Tim Foster

Christ the Savior is born in the flesh, the propitiation for our sins.  This salvation from the just penalty of our sins is a free gift: given by grace, received by faith, lived with zeal. Too often it’s easy to reduce Christianity to a zealous list of dos and don’ts, especially when working with limited language skills. But our Savior compels us to zealously transform not only our actions, our thought processes and even our minds. Our entire worldview should be zealously transformed as part of our sanctification.  These are a few of the thoughts that occupy my mind this Christmas season.

Nigeria

Tim and John Linus, headed to SWCID

John Linus is a promising young pastor and an excellent candidate for further education. His education options in Nigeria are quite limited, but with the assistance of the Andrew Foster Memorial Scholarship Fund, he will finally be able to begin his college training at  SouthWest Collegiate Institute for the Deaf in Big Spring, Texas. The Andrew Foster Memorial Scholarship fund was 

started by Jim Walterhouse and Danny Campbell, faculty members at SWCID, and Linus is their first benefactor. After his studies at SWCID, Linus will begin studying at a Bible college, and then return to Nigeria to help serve the deaf churches. There were a number of delays in getting his paperwork completed and his visa approved, but by the grace of God, that has now been completed, and Linus is set to arrive in the USA in January. We thank God for this wonderful scholarship and pray that God will use Brother Linus to serve Him well. For more information about the fund, please visit http://afmsf.cmdeaf.org.

Democratic Republic of Congo

Three years ago we re-opened our Bukavu school with Boro Nanza as the director. Due to space limitations, Nanza has had to relocate the school to a property just outside the city limits. The new facility is owned by a Baptist church, and the rent is extremely reasonable.

Nanza’s current assistant is very limited in his knowledge of sign language. We were hoping to hire a young church leader from Rutshuru, but those plans fell through. Pray that we’ll be able to find another well-qualified assistant. By rough estimates, we believe there are several thousand deaf people in the Bukavu area, but almost none of them have access to an education, and the few that have received an education through our old school are spread far and wide. There is a lot of work to be done, and we covet your prayers.

Chad

Director Yves Beosso reports that construction at the Toukera property remains at a standstill. We lack the funds to complete the construction of the two school rooms. Another important feature to add in Toukera is a water well. This would enable us to encourage nearby residents to keep an eye on the property and herd off squatters. The laws in Chad make it easy for squatters to be an expensive source of frustration to property owners who cannot quickly develop their lands. We’ve had a few run-ins with squatters in the past, and hope to be able to prevent their return. In addition to the work at Toukera, the main campus in N’Djamena is in dire need of upgrades. Over the past few years, the center has been hit with severe storm damage. Due to time and finances, construction work was hasty, using mud brick. The mud brick needs to be replaced with concrete in order to provide safe, long-lasting buildings to meed the education needs of the deaf. Pray that God will provide the funds for these projects.

Yves’ oldest son recently graduated from secondary school. He is now at our center in Ibadan, Nigeria, studying English and preparing for January entrance exams to Nigerian Baptist Theological Seminary. Lord willing, after his seminary training, he will be headed to the University of Ibadan for medical studies, and then back to Chad to work with the deaf. The school expense is more than the Beossos can afford, so they are trusting our Lord to provide.

Home

Our oldest daughter, Micah, has ended her job as a UN refugee case worker, and now teaches third grade at a Classical Christian school in Austin. Our middle child, Noelle, has also moved down south to the San Antonio area to pursue her career interest in criminal justice. Daniel has taken on a renewed interest in life, art, music and literature, so this has been an extremely interesting 11^th grade for him.

Mother Berta is doing as well as can be expected, grateful for each day the Lord gives her.

In Him,

Tim Foster

Democratic Republic of Congo

Our annual Congo Bible Camp was a great success, with over 100 people from 15 different deaf churches coming to Bukavu. Three people who were very interested in our conference came in from as far away as Kisangani, a 2-day trip. Due to the low literacy rates among the deaf Congolese, most churches focus on Bible stories at the expense of doctrine. Our camps work to fill the gap, emphasizing sound doctrine as a basis for our faith and works. This year, we taught through the book of Ephesians. While the content of chapters 5 and 6 were familiar territory for many of them, the first 4 chapters were new. So far, we’ve had excellent feedback from many of the attendees. Perhaps the most bittersweet comment was from Joceyln, a lady from Kigali, Rwanda. She said that she was sad that the week was over because she was learning so much, and felt frustrated because her church doesn’t teach doctrine like this. Unfortunately, comments like hers are not unusual. Pray with us that our teaching will be greatly used by God to equip them for the good works they have been ordained to do (Eph 2:10). 

A hearing couple, Miriam and Bartholomew Toto, came to our 

The Toto family – Local faith-based workers with the deaf

camp to see what we were doing and to learn more about us. As it turns out, they were missionaries with YWAM in Uganda for seven years, and during that time had to raise their own support from local believers. Now that they’ve returned to the Congo, their aim is to work with the deaf in Bukavu, teaching Biblical living, while modeling a Biblically-based work ethic. Truly, this is a great need, particularly among the deaf leadership. It’s not uncommon for deaf evangelists in the Congo to believe that they have to sit and wait for a foreign benefactor to sponsor their evangelism work. For these evangelists, Paul’s teaching on finances in 1 Cor 9 (“worker is worthy of his wages”, tent-making, etc) is counter-cultural, and the Totos are making an impact both in their teaching and in their living example. Pray that God will continue to bless them and provide for their daily needs. 

Ramazani Hertier, one of the graduates from our Uvira school, is now the director of his own school for the deaf in Fizi, in the Baraka Province. His school is now starting its 3^rd year with over 50 deaf students enrolled. In a recent exploration trip through villages in the province, Ramazani was able to find another 15 students. Since most of the parents do not have the funds to support their children’s education, the growth in enrollment creates an additional financial burden. Although Ramazani’s spiritual training is not extensive, he’s the de-facto pastor for the deaf in Fizi. We’re excited that the Lord is using his ambition for his fellow deaf Congolese, and praying for ways to improve and strengthen their faith. We’d like to get several of these men into the Timothy School at the Kigobe Mission Station in Burundi (Some of you may know Jesse and Joy Johnson in Burundi. The Timothy School operates out of their facility).

Ramazani recruiting new students in Fizi province

Pray for us as we look to God for solutions to these unique challenges.

Chad

Director Yves Besso reports that repairs from the recent storm damage in N’Djamena have been completed. We thank God for your willingness to financially support this need. Yves’ son has recently passed Secondary school exams, and we’re looking at sponsorship options to send him to Bible college in Nigeria. His Biblical education will further quip him to be a great asset in his work with the deaf in Chad.

Due to a lack of funds, construction at the new property in Toukera has come to a standstill. Some poachers are encroaching on the property, so additional legal measures need to be taken in order to remove them. Pray for wisdom and provision.

In the city of Mondou, two deaf ladies have passed away after battling a lengthy illness. Pray for their families and church as they cope with the loss.

Nigeria

The Andrew Jackson Foster Scholarship Memorial Fund has raised funds to bring a promising candidate, John Linus, to Texas to further his formal and spiritual education. Unfortunately he has run into difficulties with obtaining a student visa, and will not be able to enroll this fall at the Southwest Collegiate Institute for the Deaf. Pray that he will be able to receive his visa soon and begin his college education.

Home

After our July conference in the Congo, Aaron Kuglin (a seminary student from Fort Worth who helped teach at the conference), Yves Beosso and I accompanied PhD candidate Joel Runnels to visit my father’s gravesite and attempt to find the site of his 1987 plane crash.

Crash site for Andrew Foster’s plane

Joel has worked with various secular NGOs in East Africa for 20 years, and everywhere he went, he kept hearing stories about a deaf man named Andrew Foster, and all the amazing things he had done. After being unable to find much printed information about him, Joel decided to do his dissertation on my father’s life and work among the deaf in Africa. Pray with us that Joel’s research into my father’s earthly good works will not be an occasion to celebrate the accomplishments of a man, but rather, be a call to glorify our Father in heaven. (Matt 5:16)

Please keep Mother Berta in your prayers. She’s usually in good spirits, but her mobility continues to decline.

In Him,

Tim Foster
Director