaf and hear ing at the Festival I had an exhibitio Day! n to set up for th e deafchurch.co. Deaf group at th uk website and fo e “Greenbelt Fest r the ival”, so along with and a number of Signs of God, Go! other organisatio Sign, ns, we set out ou joined in sharing r displays and th tea, coffee, storie en s and good fellow with our news an ship as we caught d made new frie up nds. Soon we were ca lled together to w orship and to wat Denmark, Jan Ta ch a Deaf speake usen Zachariassen r from . He was easy to clearly and with un derstand and sign a message that ev ed eryone seemed to enjoy and apprec In the afternoon, ia te. we were treated to Drama from “G It was humorous, o! Sign Cross Dra but also gave us ma”. some food for th ou ght. Mark and Anna Smith (H), Derby
Network House Birmingham © Photos by Mell Oliver & Jo Pestell
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e and was positiv od y a D l a v ti hty G The Fes Our Almig eaching, m o fr d e bless filimg, pr well. d e d lu c in s and d drama a ited and n a g in ip h s wor nlim of God is u The Word the best. God is the better than Amen! best forever. a Igbintade (D), Atinuke Tin London
n Festival om Go! Sig fr ts lo t rn a I have le dam 1 and lly about A ia c e sp e y, Da and made e lots sense d a m It . 2 for his Adam g in the Lord in ic jo re e k and an me feel li s a blessing a w It s. n la p y wonderful , and I reall meet others to y , a d rt a g p n ma amazi liked the dra n so y M . it en enjoyed d is very ke it funny an d n u fo e h as ! in the future to go again ltekin (D), Angela Sa Derby
Festival Day I enjoyed the exciting to as because it w d old friends meet new an d abroad from the UK an ntastic fa a as well. It was e is so H , od G time with the Go! Sign good to us in There were Festival Day. happening, gs lots of thin ching, including prea DY4C worship, the and the Sign n presentatio Show. The Cross Drama e so amazing. film clips wer e acting for m I also did so with Sign the first time Team and it Cross Drama perience to ex It was g was a good reat to perform on be part and to practice and of the G have Ja lps with my o! Sign the stage. It he n Tause day, pre F cause God n estiv Zac ac confidence, be to learn hing the Word hariassen, our al event e! is with m of God. h about h (D), We wer ost for the o and ho Peter Hylton e intrig w He se w GOD resolv ued ed the is nt Jesu on closed. nd Lo st su
o open We enjo the doo es of Adam ye express rt ive and d Jan’s story a nd his s hat Adam clear. It drama igning was int sketche wa er s, durin years o g the d esting to watc s so f God’s a h y w , the c or o by Jay a nd Eliza k and I so enjo vering 3 thous an beth M yed the orton T worship ds It was lo h o le m d as. ve new frie ly to meet old and new nds, we both fe who m lt so we faces, and ma ade us k feel so much a lcomed by eve e An eye t r y h o o ne, m e. ope Thank y ner indeed fo r ou ever yone fo us both. r making Carolyn it a spe & Clark cial day Nabarr Birmin . o (D), gham
y was an Go! Sign Festival Da couragement, amazing day of en nge, inspiration, challe iles, fun fellowship, tears, sm aise God! :) and friendship! Pr ), Naomi Jarrett (H Sheffield
It wa s bri llian beca t da use t y h e re w d iffe ere l rent ots o even day f ts on e.g. w t hat orshi filmi p, pr ng (w each orshi ing, s tor y p /sho clip) rt and I rea dram lly e a. njoy Go d e d it bless . them w it h all t he w they o rk have done for t he d ay. Rita Aber neth (D), B y elfas t
an oppor tunity to meet – t ea gr as w l va ti Fes e Th es a year. My hearing m ti w fe a ly on en se s nd frie ty, is doing Level 2 si er iv n U am gh in rm Bi son, at tival, and he was Fes e th to e m h it w e m BSL. He ca h BSL and Deaf it w e’ er ph os tm ‘a f ea D e amazed at th he thought h ic wh – a am dr e th in culture shown s. He had a long chat ng so e th d an – ic st ta n was fa e Deaf pub in th g in it is v ow n is d an with Jay, the speaker, of rd da an st h ig h e Th . Birmingham s that Deaf Christian ow sh ng so d an lm fi a, dram illiant witness to the br a d an , ng vi ri th is re cultu se the Lord! ai Pr s. u nd ou ar y it n u m Deaf com Bob Shrine (D), Bradford
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News aroun Detling Conference “Now all of us can come to the Father through the same Holy Spirit because of what Christ has done for us.” Ephesians 2:18 (NLT) © Photos by People Without Limits 2010
Kent The Detling Conference took place in n’. Reig , last August on the theme ‘Rise, Run ops It was a good conference, with worksh ve. Del Eric and seminars, and was run by ip There was a lovely feeling of fellowsh y man and tent within the Deaf group t people said they would come again nex year because they enjoyed themselves. There was a team of signers present, voluntarily giving their time and commitment, to provide interpreters. r, My heart-felt thanks go to Rosie, Jennife s Lisa and Valeria. It was a fantastic 5 day and dall Ken and a special couple, R.T. his wife, Louise, met and talked with us. e It was a great blessing, wonderful to hav g agin Louise talking with us, encour Deaf Christians. , R.T. Kendall gave a talk every morning with Bible teaching, using DVDs with subtitles produced by Justine Ward. Praise the Lord! God bless Justine, and the Detling Team. Many thanks to them for all their work! t There will be Detling Conference nex year, 6th –11th August 2011, in Kent. John Barry (D), Bromley
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nd the Keswick Convention Repor t
My time at Keswick was great. God was good to us, ‘the team’. After an eventful and challenging week, we were all tired but blessed. Bob McFarland spoke at our morning seminars, Monday to Friday. A few deaf people came, also some hearing joined us too. Bob taught us from Romans 5-8 about the difference between ‘flesh’ and ‘spirit’, dead to sin, alive to Christ. He was following the ‘Keswick ministries teaching ’, which was being used throughout the Convention , so the deaf seminars followed the same teaching .
Each evening we joined the hearing seminar, the theme for the week was ‘Christ Centred Renewal’.
The readings came from 1 John 1 to 1 John 5. The message was both challenging and encouraging to us all. We, as ‘born again’ Christians, should.... not expect sin, not make excuses for sin , not be excited by sin. Those who are born of God should hate sin!
The apostle John encourages us to ‘know’ Him....there are many references from 1 John 1 onwards to chapter 5 which tell us to ‘know’, ‘know’, ‘know’...meaning to have a close relationship with the Father and his Son, Jesus Christ. It is so important for us to know this in our daily walk with Him. It is important for us to know for certain, to be confident and secure in Christ (not maybe or possibly or not sure, but to know).
There were so many blessings throughout the week from God, through His word. I give all the glory to Him.
© Photos by Keswick Min istries 2010
David Bamber (D), Preston
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News around the rence 2010 New Wine Summer Confe Each morning, in the deaf ved by an I took the train to Shepton Mallet and arrived at the huge camping site area, which was full of tents/caravans of every e shape and size, I even saw on re we s wigwam! People of all age en walking along the roads, childr the gh were weaving throu s crowds on their bikes, there wa d a smell of BBQ floating aroun and it was sunny!!
© Photos by Ne
w Wine 2010
Having not been to a big Christian camping event for many years it reminded me of Stoneleigh Bible week, at I knew we would have a gre week together.
We were ser excellent team of interpreters (10 interpreters in total) from “Signs of God”, lead by Gill B at who also doubled up as a gre chef, providing us with a lovely cooked breakfast each day!
of There was a full programme rs teaching, worship and semina e mm gra pro to choose from. The to e, information was a must hav g work out what was happenin each day!! Some people filled their day nt with meetings, others just we to the main meetings, and maybe one or two seminars, in and rested or went shopping or s, the nearby towns or village had fair-trade coffee in the big nd. marketplace at the showgrou a s The “Signs of God” tent wa wer focal point, it had its own po the o int n sig supply so we could in early hours of the morning bright light! Brilliant!
o were om people wh fr ts n e m m co e Here are som : e in at New W ard, it made kness hit me h ea w d an s n o ti t tempta y heart.” “The talk abou e me change m ad m e, m to ke o my way. me cry. God sp r who teaches ke ea sp f ea D a d to have “It was so goo st.” nderstand at la He made me u every day.” ore information m , es ri se e th “I liked bullied.” that Elisha was w o kn ’t n id d “I d teacher, good signer an “Mark is a very I want more !” ow he Wine, I liked h ew N at at re g “Mark was ay life and study to everyd le ib B e th d te notes for rela ful having the se u as w It . ts real even discuss it e was happy to H . n io ss se ch ea was really session, which e th r te af er h furt ity.” that opportun good and I liked
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seminar stream, I preached on ries Elisha, using five different sto we t tha from Elisha, showing to can trust God, as Elisha did, ., provide, to heal, to protect etc and d Go of by having a BIG view ke being changed by God to ma a difference in difficult times.
It was encouraging to hear of similar themes popping up in both main meetings and in what was shared in the deaf stream. God had gone before us. , I enjoyed meeting new people the in seeing God at work meetings and hearing stories God of peoples’ lives and of what the of was doing. By the end . week I was tired but full of joy Coming back home on the train I was jolted into the “real lice world”. A large number of po as in, tra the had to come onto ll there were a number of footba fans drinking, fighting and upsetting people on the train of I was on!! There may be a lot us bad stuff happening around l! tro con but our God is still in Mark Peel (D), Torquay
Signs of God
Summer School
Signs in Summer Take 80 Sign Language Stu dents ranging from level 1 up to qualified interpreters, add 11 tutors , several Bible teachers and theolo gians, a lot of hard work, some worship and a huge amount of laughter. That is what the Signs of God Summer Scho ol contained this year when it met at Kin g’s Park, Northampton in August. It’s a whole week of teaching and pra ctice for anyone – Deaf or hearing – that uses BSL in Christian settings. We asked those who came this year to send us some thoughts :
how to meet the needs of Deaf people in church (Genevieve Leak ). Everyone is split into ability groups so that there is a better focus on worki ng together and helping develop skills. All Church denominations are equally comfortable at summer sch ool. There is worship daily which go es from high C of E to charismatic. All of which was amazing to see in sign! Ev en those who are not Christian, bu t wanted to improve their skills in tha t setting, were happy to be involved .”
“Soul Survivor!!! What can one say about that? Camping in a large field with thousands of other yo ung people, hanging out, having fun, worshipping God with morning and ev ening sessions and more fun packed in be tween. Worshipping God in sign language, interpreting the message s and seminars, enabling Deaf yo ung people to have access is an amazi ng feeling and having the opportunit y to work in a team with three other sig n language interpreters is wonderful. It’s great to be supported throughout the whole event and we learn so much fro m each other and keep each other motiv ated.” As far as possible, each int erpreting team has a Team Leader wh o is a qualified, experienced int erpreter and that person supervises the team to make sure everyone is wo rking well together and supporting each other. Some of the teams are sm all – only 3 or 4 people, but some are huge – Greenbelt had 10 interpret ers!
More Confidence “Summer School was truly awesome, it completely exceeded all my expectations. A whole we ek to learn and grow in my know ledge, understanding and love of BSL was a real blessing – being around people who shared the sam Total Immersion e passion and excitement ad “Si gns of God [Summer Scho ded to the ol] was encouragement and fun. an amazing experience for so When I arrived meone I knew I loved signing, bu like me, who day-to-day is t lacked stuck in confidence to step out an a hearing world. To be co d be myself mpletely when using it. By the end im mersed in a community wh of the week o all use I discovered a greater unde sign language and are pa rstanding tient and kind of who I am and how to co mmunicate with each other is a beautiful thing. It that through the languag gave me the confidence an e. Alongside d passion to that I met with God in ne believe that maybe one da w and y I would be refreshing ways, made so able to sign more than jus me great t “Name me...” new friends and realised that life Interpreting Teams without such a beautiful language Signs of God was busy all would be a very sad life ind through the eed!” Summer – not just at Summ er School! Content We sent teams of interpret ers to Soul “Organisation is the key to this amazing Survivor A and B and Momentum, event. There are tutors wh three New Wine events, Gr o teach apevine and you the fundamentals of Gr eenbelt. Being part of an BSL from interpreting placement to grammar an team at a major Christian If you have level 3 signing d Christian Conference skills or elements! Fantastic lectur giv es a ch an ab ce to develop interpreting ove and would like to ser ers talk about ve on an a range of subject which interpreting team for 2011 all have a Deaf skills in a safe supportive atmosphere , ple ase thread. Here are a few of the and at the same time give contact us. We would lov subjects a really e to he ar the lecturers covered: BSL excellent service to the De from you. Bible af people Translation project (Tracy Raistrick), The who are there. Gill Behenna (H), way senses are used in Ma rk’s Gospel Administrator, (Louise Lawrence), a Deaf exchange Bristol between Nepal and the UK through Global Xchange (Cindy Ve ersamy), Winter 2010 GO! SIGN Summer School
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D e a f Yo u t h
Adam McCormick (D), Belfast
© Photos by Operation Christmas C hild 2010
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Peter Hylton (D), London
©
It’s a great opportunity for people to celebrate together. It’s good to spread the news about Deaf Christmas services. We must remember that Christmas can be special but for many it’s a lonely time. We must pray for them and think how we can make it a cherished time for them. The best thing I ever did was making a Christmas hamper for a local elderly woman, the delight on her face was priceless.
Remember to cele brate Jesus’ birth 2,000 years ag o, when he was born to Mary in Bethlehem of Judea. Matthew 1:18-25 and 2:1-12. Christmas is a time to give and receive gifts. Th e Bible says, in John 3:16, “For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whosoever believeth in him sh ould not perish, but have everlastin g life”.
Child 2010
For me, I love going to Church on Christmas morning, as it means we have about an hour to worship and reflect on God’s gift to us, Jesus, singing Christmas carols and having all the children showing their Christmas presents! Elizabeth T-Morton (D), Birmingham
of In the busy times on, the Christmas seas it is easy to forget the whole point of ed Christmas! We ask tion, ourselves the ques how could we remember Jesus at Christmas time…
n Christmas
Janet Young (D), Belfast
Operatio Photos by
Spend quality tim e with family and close fr iends over Christmas an d celebrate with them what Jesus did fo r us!
If you are interested in packing your own gift-filled shoebox online to a child in need, please go and have a look at those two websites; www.operationchristmaschild.org.uk www.samaritans-purse.org.uk
Here are some ideas on how to celebrate Jesus at Christmas time.
4 Christ By Elizabeth Thomas-Morton (D), DY4C Editor
For me, the first way I remind myself of Jesus at Christmas is by singing Christmas carols, as this is a tradition I grew up with in Romania. The words just tell the nativity story and it always makes me think back to the time when Jesus was born into our world.
Nora Allen (H), Birmingham
Well now, since we have had Phoebe , we like to read he r the stor y of Jesus coming into the world and have a birthday cake to celebrate Je sus’s birthday. We th ank Jesus for comin g into this world and saving us all. Rebekah Leonard (D ),
Birmingham
ends and I like to spend time with fri ate ebr family to remember and cel en s giv all the many blessings He ha w , ho us’ th wi od us! Immanuel -‘G ve to ha ’t esn do amazing is that? It from igs tw cost lots of money...some , an hts lig the garden decorated with ats tre ed open fire and some home bak don’t d are Christmas to me. Oh… an :) ne! wi forget the mulled Naomi Jarret (H), Sheffield
When I was very little, my s on parents used to put candle had we a Christmas cake and Jesus to sing happy birthday to and then pray a thank you n our prayer before we could ope ause presents! It was clever bec day it made us realise that the I still ay. thd bir us’ was about Jes ry eve d, hea do it now, in my Christmas morning! Lol! Tree T-Morton (H), Bromsgrove
Send Christian ‘Praying with Candles’ - one Christmas cards. family always light candles Pray during Advent with and pray together before opening presents every year. Bible verses included with the chocolates! Write Christmas not Xmas. Have a nativity scene in Bake a birthday cake your home to remind you for Jesus. of the birth of Jesus. the with Get involved Add Bible verses to Christmas Shoebox the crackers. Project and fill a shoebox Watch a DVD or film with presents for a about Jesus. child overseas.
Enjoy Christmas dinner with all the trimmings! Give hampers to those in need.
Let Jesus be the guest of honour on Christmas Day!
I have not actually thought about celebrating Christmas...although I know it is all about Jesus… we normally sit and watch films all day and stuff junk in our mouths! It has actually made me think about how I am going to celebrate this Christmas! I will probably sing worship and maybe watch a DVD about Jesus. Angela Saltekin (D), Derby
People keep the tradition of cele brating Christmas by honouring the birt h of Jesus. Our family tradition is to bake a special birthday cake in his hon our and then gather around the cake and sing Happy Birthday to JESUS. Sing Happy Birthday to JESUS all together. Take time to remember the miracle surroun ding the birth of Jesus. Think of his gre at love and sacrifice for each one of us. He gave up his place in heaven for a tim e and came to earth to be born as a baby, who would grow up and give his life to save the world. The best part of Chr istmas is to celebrate the birth of JESUS.
Sarah Caruth (D), Northern Ireland
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Christmas Tradition Australia eal, like roast Some have a hot m ef, at dinner chicken, lamb or be m, then at 6pm time, 12 noon to 1p and salad. will have leftovers outside, relax, Some have a BBQ ach. Some have then go to the be the beach all meals and BBQs at e we go out day. Most of the tim autiful weather. because of the be open gifts in In the city kids will the morning. ill open gifts At the farm kids w e of working after lunch becaus g the animals. on the farm, feedin e for kids to The afternoon is fre . play and enjoy gifts
ill go church Christian people st his birthday to worship Jesus on (a short service).
around the World...
USA ichigan to visit We will travel to M d relatives in my mom’s home an ichigan, for my native state, M y son, Emory Christmas, while m ily, will travel to David, and his fam tive Puerto Rico his wife Maria’s na as with her and have Christm ristmas is relatives. Their Ch t PR’s official December 25th bu nuary 6th: Christmas is on Ja panish Culture). Three Kings Day (S to celebrate our How WONDERFUL hday together Saviour Jesus’ Birt and friends. with our relatives ay is a personal The Christmas holid e together, even and cherished tim in some weight! through we may ga together !! :) WONDERFUL times Emory Dively (D)
) Rod Chapman (D
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ead of Brazil zil is hot! Inst ra B in s a m Christ o to the e snow, we g playing in th ool for swimming p e th r o h c a mer be also our “sum is It . n o ti a me recre ol so it is a ti o h sc m o fr ” vacation ell. to travel as w e k li e w n e wh ration al and celeb e m s a m st ri Our Ch ve. Gifts are Christmas E n o ld e h re eal is a the special m d n a d e g n a exch t. nd midnigh served arou zà include “arro s e h is d l a ic ients Typ other ingred h it w e ic (r ” bes grega s, raisins, cu a e p , ts o rr a such as: c er” ham, “Chest y, e rk tu ), m a hite of h with more w ry lt u o p f o (a type tone” rkey), “Pane tu n a th t a e m sh, bread), codfi it u fr n a li a It (an meal sted manioc “farofa” (toa ents), accompanim s u o ri a v h it w erts. special dess d n a , e in w , in, nuts day to sleep a is y a d s a Christm eat all e family, and th h it w x la re s leftovers. the deliciou ettes (D) Brenno Dou
© Photos by Chrissan Moldrich 2010.
Holland First…we all ar Switzerland e hoping for a white Christm Christmas is in as! :) But it is a memory of Jesu very long time since s. B ut today, also p On 25th Decem we had that. eople not belie ber and 26th ving Decem in Jesus are ce ber, Christmas lebrating Christ Mostly we go to will also be mas church on Dec as a family par celebrated but ty. 24th, this is ca in d iff er ent families lled the Christm like the parents as Service. Here w o W f it th h e husband or the beginning e hear the story the wife or by of December, about the birth brothers and si streets or Christ of Jesus and w sters mas trees (fir tr at their home. e sing several ca ees) are illuminated rols. In the chu w ith electrical lig rch it’s a bit dark, w hts. The Dea On the 6th child ith many cand f Christian Com re n are waiting fo les, but very beauti munity of r Sa int Nicholas (n Sw it ze ful. After the se rland celebrate ot to be comp rvice s there is always C hristmas ared with the Santa at the beginnin hot chocolate. C la u s in g o U f Th SA D e ec , I don’t next morning ember (this know how it is year: 4th Decem we go to the ch in UK). He gives b er urch ). In again but it is n d ependent p eanuts, tanger churches (i.e. ch ot as dark as th ines and choco ar is e m at evening before ic lates. Baptist groups, Children are o . Dec 25th is ca s ...) are celebra ften in fear of h lled ti the “First Christ n im g on their b ec ause he tells if own, often on mas Day”. After the child has 25th December the morning servic b een honest or . The two main churc e we usually g not and what hes in Switzerl o to one pair of our th an ey d, sh th ould do better e Protestant ch parents, where in future. urch (from the my brothers and si D ea f clubs sometim Swiss reformer ster are too. On es organise a s Calvin and Zw the Second Christm N ic ingli) h o an la s d the Roman-C d ay. It’s simply a as Day (Dec 26 atholic church th) tradition we go to the fa in w ai ar ti ng for Christm e celebrating o mily of my wife as. Some n Christmas Ev at granny’s house Christians acce e to Christmas day . There’s a bun p t th is tr at ad ch of m it io id uncles, aunts, n n , ig h t (and others not. it’s often the o nephews, etc. nly one event there. w here p eople go to ch During the day urch). On 24th Decem we play games ber, Christmas like Settlers of Catan Eve, traditionally th Even in Switze , Risk and Ches e family celebra rland, a “White s. We watch movi te C h ri st C m h as ri es too (usually st in m th as e ” is ev q ening. Candles uite rare excep typical (or el Christmas movi t in ectrical bulbs) the mountain es like The Fam ar re e gions where m ily o u n Man, Charlie an te d o n the Christmas there is plenty d the Chocolate tree and gifts ar of snow. Factory, etc.) an e p la ce d u nder the tree (e d my wife and I have specially if Gregor Maier an unofficial Th children are pre (D) ird Christmas D se n t) . Ea ay ch family where we will h has their tradit ave a great mea ion of eating, o l at our home and ften the same men just be alone, th u each year, but e two of us. All three it differs from fa days we have a mily to family. great In meals but no tr my fa mily it’s fondu aditional food lik e bourguignon e turkey, each ye (meat fondue) ar is different. . Gifts will be o pened. Dancing, singin g or speeches Greetings and are God bless you al so common. ! Albert (D) and Elien (H) Wijben ga
Denmark The Christmas Tradition in Denmark is generally that families gather together. For example, young people come home to their parents, and grandmothers and grandfathers also come together on Christmas Eve. Firs t, at about 12 or in the afternoon we go to church and hear the Christmas gospel for one hour. Then we eat duck, goose, turkey roll roast with apple and prune or pork roast with potatoes, brown potatoes, brown gravy and red cabbage. Dessert is always risalamande with almond gifts, i.e. only one almond in a bowl, and you win a gift when you get an almond in your mouth. Then there
is dancing and we get around the In the Faroe Islands they eat similar Christmas tree and sing, about baby food but there are Faroese specialties , Jesus and others, among other things. such as dried mutton cooked in the Then we give the children their oven, with the smell throughout the Christmas presents. Afterwards, house. It tastes good. In Sweden we we stop for coffee, tea and cakes always eat ham and have a buffet. and cookies and games for as long as you want. More often we are at home by ourselves, sometimes we invite lonely A typical Christmas day is spent dea f people to come along to our visiting other family or friends and Chr istmas party. We often eat turkey always includes a great buffet of and risalamande Christmas Eve and different herring and fish. fresh mutton on Christmas Day. Our families live far away from us and Merry Christmas! it is not every year we get to visit them. They live in the Faroe Islands Anne and Jan and in Sweden. Their Christmas party Tausen (D) Zachariassen is a little different to here in Denmar k. Winter 2010 GO! SIGN
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God’s love is not only for you and me. God loves people all around the world as well. As Rick Warren says, “God wants you to have a ministry in the Body of Christ and a mission in the world.”
In the summer, a small group from Merland Rise church, Denise Flynn (D), David Flynn (H), Rosie Westby (H) and Andy Hedges (H), went to Bolivia to do mission work and to extend the Kingdom of God by blessing Deaf and hearing Bolivians. We worked together sharing testimonies, preaching, giving pastoral advice and baptizing Deaf people, making pastoral visits to Deaf people in their homes, visiting a carpentry workshop to check on the resources needed and giving training to Deaf women in self-defence against rape, abuse and violence (hearing women were also welcomed). We provided firstaid training for staff and teachers working at the Deaf School “Arca Maranatha” in Riberalta and the Deaf orphans centre in Vinto, and trained staff, leaders and pastors of Christ Saves at Cochabamba. We also presented seminars on the training of interpreters in both Riberalta and Cochabamba.
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It was interesting for me to compare this trip with previous short-term mission trips. Before, I had led four groups from the Deaf Step Mission. In these groups there were normally 2 hearing people: namely my husband David and my sister Valeria Carolina. Both had different roles and Valeria worked as an interpreter, translating daily between 4 languages: English, Spanish, Bolivian Sign Language (LSB) and British Sign Language (BSL). However, this time my sister was not there, so I had to be involved in translating. For example, when Andy, the Christian policeman, was teaching self defence, he taught in English on the platform. Rosie translated into BSL for me, then I could translate into LSB on the same platform for Deaf women, while David was translating into Spanish from English. However Rosie did the most translating, in different areas, for both formal and informal situations. Bolivian Deaf and hearing people were amazed, asking us how we could work together translating languages plus working as a good team. My father answered them with Philippians 4:13, “I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength,” and for God nothing is impossible. It helped me to reflect that as Winston Churchill said, “…a pessimist sees the
difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty.” It means that, when God gives us a difficult and challenging job, we accept it as a good opportunity to learn and develop, instead of rejecting it. I will never forget how much we laughed as we learnt about Bolivian culture, how to eat a pasty that contains meat, egg, olive, onions and tomatoes mixed with a lot of watery sauce. Andy and Rosie were practicing how to eat the pasty without spilling the sauce on their hands! What a laugh!
Building construction
Finally, David and I supervised and worked with Christ Saves church on building construction. We finished the 3rd floor hall, office and two rooms and dedicated them to God for the Deaf people to have services and run different kind of projects for the Deaf community. Denise Flynn (D), Middlesex
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Kenya Deaf Children Camp Kenya Deaf Children Camp
Bible verse searching This involved looking for a given Bible verse while being timed and finding it in the shortest time possible. Songs and drama This also involved the best, most active, children in each category. Cultural activities The children show-cased the culture of the area where their school was located. Poems Poems were closely contested and covered different topics.
Praise the Lord!
It gives me pleasure to report on the Deaf Children’s camps in Kenya. The camps are held annually during the second week of August. This year’s camp was a bigger success given that a total number of seventy participants attended. The participants are drawn from different schools for the Deaf all over Kenya. Fifteen schools for the Deaf were represented by three children each, with the host school having ten kids. The kids were taken through different topics but the theme was “Come my children and listen to me, and I will teach you to hear the Lord’’. The speakers, who are Deaf themselves, gave presentations on why we need to fear the Lord, in accordance with the theme: Proverbs 34:11. They also explained the results of fearing the Lord as well as the consequences of not fearing the Lord, using the examples of Cain and David. The sessions were concluded with group discussions on different topics. Praise and worship were also well presented, with kids themselves show-casing their talents in memory verses, ‘Single Kids’ for very young children, Bible verse searching, drama, poems, cultural dances, beliefs etc. Each winner was presented with a certificate. Memory verses This involved signing verses from the Bible from memory. Single Kids This involved the most active and youngest Deaf kids doing a presentation.
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By the end of the camp many kids had responded to the call and come to Jesus. Twenty kids repented and nineteen were baptized. Challenges The challenges we faced touched our hearts, as we had to make the best of the limited resources we had. As we depend on well-wishers, the funds were not enough for us to support the many kids who wanted to attend but whose parents could not afford the fare. Most children come from needy families and getting local financial support is usually a big challenge. Children can be seen in church asking, “Can I go? My parents have no money, where will I get the fare?” These questions are always left unanswered because we can’t make promises that we cannot keep. Most of our children have very good hearts for the gospel and are usually ready to respond to Jesus’s call. We need them all to attend but economic problems don’t allow it. The camp usually costs a budget of $3000. The next camp will be held in August 2011, at Tumbuni community centre, a centre fifty-three kilometers away to the north of Nairobi. Any volunteer speakers wanting to share life-changing messages with the children will be most welcome. God bless you all. Josephat Mulongo (D), Kenya
South Africa: 8th Deaf Chris tian Conference 23-26 April 20 10
The 8th Deaf C hristian Confere nce was held in beautiful place a During the free in the vicinity o time Regina Pa f wine farms, n Wellington in So ssenbacher (Ho ea o r f Cape Town m uth Africa, for th H) assaged the dea e long weeken of 23 - 26 April f women’s d feet with some 2010. The weath herbs, which le er was kind to us – lovely and ft them feeling refreshed afterw hot during the ards – so nice to day and cool at night. The ca be pampered! mp is flanked b y a crown-like There will be a mountain, with camp in Kwa-Z smooth-topped ulu in March/ mountains April 2011 – Plea on either side o se pray for Hein f it. That’s why it is called rich & Carina Kutzner (HoH) “Bergkroon” in of Durban who Afrikaans, or Cro w ill w organize n Mountain in the next Camp English. The ca . mp is almost lik e a farm or mo like a garden (in re the new Jerusa Bev Warmingto lem yet to com with domestic n (D), South A e), animals (e.g. sh frica eep, goats, duck geese, hens wit s, h chickens, pon ies and 2 black pigs) and wild People’s comm animals which ents about the ar e ta camp: me (e.g. springbok and blesboks), min W h en g ar ling and riving at the ca grazing togeth mp, I saw the cr er – amazing! outside. The cr oss oss convinced me of my own There were 54 n ee d fo r Je sus Christ. Nex Deafies, includ t day I decided ing 8 children, attending the w submit my life to hole weekend to C h ri st . of camp and al over 20 day visi W illiam (D), Sow so tors over the lo eto ng weekend. It was full of a va riety of things, I had a wonder such as fellowsh talks, signed so ful time being ip, ngs in our own with all my frie an d listening to w languages (e.g nds English, Afrikaa hat God wants . ns and some tr u s Th to e kn p la o ib w ce al . la is drama, group d nguages), like living in “G iscussions, wal od’s World”, bea and unspoilt vi king through th utiful fields, games (in ews of God’s cr e cluding the ob eation. It gave time to reflect stacle course) me and many more on what God h ! as been doing my life and to m in ove on from th ere. God bless The theme for you all! the weekend w as “Light and Salt” – the spea D ar yn Sutton (Ho kers were Willia H), Cape Town m Warmington (D) of Germisto n, Hermanus En gelbrecht (D) o Pretoria and Ph f umie Jemane (D ) of Worcester. William preach ed on Saturday morning on th theme, “Findin e g Peace in a Co u ntry of Racial Conflict.” Herm anus spoke on Sunday mornin on “Justified by g Faith”. In the af te rnoon Chris Bothma (HoH) of Cape Town sh ared a bit of Revelation from Luke 21:36, and on another day, Phumie sh ared “God’s Wo rd lights the way”.
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suss Je Jesu
at What I think of Christmas in this country? Well, Christmas time every December includes Santa Claus but the world is unclear about the story, as it is not seen as a real story, but it is a real story – the story of salvation through Jesus. to be distracted by the Christmas tree and beautiful decorations, as I have been in the past. We need to remember that Jesus came to show us the Father, as he said in John 14:6, “I am the way, the truth and the life. No-one comes to the Father except through me. If you really knew me, you would know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him.” (NIV) Every December, Christmas time is celebrated by families as a time of giving, and receiving e.g. writing to Santa, “Dear Santa, can I have a real dog, a laptop and a nice car, please. Thank you.” It is a time of celebration e.g. watching telly, feasting, opening presents, talking about stuff with the family, playing games etc. (and there is nothing wrong with spending time with your family).
However, it is easy to miss the great news that Jesus came to the world to save because even if people attend church to see their children perform the story of the birth of Jesus, they see only the nativity and the real story is lost in the confusion. Children believe in Santa Claus, and have high expectations of the present under the Christmas tree in the morning, instead of writing to God and hearing the news of the real story of Jesus, not the fairly tales which can cause distraction and confusion.
According to the Bible, “He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God…” (John 1:11). This is a world in confusion about Christmas. It is a good time to celebrate Jesus but our real needs go deeper than that. The world needs security, receiving Jesus and knowing about spiritual life with God. The world needs to know that being loved, valued and honoured is what brings meaning to our lives. That is exactly why God sent Jesus (humbling Himself) down to the world. He wanted to rescue people and died on a cross to take the punishment for our wrong doing on himself, like a flower trampled on the ground. He rose from death and is alive for eternity (praise God!) and He offers us the greatest gift of forgiveness, which we do not deserve. For without his forgiveness, freely given, we would remain distant from God and cut off from him forever but when you receive his forgiveness, the relationship is restored for a healthy spiritual life. Jesus gives us the best gift of his prefect Spirit to help us live life to the full.
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Christmas It is easy
He longs to know people better and meet our daily needs because he loves us. Knowing Him now means we will live with Him forever, the best gift and the best hope for us too! But we must keep remembering His promise after Christmas has gone. Jesus’ promise to remain in our life is far better than any Christmas present from Santa Claus. Of course I understand that people, especially young children, love the idea of Santa and other Christmas traditions but they also need to know and understand the real story of Jesus. Jesus is the BEST all the time (John 3:17). I wish you a merry Christmas and have a happy new year to come, in Jesus’ name. Atinuke Tina Igbintade (D), London
The Christmas is Jesus. of ng ni ea m al re e Th orld m coming to the w Christmas story is Hi as, darkness. At Christm to save us from the but a vulnerable baby, Jesus is depicted as that r be so try to remem I think we should al ay l King who didn't st Jesus is our powerfu forever! as a vulnerable baby e difficult to celebrat I sometimes find it ch because there is su Jesus at Christmas on ng gifts, spendi as big emphasis on d time with family presents, parties an as to Church at Christm and friends. Going lebrate Jesus. time helps me to ce ey Jon Noble (H), Surr
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s a m t s i r h C f o Meaning ating As a designer, I enjoy cre tmas custom designed Chris ly, I have cards each year. Recent from my found great inspiration us’ desire four year old son, Attic ning of to convey the real mea are of Christmas. He is fully aw of the Santa Claus as a figure us that season but also reminds day. With Christmas is Jesus’ birth g us with the holidays inundatin gifts, expectations of material my son I was truly touched that liday a wanted to make the ho Jesus’ genuine celebration of Birthday birth declaring “Happy portant Jesus!” We felt it was im ysical that the phrase had a ph raphs presence in the photog e actual so those words becam paper letters we die cut out of er on the instead of adding it lat . The cards computer as an overlay ographs became a series of phot real that helped document e moments expressing th in our lives. meaning of Christmas
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The introduction and title image of the series was a photograph of the words subtracted from the paper as if saying that Jesus is the foreground to all the commercial symbolism of Christmas.
manger scene was incorporating the s rie se e th for a ide xt The ne just have Baby every year. We usually we have under our tree lp gather more so I asked Atticus to he ry Ma d an , ph se Jo s, Jesu bit. Where personalize the scenea to t oo sh o ot ph e th figures for scene? Fu Panda in a manger else will you see Kung
In this playful dress-up as Santa Claus declaring “Happy Birthday” to Jesus, Atticus acknowledges that Jesus should never be lost or replaced in the celebration of the season.
one of the we wanted to capture s, rie se e” m ho ing m you In this “co Christmas with the ones ing rat leb ce – on as se e true joys of th s during the we travel long distance rs, he ot y an m so do As e a few love. e with family we only se nit reu to r de or in on as holiday se ents of Atticus raphs capture real mom times a year. The photog It captures back home from work. ing m co y” pp “Po his g we love. greetin ing home to the ones m co of t en em cit ex that genuine
we threw Even on Christmas day, day party together a humble birth y cupcake da complete with a birth at he calls for Jesus. Atticus sang wh “Happy the new Christmas song y Birthday pp Birthday Baby Jesus. Ha day Baby Baby Jesus. Happy Birth ristmas Day!” Jesus! His party is on Ch a genuine How I feel blessed that able to heart of a child has been ns in life. so teach me such great les d Christmas We wish you all a blesse come. this and many years to ner and About Me: I am a desig based in aspiring photographer A focused US Memphis, Tennessee, ture, interiors, in the fields of architec and graphic design.
Sophorn McRae (H), USA
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Is your Christmas wrapped up? Sometimes people have a bit of fun by buying a small expensive present but wrapping it up with lots of paper. Are you doing that with Christmas? What have you wrapped around Christmas? Is it food, drink, parties or presents. Maybe it is the religious things, carols or the Christmas story. There is nothing wrong with any of these things but we need to be careful that we remember the real meaning of Christmas. Each one of the wrappings can point to the true gift of Christmas. The food, a lot of people have a must have list, if they do not get that special food or drink it would not be Christmas. It would be Christmas even with a simple meal. Yes we celebrate a special day with a special meal but it would still be a special day without it. Even in Bible times people celebrated special events with food. So, as we enjoy our Christmas food, let’s remember why this day is important, it is when God became man. When you have children, they have a long list of things they want for Christmas. Yes it is nice to see our children enjoy Christmas. It is nice to buy people the presents they want, as well as receiving the presents we want. Let’s buy the presents wisely so the people have what they want and will use. The giving of presents is also in the Bible, to celebrate a joyful time, as we do today. Surely there is no happier time than when we remember our Saviour. Then there is the religious side of Christmas, the songs that are sung about that first Christmas, the children acting out the Christmas story for their parents to enjoy. Do the other people take the most important place, the angels, wise men, or even Mary? Do we see that the virgin birth was the way God and man became joined, in one person. The unlimited Lord of all became a limited baby. The Holy God entered a sinful world so that people can enter a Holy Heaven.
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Yes all these things, food, presents and worship are nice and good but why stop at the wrapping, when in the centre is God’s gift to us. The first Christmas present was a God-given one. John 3:16 (NIV) “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” Yes that first Christmas present was the Son of God, Jesus. He came to give us real life, both now and forever. The way to life was made possible 33 years later on the cross, when God’s Son was killed so that our sins could be forgiven. Then he was raised from the dead, so we know that death is not the end. Let us, as we get near Christmas, stop worrying about the food and presents and start to think about the most important thing, Jesus, who is God from before time and became a man that we may have fellowship with God. Let us worship Him.
Let our eating and presents be acts of worship as we remember the reason for the food and the giving of presents. Let us joyfully give to people who have nothing or little. Most importantly, let us obey Jesus and live a life that shows Jesus’ love, as we enjoy our Christmas. We can show to people that Christians can be both happy and holy at the same time because we have a good reason to be happy. Let us put Christ first this Christmas. Ernest Seager (D), Stoke-on-Trent
© Photos by Jason Ellis 2010
GO! SIGN is published three times a year. The aim of GO! SIGN is to support and enable Deaf Christians through Christian Network, Outreach, Equipping, Teaching and Evangelism. Any person or organisation wishing to photocopy or reproduce GO! SIGN articles, may do so provided they acknowledge GO! SIGN’s copyright and do not edit text. The views expressed in GO! SIGN should not necessarily be taken as GO! SIGN policy. Whilst every care is taken to provide accurate information, neither GO! SIGN Ministry Team, Trustees, the Editor nor the contributors accept any liability for any error or omission. A subscription to GO! SIGN costs £11.50 per year for an individual or £20 for an organisation.
Next issue 76 The theme of the next issue of the magazine will be...
“Do you have time for God?” Please could you write an article or story about your experience, testimony, or any biblical point of view on the theme, “Do you have time for God?” It can be something to encourage people to have time for God, or sharing your experience of how to have time with God through busy or difficult times. If you have something to share, please write to: GO! SIGN Editor (Esther Maycock) 21 Newton Wood Road Ashtead, Surrey KT21 1NN Or email to her: crazyerm@hotmail.co.uk
Deadline by
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