Happy 3rd Anniversary DMICOC! Joe Cepeda would like to say special thanks to the disciples who volunteered to edit articles for posted on the website. He appreciates those who have visited his website for the past 3 years. He believes the Lord will provide for his needs in order to have a successful and inspiring website.

There will be over 32 disciples attending the 1st Deaf Conference at the World Discipleship Summit (WDS) in San Antonio, TX on July 5-8, 2012. Interpreter services will be available during worship services. We are excited to announce that a new Web Technology partner, John Scamardella, will team up with Joe Cepeda to help with new updates for DMICOC website. WDS videos will be available with subtitles to be posted on DMICOC website for our Deaf Ministry family who aren’t able to attend it. Stay tune!

Within the past 3 years, Joe Cepeda contacted the church leaders around the world for long hours and worked hard for the Deaf Ministry ICOC.  I would appreciate it if the ICOC disciples would to contact me when there is an established Deaf Ministry that I can add to the list. Currently, there are 11 churches around the world that have a Deaf Ministry. Here are churches:

Boston, Massachusetts (1 deaf disciple)

Greensboro, North Carolina (1 deaf disciple)

Indianapolis, Indiana (2 deaf disciples & 4 interpreters)

Los Angeles, California (14 deaf disciples & 11 interpreters)

Staten Island, New York (2 deaf disciples)

San Antonio, Texas (3 deaf disciples & 1 interpreter)

Washington DC (1 deaf disciple & 6 interpreters)

Abidjan, Ivory Coast (18 deaf disciples & 2 interpreters)

Almaty, Kazakhstan (3 deaf disciples 2 interpreters)

Moscow, Russia (1 deaf disciple)

Vinnitsya, Ukraine (3 deaf disciples & 2 interpreters)

As our brothers and sisters are spread out throughout the world, let us consider the importance of keeping in communication with each other.  Whether that is through Skype, videophone or emails, we all would benefit from the spiritual support and encouragement.

Joe is very grateful to be connected with the 11 churches of the Deaf Ministry.  He has many goals for 2012: to get a new profile from churches that plan on establishing our ministry, to fulfill the strong need to have a bigger Web Technology team to assist him for the DMICOC website, for there to be a 2^nd Deaf Conference to connect with the World Conference in the near future in which we would encourage International Deaf Ministry to attend, & to continue to receive good news articles from around the world so they can be posted on the DMICOC website.

Rochester has the largest deaf population, over 90,000, in the US according to NY Times. Joe has strong faith and passion for Rochester ICOC (www.ricoc.org) to establish a Deaf Ministry in the near future. He is willing to support the Rochester disciples via long distance videophone & Skype, as they have deaf bible studies.

This is Anya Trukhina. Her story is unique and inspiring, one that will touch us all. She was baptized on November 28, 1994 in Moscow. It took two long years before she made this life-changing decision, one that was filled with peril and strife but God always wins! Being deaf, you face many more challenges that are incomprehensible to the average person. Fear is what Anya lived in, day in and day out. Acceptance is what she was ultimately seeking, but Satan was fighting to keep her away from the church, because church is the only place she would find acceptance. After turning down many invites, she ultimately decided to dive in and give the ICOC a try.

Despite visiting the ICOC, she was faced with many hurdles. Growing up in an Orthodox church, she was uninspired, and always wanted something more. Many fears surrounded her as she stepped out into the unfamiliar territory. “Would they accept me even though I am deaf?”, “How am I supposed to leave my family tradition?”, “Is this the right church for me?”. Thankfully Anya turned to God through prayer through these difficult questions, and all her prayers were answered! The Moscow church accepted her and loved her, and there she felt the spirit of God moving. At 19 years old she was baptized, and she found a loving church home.

After 2 years she was to lead the group of deaf women and she was a deaf friend in the Church. Being in the deaf ministry, she had big dreams. Sometimes our dreams do not coincide with God’s plan, and our reaction to this can make all the difference in the world. Anya dreamt of marrying a man she worked with in the deaf ministry, but after he fell away, she struggled deeply in her walk with God. Her hopes had shifted away from God, and were placed upon a man, and her own fantasies of what she wanted to do in the church. Since her focus was away from God, her joy left, and the call to make disciples were hardened.

Through all this difficulty, Anya still wanted to do the right thing and follow God, and found someone to study the Bible with. While this rekindled her excitement for God for a short while, her foundation was not strongly rooted in God. This created a disaster when a struggle arose. She wanted to be baptized, but… something incredible happened… she got cut off from the Church in 2003. Anya didn’t understand the meaning of being “cut off” from the Church. And the girl was in shock that she was cut off and still not baptized. Anya became angry with people at the Church! She tried to go back a year later, in 2004, but she could not let go of her resentment and decided to not go back. She tried to forget about the Church.

Eventually, Anya began to look security in other avenues. She married a musician, who didn’t believe in God, and began to work at a modeling agency. She was looking for inspiration at the agency, but it was not all that. She felt terrible! The employees there laughed at Anya because she was too modest, she always prayed behind the scenes, and told them about God. All the while she felt she was being called Jesus to preserve her ecclesiastical training.  Anya understood that being a model is not for her, departed the agency in 2007, and began to look for a Church.

She found many good churches, but they were not all that she expected. Her husband did not understand why Anya needed a Church. He said that his family and arranged for her to work as a designer to design business cards and booklets for music clubs. She began to settle down in one of the Orthodox Churches and worked as a volunteer to help children without parents. Anya went there, because she had a heart for these children, but she didn’t understand why these healthy children were not being adopted. Anya was looking for answers from God, and she prayed. She also began to doubt her husband, and perhaps God would show her that he is not for her…” I don’t know the will of God” – she thought.

Anya began thinking about the Church of Christ, in which it was before, she missed the church, but still remembered the offenses made at her. Anya realized that they should forgive those who hurt her. She prayed for mercy, it was difficult to forgive, and she struggled with this sin! One day Anya prayed in her room, to forgive all. She sobbed hard and then felt relieved in mind. Sometime later, in a social network she met friends from the Church of Christ by accident. Anya was excited about this; it was as if they were her long lost relatives! They wrote a few words to Anya, and she was happy to see what the Church was like after 9 years. The disciple she was in contact with invited Anya to a meeting in December 2011. Anya’s husband came with her to the Church even though he didn’t understand. He did not understand why Anya was so happy in the Church. They began to go in different directions. They understood that they were not made for each other; they were different in everything and had different interests. They never had children because they practically did not live together. Unbeknownst to them, they gradually went away from each other. Even though she loved him, Anya gradually had disappeared from him, and he let her go. They finally divorced and she began to live from scratch. But the good relations they have stayed. Now she prayed for him, to know God and come to Him. Anya was very glad to be with the disciples of Christ again and she felt happy. Her dream to be baptized came true and the dead Princess was baptized by her friend Veronica. Anya was grateful to God that He brought her to Him and helped her through her trials and mostly her ability to forgive all! And it works! When all forgive, then God forgives you – life changed for the better, from malice to a purified soul! And through forgiveness all will be saved! Amen! This may be a lot of writing, but it’s from the heart! I believe that with God all things are possible. Anya realized her sin, she had no soul and had to be like Christ to forgive her enemies. Anya’s favorite bible verse is 1 John 4:11-12 “Friends of the beloved! If God so loved us, we ought also to love one another. No one has ever seen God, but if we love one another, God lives in us, and His love in us reach perfection.” But with God and prayer Anya have repented. Forgive me, brothers and sisters! I love you very much! I’m in Church, because I want to serve God!

Currently, the Abidjan Deaf Ministry has eighteen (18) deaf disciples (14 brothers and 4 sisters). Yanzeu Guy Merlin and his wife, Leonce led this group.  Yanzeu felt that it was an honor in leading the Deaf Ministry in Abidjan.  Tape Zagole & Lionel are interpreters for the Deaf Ministry. They have a Deaf Service on Sunday’s. Yanzeu speaks mostly French.  Yanzeu’s English language speaking abilities are good enough to be understood by everybody.  The average weekly attendance of the deaf is between forty-five to seventy people.

The Deaf Ministry started after a troublesome period theIvory Coastchurch had between 2007 and 2009. The church staff gave Mr. Yanzeu Merlin the opportunity to help the Deaf Ministry in January 2010. When Mr. Merlin started the Deaf Ministry, there were six (6) deaf disciples (4 brothers and 2 sisters). Some of them had left the church before not having any hope for the deaf ministry.  However, later they realized there was some potential in that ministry. Mr. Merlin trained two deaf brothers, Alain and Romain. Alain and Romain became disciples seventeen years ago and they are still faithful in Christ. They lead with Mr. Merlin in the Deaf Ministry because they provide a strong spiritual support to him.  Romain lives and works out of Abidjan and he sacrifices his time to commute a long distance in order to attend Sunday services in Abidjan.  Alain is a teacher in the deaf school. Both him and Romain have made an impact in the Deaf Ministry. After the war, many deaf parents left their towns and villages.  My deaf friends made a decision to not follow their parents.  Now, they live far from Abidjan. Some of them attend Sunday service.  Currently, there are 30 deaf people in bible studies. The Deaf Ministry team is excited to spend time with their deaf friends.

After several months, the Deaf Ministry has established strong communication within the team.  They trust each other tremendously. They have come up with ideas on how to reach out and evangelize the Deaf and hard of hearing community. At first, it was difficult and challenging for this ministry because they are not well educated from the School for the Deaf.  They needed to improve their skills. They learned to be patient and to persevere.  The Deaf ministry has applied this scripture, Proverbs 4:23 “Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it”.  The Deaf Ministry shared this verse because they have realized how important it is to keep their heart pure for God. They continue to trust the Lord daily and they know that God will provide for all their needs.

In June 2011, glory was given to the Lord for the baptism of two, new deaf brothers.  In 2012, it is going to be a wonderful year for the Deaf Ministry. The Lord is going to show Mr. Yanzeu Guy Merlin his splendor and majesty in this ministry. This last April, the deaf ministry baptized ten deaf disciples (8 brothers and 2 sisters). Their dream this year is to build solid relationships with each other and to share the good news to the ICOC Hot News website. They Deaf Ministry in Abidjan needs our prayers.  To God be the Glory for all of the wonderful work being done in Abidjan!

How long have you been a disciple?

Andrew have been a disciple for 20 years. He was baptized on January 26, 1992. The greatest day of his life!

Share about the past Deaf Ministry team at Buffalo Church of Christ.

In November 1991, one of his college deaf friends, Donnie, became a disciple in New York City when he was doing internship in an accounting firm. At that time, Donnie was enrolled in Rochester Institute of Technology which has a college for the deaf students called National Technical Institute for the Deaf (NTID) at Rochester, NY. He found out Buffalo Church of Christ was the closest to his college, RIT which took about 1 hour drive. After Donnie finished his internship, he came back to Rochester, NY and shared his faith with Andrew and his college friends. Initially, Andrew thought Donnie was crazy because of this sudden change on his character which he wasn’t quite sure what to make of it. Soon after, three deaf roommates (Brad, Mike, and Scott) in their two-bedroom apartment, started to studying the Bible with Donnie and Jack, married hearing disciple from Buffalo, who happened to be fluent in sign language. Mike, Brad and Andrew got baptized in January 1992 and later Scott got baptized in March. With God’s blessing, the Deaf Ministry had grown from one to twelve disciples in 18 months!

Reason for fallen away.

The Deaf Ministry at RIT/NTID was struggling spiritually in summer of 1993. During that time, Andrew was struggling spiritually and got into many sins. Eventually, he left the church in October 1993.

Your best & worse experiences as a disciple.

The best experience as a disciple is when Andrew got baptized, no question about it! The worst experience as a disciple is when he decided to leave the church and stopped following Jesus. The sins he committed as a fallen away disciple were far more worse than the sins when Andrew had before he became a disciple.

How did you met Joe Cepeda? Your respond and felt about baptize Joe.

When Andrew got restored back with San Antonio Church of Christ in March 1996 (he moved back to my home after I finished college at RIT/NTID in 1995), he started looking for a job and got hired as a cashier in Builders Square, a home improvement store. We had a mandatory security prevention meeting for all employees to attend. Andrew remembered very clearly that he was not so enthusiastic going to the meeting. When the meeting was about to begin, Andrew noticed one guy who are wearing hearing aids was talking to one of the security staff employees. With a moment of clarity, he finally understood why God put me there to work in Builders Square so he could reach out to him. That guy was Joe Cepeda. Prompted by the Holy Spirit, Andrew introduced myself to Joe. Soon after, Joe decided to study Bible with Andrew and other brothers. Andrew saw how Joe had changed his heart by surrendering his life to God. With many prayers and fellowship, Joe made a decision to get baptized. On November 21, 1996, Andrew baptized Joe in the hotel swimming pool. Andrew remembered seeing Joe being very joyous as a brand new Christian.

Your favorite scripture and why?

John 8:31-32 “To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth and the truth will set you free.”

Andrew’s favorite scripture because it is very profound and straight to the point. When he studied the Bible before becoming a disciple, this passage opened his eyes by realizing that he was not his disciple because he didn’t hold His teaching and believing Him alone was not enough!

How did you met your wife?

Andrew met his future wife, Laria, at the Christmas Wine & Cheese party nine years ago. He thanked God for introducing Laria to him at this particular moment. Eighteen months later, he proposed to her on the top of the Enchantment Rock (Texas State Park) and they got married six months later. They have been married for seven years.

Your goals for 2012?

1) Reach out and study with one deaf male to become a disciple.
2) Be faithful in all circumstances.
3) Be thankful for everything that I have.

You can share scripture to encourage our ministry. You are welcome to add details if needed.

Andrew want to encourage to all deaf disciples: God have a great plan for all Deaf Ministries around the world and He will use you to advance His Kingdom. Here’s the scripture to explain why God will work with you despite of your deafness or hearing losses.

Exodus 4:10-12 “Moses said to the Lord, “Pardon your servant, Lord. I have never been eloquent, neither in the past nor since you have spoken to your servant. I am slow of speech and tongue.” The Lord said to him, “Who gave human beings their mouths? Who makes them deaf or mute? Who gives them sight or makes them blind? Is it not I, the Lord? Now go; I will help you speak and will teach you what to say.”

The Lord has made us of who we are and He also has the plans for each of us from the beginning.

Special Thanks to Roman Harchuk for performing the Sunday sermon in RSL and to Julia for translating it. English subtitles are available for the video.

Hebrews 3: 13 but encourage one another daily, as long as it is called today, so that none of you may be harden by sin’ s deceitfulness.

This past year, I have been working on how to show love on various levels. To be honest, it’s been challenging not because of giving love but to those who are on the receiving end, don’t always believe in love. It really broke my heart. I made it more of a goal to read people and find ways to serve them with the hopes that they feel loved. 

This past Christmas, I decided to try something different. I made award certificates that lists people’s strengths and spiritual gifts with scriptures from the bible.  I made one for everyone in the North Los Angeles Deaf Ministry region.  After sharing with each individual, I was able to witness an amazing transformation.  The Love was so evident that just seem to move our ministry in such positive ways.  Our ministry has four bible studies going and more visitors have started attending our church.  I know it’s the work of the Holy Spirit urging us to “pay it forward” the love that we have received from Jesus’ sacrifice. 

I wanted to take the time to share this amazing good news and encourage you to go “pay it forward” to your ministry and friends. 

“As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you.  Now remain in my love.   If you obey my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have obeyed my Father’s commands and remain in his love. I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete.  My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you.” John 15: 9-12

In Christ,

Christine Rushing
Los Angeles Deaf Ministry

Hello Brothers and Sisters! My name is Michelle McWilliams. I’m 23 and I live in a western suburb of Chicago. I did undergrad at Elmhurst College, where I studied Speech-Language Pathology and minored in music. I was involved with many choirs and theater productions in college. During my senior year at Elmhurst I took a course in ASL and really loved it! I decided to pursue ASL interpreting instead of grad school for Speech Pathology. Currently I am in my second semester at Harper College studying ASL. I will apply for the interpreting program next semester. I don’t know yet where God will lead me with this, but I would love just to be able to interpret worship services someday!

I have been a disciple since June 18th 2009. I grew up in a Non-denominational/ evangelical church. I was very blessed that this upbringing gave me a hunger for God and His Word. In College at Elmhurst I was involved with Campus Crusade for Christ and attended several Bible studies. I met a disciple named Josh during a production of Shakespeare’s a “Mid Summer Night’s Dream” we were both in the cast. I found out he went to a “Bible Talk” and, since I loved the Bible, I decided to check it out. I eventually studied the Bible and got baptized. It was hard at first to understanding my former doctrine wasn’t in line with the scriptures, but I really clung to God’s word and knew that I had to follow no matter what. Josh and I are now dating! He is not studying ASL but I’ve taught him a few things and he has picked up a lot about classifiers.

1st and 2nd Peter are two of my favorite books in the Bible; I love the power and clarity they give. One of my favorite scriptures is 2 Peter 3:9 ” The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.”

This scripture encourages me a lot because even though I want so badly for everyone to become a disciple, God wants them to become a disciple more!

My name is Ivan Strean and I have been a disciple for almost twenty-one years. My wife Gwen and I live in Palmdale, California and we attend the Antelope Valley Church, where I am a minister. We have three children ages 6, 5, and 2. I first gained an interest in signing when I was a child. My grandparents were Deaf but I never met them. However, my father was a CODA and fluent in ASL. He started teaching me when I was about five.

I have been interpreting for almost 15 years. I got my start in interpreting in the church. One day I brought a couple of Deaf people to church and I was interpreting for them (rather awkwardly I might add) when a man approached me from the congregation. He asked me if I wanted to switch and let him interpret for a while. I reluctantly obliged and I am glad I did. This interpreter was AWESOME! After the service he told me his name was Buddy and that he was interested in starting a Deaf ministry. About a year later he did. It wasn’t too long after that, that I was asked to move to the San Fernando Valley to be apart of that ministry.

I have been a certified NIC Master level interpreter for about five years now and I work part-time at Sorenson Communications, California State University, Northridge, as well as freelance work in the community.  I enjoy interpreting and I interpret for the Church whenever I can. Where I live there is no Deaf ministry. Some day I hope God will open a door for a deaf ministry in my area but until then I will continue to pray.

I love the bible and being able to instruct and counsil. I have many favorite scriptures but one of them is Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.” Philippians 4:8 NIV

I am looking forward to 2012 and all the great things that God will do. I am also looking forward to meeting many new friends and the world conference in July as well as seeing may old friends. Until then God bless.