October - December 2009 Dear Pastors and Church Members, We want to say Merry Christmas and Happy New Year's Day to everyone. We are very thankful for your support and prayers for our ministry with deaf. Last Sunday, we saw four young people get saved, ages 10, 11, 14 and 18, and we are so thrilled to see that. We have a special burden for a van ministry because my wife and I rode on a church van when we were teenagers. We are very thankful for the van drivers who were willing to give up their time to pick us up so we could learn about God's Word. On Sundays, my wife and I are picking up deaf teenagers because of someone who did that for us. Prayer Requests: We need someone to help us in the deaf youth department (averaging around 10 and 15 teenagers on Sundays) and a van driver. I have special request, I know right now the economy is very tight, but God is able to provide what we need so we are asking for you to pray for this special need. I have been looking around for a church building, and the average is around $200,000. We have raised $50,000 so far, and we want to raise another $50,000 so we can put half on a down payment. In our last letter, I said we found a building for $150,000, but the bank decided to raise it to $200,000, so I am looking for another church building. Please pray for me to look at the right building. If God touches your heart to give a special offering, you can send it to Deaf Baptist Church, 1243 Belmont Avenue, Smyrna, Georgia 30080 (for church building). I will send a receipt letter to you. In Christ's love, Bruce Kelly and Family _________________________________________________________________________ July - September 2009 Dear Pastors and Church Members: It is hard to believe summer is over. The past summer has been very busy for us. In June, my wife and I went to Phoenix, Arizona. My wife taught a couple workshops for the deaf teenagers (girls), and I taught to deaf teenagers (boys). Also, I preached to deaf teenagers. In July, our second son, Tim, came with us to go to New Jersey for the Northeast Deaf Family Retreat. I was one of the speakers at the camp, and my wife taught a workshop to deaf ladies. I was in charge of the sports program for the afternoon, and my son, Tim, helped me. It is such a blessing to have our children involved in the ministry. At the end of July, my wife and I went to Powell, Tennessee, for a Deaf Retreat. I was one of the main speakers there. Several people rededicated their lives for God. In August, I went to Ohio for Deaf Camp. It was for deaf teenagers, and 27 teenagers got saved. It has been a great honor that I was able to preach for these camps this summer. I saw God work in the lives of these people. Thank you for your prayers for our safety as we traveled to these camps. We need someone to help us in the deaf youth department. We also need a van driver. Right now, we don't have a van driver and there are around six to eight teens who want to come, but don't have the transportation. Thank you, Bruce Kelly and Family Prayer Request - We are raising money for a church building. We may have found one. This building last year cost $400,000 and it is in foreclosure. The bank wants to sell it for $150,000, which is a very good price for Atlanta. So far, we have raised $39,000, and if you are interested in helping out, you can contact me through email, bavkelly@yahoo.com and I will send you a letter explaining more. Please pray much for us to be able to purchase this building. _________________________________________________________________________ April - June 2009 Dear Pastors and Church Friends: Really, I do not know where to begin. First of all, last letter I report that the church van was stolen. We got it back. The only thing that was damaged was the starter. (The person had damaged it so he could start the van with a screwdriver.) In April, I went to New Jersey for Deaf Bible Conference. On Saturday, it was an all day conference. After I preached, we were going to the lunchroom to eat lunch, but a deaf couple wanted to know how to be "saved," so I explained to them how to be saved. They got saved! I was so exciting as I enter the lunchroom. Everyone was so excited then. As I was going to get my lunch another couple was brought to me wanting to know how to be saved. We went into another room, and I also led them to Christ. Again, I brought them to lunchroom. Other people were rejoicing about that. Later there was one deaf lady that had a lot of hard questions to ask me. Each question she had I showed her what the Bible says. Later on, she also got saved. One day these people who have gotten saved will thank you in heaven because of your support and prayers for me. I was able to go to New Jersey and preach about God's plan of salvation. At the end of April, the deaf couple who had been helping us for a year and a half moved back North and will begin a deaf church in the Midwest sometimes by the end of the year or next year. In April, two deaf teenagers got saved. When great things happen like people getting saved, Satan is there to try to destroy the word of God. So we have experienced quite a few people quitting church. But again, God is great. People who we have been teaching the last few years are ready to take responsibility. In May, we had a driver who picked up deaf people for us on Sundays. He quit due to sin, but again God is still good. A new person has volunteered to pick up deaf teens. Also, two more teens got saved. Prayer request -- we will be in Arizona for Deaf Baptist Fellowship of America. Then we will be going to New York for deaf camp, as I will be preaching for both. Pray for safe travel and souls to be saved. On a personal note, our oldest son Paul graduated from Bible College on May 2. He got married on May 23. Love in Christ, Bruce Kelly and Family _________________________________________________________________________ January - March 2009 Dear Pastors and Church Friends: In January, there was Silent Word Ministries Men's Retreat In Alabama, and ten men from our church went. We had great workshops, preaching, fellowship and food! We have had a couple of hard situations happen in the past two months. On February 9, our third son (John) was having a lot of stomach pain, so I took him to the doctor. They did a sonogram and found that he had appendicitis. The doctor told us he should be able to go home the next day, but after the surgery was done the doctor came out and told us that the appendix was ruptured and gangrene. He said John would have to stay in the hospital for a few days because of the infection. That really scared us. He was really very sick for a few days, but praise the Lord he got better on the fourth day, and he was able to come home. He missed school for two weeks, but now he is fully recovered. Our church hosted the 26th annual National Christian Athletic Association for the Deaf in March. The burden of the person who started it was to see people get saved. We had 10 men teams and four ladies teams. We saw seven people get saved. There was one guy that Bruce had been witnessing to for four years. He was one of the seven people who got saved, we were so excited to see that. As we know, when we have great victory Satan is not happy with that. We had the tournament on Friday and Saturday. We have two church vans - one is a 15 passenger and the other one is a minivan. Both of the vans are used for picking up deaf people on Sundays. That Sunday afternoon the minivan was stolen. So far it hasn't been recovered. But God is still good. Even right now we are in a bad economy, but God is still in control of everything. On a personal note, our oldest son Paul will be graduating from college on May 2, then on May 23, he will be marrying Jensen whom we love. Love in Christ, Bruce Kelly and Family _________________________________________________________________________ October - December 2008 To Pastors and Church Friends: Wow, it is already in December, time does go by too fast. I want to review of what happened this year.
Our big goal for 2009 is to buy a church building. We will be sending our letter about that so we will need your prayer as we take that big step. My family and I want to say thank you for your prayers and support for our ministry with the deaf. We also want to wish you "Merry Christmas and Happy New Year's Day." Love in Christ, Bruce Kelly and Family _________________________________________________________________________ July - September 2008 Dear Pastors and Church Friends: In early July, my wife and I traveled to Sparrow, New York, for the Northeast Deaf Camp. There were over 150 campers there, 11 people got saved and many dedicated their lives to the Lord. I preached several times and also taught the young men classes. My wife taught the young ladies classes. We made many new friends, and we really received many blessings to see several people get saved. During camp week, my wife received sad news. Her grandmother (92 years old) died in her sleep. My wife was sad about this news, but glad her grandmother is in heaven with her son again. As most of you know my wife's dad died from cancer a couple years ago. In the end of July, we took different groups of teenagers to Harvest Deaf Camp (total 25 campers). Two people got saved and many of them rededicated their lives to the Lord. In August, our church hosted the second annual Deaf Spiritual Leadership meetings. Our goal for this conference is to help other leaders who are involved in deaf ministry to be better leaders and have fellowship also. It was a lot of work, but there were a lot of blessings too, especially to see church members helping out with food, nursery, etc. In September, most of you know, in Atlanta there have been problems with getting gas due to the hurricanes. So we have seen in the last two Sundays the attendance has dropped some because some members didn't have enough gas. We hosted Fantastic Saturday at church. It was a smaller crowd than last year due to the shortage of gas, but the best thing was two people got saved on that day. Thank you so much for your prayers and support. In Christ's love, Bruce Kelly and Family _________________________________________________________________________ May - June 2008 May 3, our church had a booth at Deaf Nation, and about 3,000 attended this event. We had an opportunity to let people know about Deaf Baptist Church, and I led one deaf person to the Lord. May 17, there was deaf awareness at Six Flags in Atlanta, and I went there to pass our tracts and meet deaf. About 1,000 deaf went there. Third week of June, I took eight deaf teenagers to Bill Rice Ranch. Seven deaf teenagers made decisions and one got saved. There was a Deaf Softball Tournament for the Southeast (10 teams), so I went there to meet deaf and pass out tracts. Middle of July, my wife and I will be traveling to New York to preach at Deaf Camp, and I also will be preaching at another deaf camp in Tennessee at the end of July. End of July, we will be taking a group of teenagers to Harvest Deaf Camp. We want to say thank you for your donation for the van transmission; we got it fixed, so the deaf teenagers say thank you too, because they can come to church now. I just wanted to remind you that we have a missionary web site (www.deafmissionary.com), and we just added pictures of what we did with your prayers and support. Love in Christ, Bruce Kelly and Family _________________________________________________________________________ January - April 2008 Dear Pastors and Church Members, In the last few months, five deaf people got saved and three people were baptized. It has been exciting to see deaf people grow in the Lord and learn more about the Bible. We went to Idaho for a Deaf Retreat in March; a total of 40 people attended. It is a very beautiful state and there was lot of snow up in the mountains. There was great preaching and wonderful fellowship there. I had church meeting in Crestview, Florida, in April. There was deaf lady in her 60's. She didn't sign very much, she depended on lip reading. So I used pictures about the plan of salvation, and she understood and accept Jesus Christ as her Savior! Our church hosted Deaf Youth Conference. We had lot of preaching and games for them. There was a total of 30 people who attended. Several teenagers rededicated their lives to Jesus. Our second son, Tim, will be graduating from high school in May. He will be going to Bible College in the fall. Prayer Requests: Pray for my wife, she found out she has arthritis in the lower part of her back, but good news is it is not in a disc. She will be having a spinal injection to try to reduce the pain on May 12. Pray for it to be successful. My wife's aunt died from lung cancer on April 23. One church van (we use it to pick up deaf teenagers) the transmission is no good, so we need to replace it. It will probably cost around $1,500. If you want to send money to help, you can put down for "church van transmission for Bruce Kelly." Thank you so much for your prayers and support. Love in Christ, Bruce Kelly and Family _________________________________________________________________________ October - December 2007 Deaf Pastors and Church Members, First of all, we want to say many thanks for your support and prayers so we are able to reach deaf in the area of Atlanta. There have been times we have gotten discouraged, but we know you are praying for us, which keeps us going! This year, we saw around 50 deaf get saved and 25 get baptized. On Sundays we videotape the preaching then put it on the www.deafbaptistchurch.com web site so the deaf in world can watch it free of charge. We got an email from person in Michigan saying she watches the video clip every week. I will quote what she said, "I do enjoy watching you on web site and real joy in my life. I live in Holt, Michigan, and hard to find church with good interpreting and tell my friends about you. I wanted to say thank you for doing it and helping us to learn more about Jesus, Amen." In November, I want to ASL Expo (American Sign Language) to pass out the tracts. In the last three weeks, three deaf teenagers have gotten saved. Our church will have a Christmas Drama/Choir on December 9. I will teach a class at the Sword Deaf College in Ohio for three weeks in November/December. It is an honor to teach students who will become full time workers for the Lord. In Christ's Love, Bruce Kelly and Family _________________________________________________________________________ July - September 2007 Deaf Pastors and Church Members, |
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