The mission statement of the Christian School and Chapel for the Deaf, Inc. is to “Nurture Deaf Children to Think and Live Biblically.” We can only begin to do this. And we can only begin to DO this as we ourselves explore biblical precepts.
This summer, Lora, Tess and Betsy (three ladies in the center of the photo) are reading Discipling Nations by Darrow L. Miller for their summer THINKing material. Of course, we hope they will be reading their Bibles and other edifying literature as well.
During the past school year, the CSCD lady staff (those ladies picture above PLUS a few others) worked through the book How People Change by Timothy Lane and Paul David Tripp in a weekly evening Bible study. Some weeks we had lively discussions. Other weeks we were drown into thoughtful and prayerful moments as we discussed personal struggles and our perceptions of how God would help us to overcome, grow deeper into His character and live out the biblical standards we were learning.
We completed that book at the end of March and then began a series of readings related to Ending Well (as three of our six Bible study members were leaving and all of us were ending the school year). Our studies included reading the Ken Boa’s Finishing Well series, and excerpts from Coming Home by Howard and Bonnie Lisech. Spending this time together perpared us to say “goodbye” to our good friends and co-workers as well as helped us to see that our school year’s end was simply a transition into the NEXT thing that God is preparing for us.
Twice during the past school year (November and April/May), we prayed through Andrew Murray’s Helps to Intercession guide. Rosa commented that having repeated this guide several times during her three years of serving at CSCD had helped her prayer life in that Mr. Murray reminds us to pray for things that we often don’t pray about.
If you are looking for something to read this summer, and you should choose Discipling Nations, let us know. We would love to hear how God is working on your worldview and how you are learning to think and live in a more biblical manner. Also, if you have a favorite book/Bible study to recommend, please let us know!
As a SCHOOL staff, we make sure to never step away from learning for ourselves. As Christians working in full-time ministry, we make sure never to step away from our Lord Jesus Christ and His awesomeness. As teachers desiring to instill a hunger for learning into our students, we constantly discuss ways things that impede our learning and understanding and we attempt to plan our classroom, dorm and study times so that we can remove obstacles to our students’ learning as well.
For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? – Mark 8:36
We were able to have lots of small group interactions to complement the group teaching sessions. Many of the participants attend churches where there are Deaf members and while they are not interpreting, they simply wanted to learn how to communicate better – both in understanding and in expressing themselves.
