Newsletter – May 2023
As the Silent Word Ministries’ Home Office Missionary, my desire is two-fold: “Reach the Deaf” and “Refresh the missionaries.” Sometimes those goals are the same. By helping and refreshing our missionaries, I assist in their outreach to Deaf people.
This spring, I was excited to help the Barrs (SWM missionaries) with Fantastic Saturday events in Trenton and Atlanta, Georgia. In April, I also assisted for the first time with Deaf Days at the Creation Museum and Ark Encounter in Kentucky. For the event, 444 Deaf people registered to attend. Many did not know about Silent Word Ministries. It was a thrill meeting new people, reconnecting with old friends, as well as participating in a Bible Heroes drama and two choir songs at the Creation Museum Deaf-led worship service! Two SWM missionaries, J.T. Gorham and Rusty VanDonkelaar, preached that Sunday morning. Praise the Lord for one Deaf man who prayed to receive Christ!
Recently at the Home Office, we have been focused on two major projects. The first project is upgrading several of the books Bro. Ted Camp has written. We added new information and combined similar topics into larger booklets. Three have been completed and a couple others are in progress. Also, SWM recently added over 30 titles by trusted authors from the Sword of the Lord to our store. Designating item numbers and adding new products and pictures to the SWM website took a couple weeks of effort. It is exciting to send helpful materials to people across the United States. Throughout April, it seemed my phone was constantly notifying me of the over 50 online orders created! This included a couple of digital download orders from South Africa!
The second project was the renovation of the front offices. This has been a huge, but exciting project. In March, we moved all the furniture and shelves of materials in the front office and print shop so new laminate flooring could be installed. We also painted a few walls while shelves were moved, and my desk in the front office has been greatly upgraded. The office looks much more open and modern, giving a more welcoming feel to visitors.
Education – After graduating from Faith Bible Institute (a 3-year chronological study of the Bible), I began attending the online Biblical Counseling Training Conference (BCTC), conducted by Faith Church in Lafayette, Indiana. Last year, I completed Track 1, which was hosted by Harvest Deaf Ministries. I just recently finished Track 2 online. Each online track is divided into three weekends, one each month. What a privilege to learn how to help people with such things as spiritual idolatry, living with imperfect authorities, overcoming evil, dealing with abusive situations, and much more! I plan to continue with Tracks 3 & 4.
Recently I attended a weekend workshop in North Carolina on interpreting Scripture and music. It was such a blessing to meet new people, converse with the Deaf, and practice visual ways to sign. I also plan to take an 8-week online workshop this summer to increase my church interpreting skills. Because sign language is a foreign language, it can be challenging to decide the best way to clearly express certain concepts. And, unlike spoken languages, there is no pause for the interpreter. If you would like to help with any of the workshops, the counseling tracks costs $200 each, and the interpreting workshop is $350.
Personal – EXCITING NEWS! On March 17, my brother and sister-in-law adopted two children – Jace and Aria (brother and sister) – my first nephew and niece! Our family spent Christmas with them in Florida last year. We love them already and are excited to have them as family!
Please pray:
- To raise the final 18% of my needed support
Volunteers Needed:
- Skilled typists/editors to help convert SWM publications to the more accepted Kindle format.
- Skilled videographer to assist with developing ministry videos and short social media clips.
- Tech person to help with designing programs and troubleshooting computers, printers, and devices.
Thankful for you all,
Tabitha Beam
