Tim Foster

Author's posts

July, 2022

We’re in the final days of preparation for our 2022 Congo Bible Camp. Due to Covid travel difficulties, we’ve had to delay the Bible camp, so I’m glad we’re back on for this year. Instead of meeting in Bujumbura (Burundi) as we did for the past 2 camp sessions, we’re meeting in Goma in the Democratic Republic of Congo. As such, we’ll have a lot of locals at the camp, and I’m looking forward to metting up with friends I haven’t seen in many years because they’ve not been able to travel to Bujumbura. Pray with us that our course material on the lives of the Patriarchs (Gen 25-38) will be well received, and that the lessons will not be understood as stand-alone stories, but rather, complex narratives adorning the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We’ll also be offering additional evening classes on church history, homiletics and hermeneutics.

Prior to the Congo Bible Camp, I’ll be the keynote speaker at a conference that’s being put on by one of the local pastors, John Gakuru. As a certified French/Swahili/English/Signlanguage interpreter, he’s been a huge blessing and service to us over the years. I’m honored that he’s asked me to come and speak at his 3-day conference. As far as the topic for the conference, we’ll be delving into some pretty deep waters regarding the Sovereignty of God and the Duty of Man. Pray that God’s word will be honored, and that the challenging material will be absorbed well, even with the language challenges at hand.

It’ll be an action-packed couple of weeks, so we covet your prayers!

Tim Foster
Director
Christian Mission for the Deaf

June, 2022

Dear Friends,

We’re holding off on breaking ground in Uvira (DRCongo) till after the Bible conference. Do keep us in prayer that construction will go quickly once we start. In the meantime, we’re exited to see our new school in Baraka near completion. Lord willing, it will be open in time for the 2022/2023 school year in a few months.

Furniture donated by Norwegian Refugee Council

Director Shukuru has put his youthful energy to good work rallying resources, materials and donations from parents and local organizations. The Norwegian Refugee Council donated several thousand dollars worth of furniture: desks, tables, chairs, blackboards, cabinet, fans and more. Director Shukuru had contacted the Norwegian Refugee Council in the past, requesting assistance with our construction project. They seemed disinterested back then. But now that the school is nearing completion, they were happy to donate. We’re very thankful indeed!

In Chad, Director Yves Beosso’s two-story multi-purpose building is coming along nicely. The flooring for the second floor is underway now, and they’ll soon begin the walls. Pray with us that we’ll be able to hit our target completion date in October 2022.

Indeed, your prayers are coveted.

Tim Foster
Director

May, 2022

Dear Friends,

The school year is wrapping up, and looking back we can see many blessings from the hand of our Lord.

In Bukavu, one of our young pupils went missing from her home. Her parents were unable to find her for several days and feared the worst. Strangely enough, she turned up three weeks later. Praise God that she’s been returned to her family safe and sound. Pray that incidents like this don’t happen again to our deaf students.

Workers moving bags of cement to the school construction site in Baraka, DRC

In the northern area of the Kivu province of the Democratic Republic of Chad, there’s been an increase in militia violence. A rebel group called M23 has been stirring up trouble near the city of Goma in the past few weeks. This is the same city where we plan to host our next Congo Bile Conference. Pray that the violence will subside soon and that our plans for our conference in August will go smoothly and without delays.

In the southern region of the Kivu province, our construction at our school in Baraka is slowing down a bit. As the summer heat increases, workers are having to bring in water from further distances. Despite the increased work requirements, Director Shukuru is happy to report that construction is still moving along nicely, and we’re looking to having the new school operational in a few months. Pray with us that this will happen!

In Him,

Tim Foster
Director
Christian Mission for the Deaf

April, 2022

Dear Friends,

Here’s a note we received from Yves Beosso, the director of our school in N’Djamena, Chad:

Easter Camp in Sahr, Chad

“We praise God for a successful 24th annual Easter Bible conference took place in Sahr, Chad during the middle of April. The city of Sahr is about 15 hours southeast from the capital city, N’Djamena. In all, about 130 campers came in from 8 different regions of Chad. This was the city we last held the 1st Easter Bible conference in 1996 when we moved to Chad from Nigeria in October 1995. God has blessed our ministry and our participants through this camp, bringing light to the deaf. We give Glory to Him and continue praying as we extend educational and Gospel work among the Deaf in Chad.” 

Congo

In the city of Uvira, DR Congo, we’re finally ready to break ground on a new school. It’s been a long delay, but the time is now right. One of the hold ups is that we’ve had a buyer willing to purchase our old property. That deal appears to be falling through, so pray with us that the buyer will go through with his original commitment and complete the transaction.

Indeed, your prayers are coveted.

Tim Foster
Director
Christian Mission for the Deaf

March, 2022

Dear Friends,

After two years of Covid delays, we’re finally getting back to our annual Congo Bible Camp! Praise the Lord! We’ll be picking up right where we left off, continuing our 4-part study of the book of Genesis, and exploring Christological themes in the lives of the patriarchs. This year we’ll be meeting in Goma, at the site of a school for the deaf that CMD established in the mid ’80s. It was the last school my father visited before hopping on board a charter flight to his untimely demise in 1987.

Roof construction in N’Djamena, Chad

This year’s conference will be different in several respects: Prior to our conference for deaf church leaders, I’ll be the guest speaker at a special 3-day pastor’s conference that is being organized by one of our Congolese interpreters. I’ll be presenting an introduction to the attributes of God, and guiding conference participants through an outline of Biblical principles regarding the sovereignty of God and the responsibility of man. The conference will be attended by village pastors, many of whom have little to no formal Bible training. Pray that the teaching will be well received and that the pastors will gain a deeper appreciation for the God we serve.

We’ve been very pleased with the construction work going on at our Baraka school in the

Windows installed in Baraka, DR Congo

Democratic Republic of Congo. We’re now installing windows, and in a couple of weeks, the doors will be installed, followed by plastering the walls. It’s exciting to see the project getting closer to completion. Meanwhile in Uvira, 90km north of Baraka, we’ll be breaking ground in a few more weeks.

Keep our Chad brothers and sisters in prayers. Their annual Easter camp will be underway in the middle of April. The preachers will be teaching from the life of Abraham.

Indeed, your prayers are coveted.

Tim Foster

January, 2021

Dear Friends,

I’d like to introduce you to a few of the students enrolled in our schools to help give you an idea of some of the students that God has sent our way. These stories come from Yves Beosso, the director of our school in N’Djamena, Chad.

Meet Tedombaye Narcisse

His father is in the militia in Chad, and was looking for a way to have his 6-yr old son get an education. Unable to keep him in his home, he brought “Ted” to our school in 2020, and we were happy to enroll him as a boarding student.

Tedombaye Narcisse

At holiday break, a relative came to pick up Ted, but he wasn’t returned when school resumed. The following school year, we reached out to his family to check on him, but got no response. After several weeks, we got an unexpected text message from a prison. It turns out his dad had been in prison since April 2020. He soon received special permission to come and pay his son’s outstanding school fees, and then returned to prison. Ted’s mother used to sell trinkets and would use a portion of her profits to pay for her son’s school costs, but as with most parents, the funds she contributes are very small, and we have to do fund-raising in order to pick up the rest of the cost. Since then, we have not heard anything from Ted’s family. He is doing well under our care and training, and his language skills will soon reach the point where he can understand the Gospel. It’s unfortunate to see that he has been abandoned by his parents, but we are praying that he will one day come to know and love his true Father in heaven.

Meet Koumimadji Gloria

Koumimadji Gloria

Her grandmother brought Gloria to us when she was six, and she’s been with us for four years now. Gloria’s mother is too young to care for her, so her grandmother is her primary care giver. We have been concerned for her because her grandmother earns a living by selling wine and is occasionally intoxicated when bringing Gloria to school in the mornings. Indeed, some days she was even too drunk to bring her in to school. We’ve been hoping that her grandmother would never give her alcohol, but one day our worst fears were confirmed. After much prayer, we offered to take Gloria on as a boarder so that she would be shielded from her mother and grandmother’s lack of care for her. Praise God, her grandmother agreed. Gloria is now flourishing and happy – so much so that she refused to go home with her grandmother when she came to pick her up. Pray that Gloria will continue to flourish, growing in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and savior Jesus Christ.

Truly your prayers are coveted.

Tim Foster
Director

December, 2021

Dear Friends,

N’Djamena, Chad

CHAD
We thank God for the opportunity for two of our teachers in Chad to travel to Worcester, South Africa, to participate in a special Red Star training program. The training has been particularly effective with younger pupils, helping them to quickly grasp language concepts.

In addition to the new Red Star program, three of our teachers have completed their university education, thanks to scholarships that have been made available to them. We are hopeful that the additional training will yield fruit for many years to come.

Teacher training in Bukavu, Democratic Republic of Congo

DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO
In the DR Congo, our regional director, Pililo Amani, just completed an intensive week-long training program for our faculty and staff in Bukavu. Several people from our local partner church expressed an interest in joining the classes, and were befitted by the training. Pray with us that their interest will encourage them to also be involved with educating the deaf and assisting us with our evangelism efforts.

Truly your prayers are coveted.

Tim Foster
Director

Winter 2021

For a day in your courts is better than a thousand elsewhere. I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than dwell in the tents of wickedness. For the LORD God is a sun and shield; the LORD bestows favor and honor. No good thing does he withhold from those who walk uprightly. (Psalms 84:10-11)

Despite a number of Covid-related challenges, we’ve made good progress in 2021, and look forward to exciting times in 2022.

Nigeria

Deaf high-schoolers in Nigeria, preparing for WAEC exams

For the 2021-2022 school year, we have added 18 new students to our school in Ibadan. Director Emmanuel Ilabor says that he expects this number to continue to rise during the school year since we’ve have had a good response to our summer advertising campaign. We’re thankful for CMD alumni and CMD supporters who have stepped forward to help financially sponsor enrollment fees for several of these students. As with most of our schools, we accept deaf students from all religions – including Muslim students. Pray for the hearts of these students as they engage with a distinctively Christian curriculum.

Construction of our new campus on the Ibadan-Lagos Expressway has picked up pace thanks to the addition of brick-making machinery and a $9,800 grant from Mission Projects Fellowship a few months ago. We’re looking forward to an expedited completion of the K-12 classrooms followed by the construction of the female dorm rooms. We have earmarked 7 million Nairas (approx $17,000 USD) for this phase of the project, so we’re very thankful for your partnership on this project.

Chad

A much-appreciated truck in Chad, thanks to Mission Projects Fellowship

The big addition this year is a pickup truck, thanks to Mission Projects Fellowship. Director Yves Beosso reports that this has been a huge blessing for both the school and the church, since the only vehicles we’ve had up till then were motorcycles, and transporting passengers or equipment has been a struggle.

We used Covid shut-down time to rebuild a number of administrative buildings. The older mud-brick buildings had outlived their usefulness, and at the time of their construction, we didn’t have running water on the campus. The new buildings are not only structurally superior, but are also designed to take advantage of the new water supply from the city.

Democratic Republic of Congo

We’ve certainly had our share of challenges during 2021 at our school in Bukavu. We’re grateful to the Berean Ministry for letting us use their classrooms in Pageco at no cost, but unfortunately we’ve hit a snag with a couple of their newly appointed leaders. Their director wants to assume ownership of our school, and he doesn’t share our vision for deaf ministry. If we’re not able to resolve our differences, we may need to find a new facility. In the meantime, Pililo, our regional director, will be traveling to Bukavu to provide intensive teacher-training for our Bukavu staff. Pray for wisdom as we seek new options in this time of uncertainty.

Roof construction in Baraka, DR Congo

In Uvira, we’ve purchased a good lot of land, but we’re holding off on construction till after the seasonal rains. The facility we’ve been renting for the past decade is a bit undersized, and the landlord still has not finished repairs from the flood damage two years ago. Getting our own space will be a great help for students and faculty alike.

In Baraka, our landlord for the past few years suddenly increased the rent, so Director Ramazani has moved the school to a different campus. The landlord offered to sell us the property, but his asking price was exorbitant, and building a completely new facility was a much better option. We’re now about half-way through completing construction of our new school, and we’re looking forward to settling permanently in our new facility in a few months. We could not have made it this far without your support! Thank you for standing with us, and pray with us that we won’t run into any construction snags, and pray for us that we’ll complete the project on time and on budget.

Home

Covid has has no small impact on our operations here at Christian Mission for the Deaf. Although Sheryl and I had Covid in May of 2020, our symptoms were fairly light and we were back to normal in no time at all. Traveling to different countries is not so much an issue, but quarantine requirements would restrict our mobility once we reach our destination. As such, it didn’t make any sense for us to travel during 2020 or 2021. Pray that this will change for 2022, as our pastoral training in the Congo has been hardest hit due to our inability to travel.

Sheryl and I are almost empty nesters. Our youngest 2 kids have moved out this past summer and taken an apartment together in Fort Worth. Our son, the youngest, is hoping to get married this summer. Our oldest daughter moved back home after a 4-year teaching stint at a Classical Christian school in Austin, Texas. Lord willing, she’ll be getting married in the fall of 2022.

Truly, your prayers are coveted.

Tim Foster
Director

October, 2021

Dear Friends,

Construction in N’Djamena (Chad) and Baraka (DR Congo) is moving along at a brisk pace. While the administrative buildings are completed in Chad, the two-story multi-function building still has a ways to go.

First floor structure is mostly complete in Chad

Basic construction of flooring and walls for the first floor is mostly complete, and the second floor is now underway. If we’re able to keep up this pace, I think we should have the building completed in three more months.

Director Shukuru Hertier with two prospective kindergarten students

In Baraka, we’ve got the main foundation in place and are ready to lay bricks for the walls. Shindano, the assistant to our regional director, will be making a trip there next week to inspect the progress. Pray for a safe journey (the roads between their cities are so bad that the trip has to be made by boat).

Thank you so much for your support on these construction projects. They help us educate the deaf, and in so doing, reach more people with the Gospel of Jesus Christ!

Pray for us regarding a kindergarten option in Baraka. We have several parents who don’t know what to do with their deaf preschoolers. At this time, we don’t have the budget to have a kindergarten class, but we hate to see these children languish socially and academically. Pray for wisdom to handle this situation.

In Him,

Tim Foster

September, 2021

Dear Friends,

Director Yves Beosso reports excellence attendance at their 5th National Deaf Church Leaders’ conference in Chad. The

Deacons in training in Chad

topic of the week was Biblical church leadership, with a focus on the qualifications and duties of deacons. We thank God for an excellent turnout and participation from several cities across the southern region of Chad. We look forward to next year’s conference where we hope to build on the same theme and use the training to strengthen the deaf churches.

Construction for the new school in Baraka (DR Congo) is definitely picking up. The bricks have been fired, and the preliminary foundation work has been completed. Next stage is to pour concrete, and then start the brick work for the walls. In the meantime, we have had to find another school to rent because our landlord has decided to sell the building we were renting. The cost to rent the new school is a bit higher, but we’re able to make it work.

Construction picking up speed in Baraka (DRC)

Indeed, your prayers are greatly coveted!

Tim Foster
Director