Category: Update

Berta Foster
1939-2018

After several years of declining health after her 2009 stroke, my mother, Berta Foster, slipped into eternity on January 27, 2018.  She was buried at Restland Cemetery in Dallas, TX, and her obituary is online here: https://www.restlandfuneralhome.com/obits/berta-foster. She will always be remembered for her love for her family and her faithful service to our Lord.  She served as the faithful administrator for Christian Mission for the Deaf since my father’s passing in 1987 until 2010 when she retired due to her health. 

CMD is proud to announce the addition of Cliff Bodiford to our board of directors. Cliff serves as an elder at New Life Deaf Fellowship, and is passionate about missions and church planting among the deaf both in the USA and abroad. Lord willing, he will be joining our team for our Congo Bible Camp in July 2018.

We just received word that Mission Projects Fellowship is donating $2,500 for a new generator for our center in Ibadan, Nigeria. The electricity in our part of Ibadan is not very reliable at all, so this generator is will meet a great need. Praise God for this wonderful gift.

The Berean church that has hosted our Bukavu (D.R. Congo) school for the past two years has expanded their church ministry and is no longer able to accommodate our school. God has led us to a Baptist church on the outskirts of the city. Although the space is not free, the rent is reasonable, and it’s much closer to our director’s home and several of the students. Pray that the facility will remain available while the school continues to grow and serve the deaf.

In Him,

Tim Foster
Director

Tim and John

After many long months of prayer and preparation, my wife and I picked up John Linus at the airport and drove him to SouthWest Collegiate Institute for the Deaf in Big Spring, Texas.   John will study there for at least two years before going to Bible college and then back to his home in Nigeria, where he will continue leading the Nigerian churches for the deaf. Resisting the temptations of American wealth and leisure is a struggle many people from developing countries find difficult to surmount. Pray that God will sustain John as he continues his education in service of Him. His scholarship was provided by the Andrew Jackson Foster Scholarship Memorial Fund, headed up by Jim Walterhouse, a former missionary to the deaf in Mexico. Jim now functions as the school counselor at SWCID, and will be guiding John during his time in the USA.

Keep Shukuru Hertier in your prayers. He has been involved with us for many years and recently started a school for the deaf in the Congo. He is not yet fully supported by us as we’re still going through the process of bringing him on board. Despite the number of financial hardships he faces, he still has a great burden for the many deaf in his surrounding area that he is not able to reach.

Please keep our Uvira (DR Congo) school in your prayers. Director Pililo reports that they are currently experiencing hardships due to political unrest and disruptions to their funds.  Teachers are having to work on reduced salaries, and many students are having to get by without school supplies. 

In Likasi (also in the DR Congo), Director Mwamba reports that he is currently operating with 9 staff members instead of the usual 12. Pray that these positions will be filled quickly.

In Him,

Tim Foster 

Dear Prayer Partners,

Yves Beosso, the director of our Chad school, has announced the secondary graduation of his oldest son. He is now looking to enroll in a Nigerian Bible college in the next few months (Aba Bible Theological Seminary or Igbaja Theological Seminary). They recently returned from visiting the schools, but along the way, ran into several days of delays and obfuscations in their border crossings. During their absence, Yves’ wife and daughter were quite ill. Praise God for their restored health, and that Yves and his son returned safe and sound.

Construction continues at the Nigerian school. Director Emmanuel Ilabor is exploring funding options with several agencies. Pray that God will grant continued favor as the school continues its growth.

In Him,

Tim Foster
Director

September, 2017

Dear Prayer Partners,

During our recent Congo Bible Camp, we had the pleasure of meeting Bartholomew and Miriam Toto, a Congolese couple living in Bukavu. They had just returned from a 7-year mission with YWAM in Uganda. Upon returning to Bukavu, the Lord laid on their heart a desire to work with the deaf churches in the area, providing vocational training and teaching them to pursue self-employment options. Most of the Toto’s life lessons were hard learned by “tent-making” while on the mission field in Uganda. We’re thrilled to be collaborating with them, helping them explore marketing options for their wares here in the USA. Pray that God will grant them success in this endeavor.

Shukuru Hertier, a graduate from our Uvira school, has shown himself to be a remarkably faithful young man in the way he has directed the school he opened two years ago. Enrollment is up drastically this year, so pray for wisdom as he manages resources with a shoe-string budget.

In Him,

Tim Foster
Director

Dear Prayer Partners,

John Linus is a deaf Nigerian we are trying to get to the USA for Bible school. We had run into complications with his visa, resulting in missing the fall 2017 semester. He recently received his visa. Meanwhile, in Chad, director Yves Besso’s oldest son has just graduated from secondary school. Yves is looking to get his son into Bible school in Nigeria before he continues his education in the medical field. 

Pray for wisdom as Emmanuel Ilabor (director of our Nigerian school) and Jim Walterhouse (founder of the Andrew Foster Memorial Scholarship Fund) begin preparing Linus’ trip to the USA, and for the Beosso family as they seek financial support for their son’s Bible training.

In Him,

Tim Foster
Director

Dear Prayer Partners,

After red tape delays, we finally received our visas and were able to arrive in the Congo in time for our annual Congo Bible Camp. . We had a little over 100 leaders from 15 different deaf churches studying the book of Ephesians. It’s bittersweet to hear so many say “Thank you for providing such excellent deep teaching”, only to be followed by “we don’t get this kind of teaching at our church.” Pray that as these church leaders grow in their faith, they will continue to lead their congregations in solid teaching “so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes.” Eph 4:14.

As a result of kidney failure, my brother John is now adjusting to life on dialysis 3 times a week. Keep him in your prayers as his doctors explore options for a permanent remedy.

In Him,

Tim Foster
Director

Dear Prayer Partners

The visa process for our trip to the DR Congo this year has been fraught with red tape and delays. We leave on July 11, Lord willing, and the Congolese missionary family we partner with (Tom and Kathy Lindquist) are leaving a week before we do. If we don’t get our passports and visas in time, it will be very expensive to reschedule everything. Pray for a quick resolution to the process.

John, my older brother, has been a faithful CMD office staffer since 1988. Last week, I took him into the hospital for what turned out to be appendicitis. While in the emergency room, he had a seizure and his heart and breathing stopped. He was resuscitated in short order, but due to complications in the appendectomy, he’s still in the hospital. He’s feeling much better, and will soon be released. Keep him in your prayers.

In Him,

Tim Foster
Director

Dear Prayer Partners,

The Congolese government has dramatically changed the visa preparation process, adding layers of bureaucracy and cost. Pray that these issues will be resolved quickly so we can depart on time. Unfortunately, Cliff and Sherri Bodiford are not able to join us this year for our Congo Bible Camp. They’re eager to go next year, so pray that the Lord will work that out.

As construction on our new Nigerian campus continues to take shape, ambitious plans to establish a university are being set forward by some deaf alumni. Clement Abonyi is working with our director, Emmanuel Ilabor, to bring this vision to reality. Pray with us that God’s wisdom and glory will prevail on this ambitious project.

In Him,

Tim Foster
Director