Simons Serve

The True Size Of Africa

2011-01-10T05:12:00.001-06:00

This images put the size of countries in perspective. Click here for more..

One chip at a time ...

2010-10-18T12:34:00.002-05:00

It all began 22 months ago, when the first truck load of stone from a quarry was delivered. As some Masai cows lazily looked on, the stone was unloaded onto an empty piece of land outside of Nairobi, Kenya in an area called Ongata Rongai.

But what did they build? To see more.. Click Here

Ready or not ...

2010-10-18T12:27:00.001-05:00

NO MORE …

Offices in the bathrooms.
Sharing one unventilated, converted-bedroom video studio with several Deaf translation teams.
Sharing one cramped and inadequate converted-bedroom editing room.
Sharing overcrowded and restricted office space.
Need for Kenya staff to travel on public translation to/from work for hours daily.

Want to know what talking about? Read further...

Unanswered questions...

2010-10-18T12:23:00.002-05:00

Have you ever had an unanswered question while reading the Bible? Where did you go for answers?

Read here to find out more...

70 Billion Pixels Budapest - The largest photo on Earth

2010-08-23T04:17:00.001-05:00

Hungary, the country that we lived for a year in 2003 - 2004 while we were students of DOOR. What a beautiful country! See for yourself. Click HERE

SeedLinks - May Issue Online!

2010-08-12T13:29:00.002-05:00

Here is the Link to the SeedLinks Online Magazine, you can click below and enjoy reading what our Father is doing around world!

http://www.theseedcompany.org/files/media/seedlinks/may-10/default.html

Where is the New DOOR site?

2010-08-07T08:53:00.001-05:00

I have looked a while back on Google maps when we first came here, the land was bare, now Jason, a co-worker and friend last week looked it up and found progress although the picture is a year old, guess it takes quite a while to put it in the system.

Just remember this is 1 year old -- > http://bit.ly/9rcUDi
This is recently taken --> http://bit.ly/bwXHb2

Kenyan Vote

2010-08-03T15:37:00.004-05:00

Every Kenyan is focusing on the 4^th of August (Wednesday) to see if people vote to accept a new constitution or not. Everyone is very nervous that violence may erupt like it did after the elections in 2008.

PLEASE JOIN US IN PRAYING for calmness in Kenya, no matter the outcome.

Please See more here on DOOR E-News

Take the Blank Bible Challenge

2010-08-03T12:44:00.009-05:00

Answered prayer depends on understanding and applying God's Word: "If you remain in me and my words remain in you, you may ask anything you want and it will be granted!" (John 15:7, NLT). But for 353 million Bibleless people, that's almost impossible. And the same is true for many Americans who have God's Word yet rarely read it. Now, through The Seed Company's Blank Bible Challenge, your church can address both issues in one month.

For 28 days, participants can engage with God's Word as if for the first time through daily e-mail devotionals and multimedia resources. As professional Bible storytellers recount Scripture passages in two unique productions, God's Story comes alive! These 15-minute adventures in Scripture are great for family devotions, small groups and personal study. In addition, you'll find the joy of sharing Scripture with a specific people group for the very first time!

Learn more at www.blankbible.org

Got info from The Seed Company E-News

Through New Hands

2010-07-29T13:19:00.001-05:00

THROUGHT NEW HANDS (Quote from a Deaf man in Kenya)

George (Deaf) signed,

"You know, we started noticing a tremendous difference with the way our pastor was preaching, The stories were clearer, and seemed to flow systematically. There were VERY strong points "lessons" at the end of his every preaching. He seemed well prepared for the worship.

At first I thought it was only me who had noticed this sudden change. Soon everyone was talking about the change in the pastor. ‘How comes, we wondered!!!????' Our pastor had not traveled out of the country to receive any more training?

It was much later that we discovered that our pastor had received a copy of KSL (Kenya Sign Language) DVD Bible. He had kept it under lock and key. In the evening or at his free time, he would watch the stories, the lesson plans, etc. ALONE! Come Sunday he would preach and teach stories.

Sunday services were never the same again. They have become more moving, interesting and touching."

See the rest HERE --> DOOR International eNewsletter

Click on this link to view the latest pictures of the DOOR

Deaf Bible Translation & Training Center:

"From a prayer dream ... to a vision of the future."

http://www.picnik.com/show/id/9042903239_NBDd7/t/20107-dbttc-update

Inspiring message of hope from Nick Vujicic & FIFA World Cup.

2010-06-17T01:19:00.001-05:00

What an amazing God inspired man! A beautiful message of hope from Nick Vujicic and his thoughts on the FIFA World Cup. CLICK HERE TO SEE VIDEO

Here's another one.
"The most inspirational video you will ever see Nick Vujicic"

Pray for the Nation of Kenya

2010-06-14T05:11:00.000-05:00
Yesterday morning at Karen Vineyard Church, the pastor preached on Sodom and Gomorrah. At the conclusion of the service and also during worship time, we focused our thoughts and prayers on the country of Kenya. Below is the chorus of a song we sang yesterday. The worship pastor, Sekou Rubadiri, wrote this song initially in response to 9-11. I was very moved by this song.

A Prayer for the Nations
Lord we cry, in prayer for our nation
Forgive our sins, restore our generation
We need you now more than we ever have before
We need the power of your Word, we need to know your love

Today I learned through Kenyan friends that yesterday during a prayer rally focused on the upcoming vote on the new constitution, there were two explosions. Not only were people caught in the blast, many people also got trampled. Five are confirmed dead and more than 70 are in the hospital. Following the presidential election in 2007, there was a lot of violence in Kenya among opposing tribes. Many Kenyans have communicated to me that since that time the country is growing more unsafe.

Please pray for the upcoming vote in August 2010. Pray for healing for the nation of Kenya.

To read more about the Uhuru Park Blast, CLICK HERE.

Life in the Slums & Turning Point Trust

2010-05-30T07:46:00.001-05:00

One of our friends @ church, she is a drummer and we had the opportunity to talk with her briefly today, that she has stayed 2 weeks in Kibera slums to experience what life is like in the slums. She has posted a blog of her experience there. Click Here.
She also works @ Turning Point. Turning Point is a Christian charity working in Africa’s largest slum, Kibera, to relieve poverty, transform lives and restore hope amongst acutely vulnerable children and their families. Click Here

Article in Deaf Times

2010-05-14T03:43:00.000-05:00

Please lift up the Deaf in Kenya in prayer as you read this article.

Budapest Video

2010-05-14T03:28:00.002-05:00

Please take time to watch this fun and uplifting video shot in Budapest, Hungary. As many of you know, we lived in Budapest from 2003-2004, attending school at the D.O.O.R. International Deaf Christian Leadership Training Center. I remember my VERY pregnant self standing in this same place, Hero's Square. What a blessing it was to have the opportunity to train and live in Hungary!

An Unexpected Ministry

2010-04-13T10:01:00.000-05:00

Since coming to Kenya, I (Whitney) have prayed for a personal ministry, whatever the Lord would have for me.

Some of you may know that I really enjoy cooking and entertaining. Being in Kenya, where most all meals are cooked from scratch, I have grown more and more fond of cooking as well as baking. There is not a day that goes by that I do not bake something. Just for the record, though I enjoy cooking, I am by no means an expect at it. Smile!

Since settling into our apartment, I have periodically taken baked treats up to the office for the staff. This simple act of baking for others has become a ministry of sorts, as it has given me the opportunity to get to know people that otherwise I wouldn't have. This ministry may seem a bit foreign to some, even to me it feels peculiar at times. Since food is preciously scarce here at times, blessing someone with food binds you together.

Another interesting reason why people are so amazed and interested in baking is the fact that most Kenyans have little to no experience with a stove; a stove is a big luxury item here, most people do not own one. So besides getting a chance to bake for others, people have asked for me to teach them to bake. Last Saturday, a group of the DOOR-India staff came over for one such lesson in cooking banana bread. What a blessing it has been to get to know others as well as bless them through cooking and food!!!

World Deaf Awareness Day in Nairobi, Kenya

2010-04-12T01:14:00.006-05:00

Click below to go to URL to see more pictures that DOOR got involved in
World Deaf Awareness day September 24th 2009

Kenyan Sign Language Bible Dedication/Celebration

2010-04-06T07:57:00.000-05:00

January 16th marked a monumental day in the lives of Deaf Kenyans. D.O.O.R. International dedicated the first ever set of Scripture in Kenyan Sign Language on DVD. Jeremy and I felt so privileged to be a part of this incredible event. The Christian Broadcast Network attended the event and took some video including interviews from DOOR-Africa staff. To read the article and view the video, click here.

Wycliffe International and D.O.O.R. International

2010-04-06T07:21:00.000-05:00

Sign language is the heart language of millions of Deaf people around the world. The sign languages of various countries are rich, vibrant, complex languages with essentially no written form. The spoken and written language of the country is usually Deaf people's second language, and most core Deaf people never develop fluency or effective literacy in it. So for over two millennium, most Deaf people have had no Bible in their heart language.

DOOR, in cooperation with Wycliffe International, and with God's empowering and guidance, is setting out to change that.

Wycliffe has produced an excellent video explaining the need for Bible translation into sign language. Please take the time to watch this informative video, click here. Many of the people pictured in the video work for DOOR-Africa!

**I regret that the video is not captioned for the Deaf. Frown.

Twitpics from Space

2010-03-30T04:29:00.001-05:00

"Mt Kilimanjaro", the 5,895 metre (19,341 ft) inactive volcano in north-eastern Tanzania.
Click here to see Link

The Seed Company

2010-03-22T09:00:00.003-05:00

The Seed Company supports both the Kenyan and Indian Sign Language Bible translation projects. The Seed Company attended DOOR's recent celebration/dedication of the first portion of translation for both Kenya and India. They published an article in their e-newsletter. Take a look!

To read the article "Where None Have Heard" in The Seed Company e-newsletter, click here.

A Surprise Visit & Donation

2010-03-22T08:46:00.001-05:00
A few Sundays ago, DOOR staff along with the Indian translation team visited the ACK (Anglican Church of Kenya) St. James Church of Buruburu. They spoke about DOOR and their vision. Some weeks later, the pastor from St. James came to DOOR to give a generous donation of 100,000 shillings equaling approx. $1,303. They are pleased with all DOOR is doing. What a blessing!

A Day @ Work

2010-03-05T03:17:00.002-06:00
As many of you know, Jeremy, is the technical/computer supervisor for DOOR-Africa. Since the Deaf Bible translation relies heavily on technology, Jeremy’s role is very important. Not sure how they managed without a tech person all these years. The Lord was definitely with them. In the evening, when Jeremy gets off work, we typically go pick him up. It gives the children and myself time to visit with all the staff!
Here is a picture of Jeremy’s office.

This day, when we picked Daddy up …

Josiah felt like giving Daddy a ride. Wee!

Amen Around the World

2010-03-05T03:10:00.004-06:00
Since living in Hungary, we have been fascinated by the different signs for "Amen" all over the world. Not sure how we came across this link but it shows many different signs for Amen. Two of our friends are in the video. The man from Czech Republic is Leonid; we attend the DOOR Deaf Christian Leadership Training in Hungary together. The man for Denmark is Jan; he was one of our teachers at DOOR in Hungary. Enjoy!

To view video Click Here

DOOR-India Celebration

2010-01-30T03:47:00.001-06:00
Over 1200 jubilant Deaf Indians, packed into a concert hall in the south of India, witnessed history on January 30th, as an indigenous Deaf translation team dedicated God's Word into the local sign language.
Over years of hard work, the Deaf team of six men and two women, trained and equipped by Deaf Opportunity OutReach (DOOR) and Wycliffe, tranlated 32 carefully selected foundational Bible passages onto a DVD and visual storyboard book. This was a moving event, since it's the first time in history that the Deaf community in India's southern state of Kerala have had access to God's Word in a way they understand - in their language, Kerala Sign Language.

One of the reasons this event brought Deaf people from all over India and kept them rejoicing in the foyer for hours afterward is that most Deaf people can't read. Some can but find it very difficult, since they've never heard the language that written symbols on a page represent. Without the association of sound to symbol, every written word must be memorized like a phone number, and who could possibly enjoy, or get meaning from, reading a page of phone numbers. Even where educational support is available, the average Deaf adult only achieves the reading level of a hearing eight year old, and the Deaf literacy rate worldwide is a low 15 percent. In India, like many other areas, Deaf people live in an information vacuum, cut off from spoken and written communication. They are isolated from hearing society, not understanding their family's religion, their siblings' aspirations, or even knowing their parent's name. However, where the Deaf congregate together they develop their own sign language, which is unique to that region and the people who use it.

In our modern age, the Christian community has used many new and creative ways to communicate the gospel to the lost, but all of our efforts thus far have failed to bring this message to the millions of the world's Deaf. Christian radio and television broadcasts, gospel audio recordings, printed Bible translations, tracts, songs and drama, the "JESUS" film - all of these things are inadequate to reach the Deaf community.

Starved for information about God, Christian and non-Christian Deaf have snatched up this Bible DVD. Deaf translator Siji is confident the Good News will spread quickly amongst the 100,000 Deaf living in India's southern state of Kerala. It's heartbreaking that this is the first time in history the Gospel has been made available to these marginalized people, and with an estimated 9 million Deaf in India there is still so much work to be done. Those continuing to pioneer sign language Bible translation throughout India ask for your prayers and support.
(excerpt taken from a DOOR email)

To see more picture of the celebration CLICK HERE

Our Visit to Cecilia’s Home

2010-01-02T11:04:00.000-06:00

The Lord has blessed us with a young, Christian lady to be our house helper. If you are able, it is customary to have a house helper. So Miss Cecilia, as the children call her, helps do laundry as we do not have a washing machine or a dryer. Some of her other duties are light cleaning and helping with the boys when I have to work. The children LOVE her as she does them.

For New Year’s Day, Cecilia invited us to visit her home where her mom and two sisters live. Well, actually, I take that back, there are about 100 family members that all live together on a huge plot of land. There, they not only have their individual homes but also cows, chickens and several crops. What a beautiful sight! Her place is gorgeous! I was so envious that she got to wake up to that beauty every day.

Oh, one thing I forgot to tell you, no white person has ever set foot on their place. Oh my, you would have thought we were celebrities. So many giggles and nervous laughing. They slaughtered a goat for us but due to the outcome of Jeremy’s first experience with eating goat, we had to pass. (See BEGUT Celebration for more details on Jeremy’s first goat roast) Not only did they have a goat roast but they also cooked a feast to celebrate the New Year. Yummy! We were so full!

They were so sweet to us! We look forward to another opportunity to visit her family! To view more pictures of our time at Cecilia’s home, click here.

First Christmas in Kenya – Sunrise Acres

2009-12-28T10:32:00.003-06:00
When we first arrived in Kenya, one of the most asked questions was … What are you doing for Christmas? We had the privilege of being invited by friends to Sunrise Acres over Christmas. Sunrise Acres is a missionary retreat center run by retired AIM (African Inland Mission) missionaries. They are located near Eldama Ravine in west- central Kenya. We drove in a caravan with our friends four hours to Sunrise Acres. The day was cool and rainy but the scenery was so beautiful. Eldama Ravine is in the Great Rift Valley; it was our first time to see the rift valley. Really beautiful. We passed by many small villages along the way. We also saw many zebra and baboon alongside the road. We even passed over the equator. Another real sight to see is a cactus tree. I know, weird, beautiful actually.

Sunrise Acres has a grouping of cabins with play equipment for the children, games in each cabin and books too for adults and children. We thoroughly enjoyed our time there. It was an opportunity to spend some down time together as a family as well as develop closer relationships with friends. Although it rained every day we were there, the kids were in hog heaven. I say “hog” because they were covered in mud practically the whole time but had SO much FUN!

Christmas night, the other two families came to our cabin for dinner. After dinner, Jojo, a fellow worker at DOOR, shared the Christmas story in American Sign Language for the children. Jason, with SIL, shared the meaning of Christmas. We then sat and sang Christmas music as a group. What a blessed time celebrating our Savior’s birth.

To view more pictures of our time at Sunrise Acres, click here.

The BEGUT Celebration

2009-11-29T12:19:00.002-06:00
What is BEGUT? I am sure you are curious to know. BEGUT is the name for the five translation teams working at DOOR-Africa in Nairobi, Kenya. The five teams consist of Burundi, Ethiopia, Ghana, Uganda, and Tanzania. The BEGUT team has been working on translation for two years. In November, they were gearing up to go back to their home country to do a community test on their translation work.

Many of you may be unfamiliar with the term community testing. Let me explain. Community testing is where the translation is taken into the community of the target language, in this case the Deaf community of say Burundi. The team shows the translation to the people in the community. The people they invite are people from varying backgrounds, economic, religious, and academic. The purpose is to make sure that the message and translation is clear, culturally significant, essentially do they understand it. This is a very important part of the translation process. After the community test, the team returns to DOOR to complete the final translation, taking into account the feedback they received from the community.

On November 27th, DOOR-Africa held a celebration for the BEGUT team before they left for their home country. This was our first celebration of any kind we attended in Kenya. We did not know what to expect. Jeremy arrived early in the morning to witness his first goat slaughter. A goat slaughter is customary for most Kenyan celebrations. Oh my, what an experience! I showed up later in the day as they were cooking the

goat. Yum, yum!

I did not have the opportunity to attend the actual meal as I had to get home to the kiddos but Jeremy had the privilege of eating the goat prepared for the celebration. He also was blessed with vomiting for three days. Poor thing. Nonetheless, it was a rich experience!

To learn more about community testing, Click here.

We Found a Church Home

2009-11-05T04:12:00.000-06:00
We are so blessed to have found a church home quickly, Karen Vineyard Church, in Nairobi Kenya. The children love it! Several other DOOR staff who have children also attend Vineyard. Two Saturdays a month we attend a home group. We have met so many missionaries attending Vineyard, from SIL, MAF (Mission Aviation Fellowship), AIM (Africa Inland Mission), Cush for Christ, Wycliffe Associates and many more. We are all working towards one GOAL, winning people to Christ! It's a multi-cultural church just like our home church in the States, Mosaic Church of Central Arkansas. Mosaic trained us for diversity and it has been proven with our kids. The day we arrived in Kenya, our boys ran right up to the Africans and gave them a hug without hesitation!

To learn more about Karen Vineyard, Click here.

To learn more about Mosaic Church of Central Arkansas, Click here.

We Arrived Safely

2009-10-29T09:44:00.001-05:00
On Monday, October 26th, we made the drive from Glenhaven Youth Ranch, where we were staying with Jeremy’s folks, to Little Rock to board the plane on our way to Kenya. What an incredible journey it has been already before we have even left the ground. The Lord has provided in ways we could never imagine and brought us through so much. We are so incredibly grateful.

We hauled all 10 bags and 2 car seats into the Little Rock airport. Many thanks to my Dad and Greg (Jeremy’s stepdad) for their awesome organization and preparation of all the bags!!! We had many sweet goodbyes with family and friends. It feels surreal to be leaving your family for so long, hard to really grasp it when it is happening.

After about 34 hours of travel, we arrived safe and sound in Nairobi. AND every single one of our bags arrived that night! We were told that because of the weight of all our luggage it would probably be delayed as our first flight out of Little Rock was in a small plane. BOY, were we doing the happy dance in the airport! They must have thought we were nuts. We were so thankful all the bags arrived safely.

As we exited the airport, we were met by two taxi drivers that do a lot of driving for DOOR. One driver, Alfred, we had not met before. During introductions, he asked where we were from in the States. Small world, his sister lives in Mountain Home, Arkansas. He has since become a friend of the family.

Thank you for all your prayers and support throughout this journey. We would not be here if it were not for YOU!

Dessert Fundraiser

2009-09-19T15:16:00.004-05:00

We had the privilege and blessing this week to meet new friends at a dessert reception hosted by our friends David, Vicki and Ashley. At the reception we had the opportunity to share God's heart for the Deaf and the need for Sign Language Bible translation. We what to thank all those who made Tuesday evening possible and for your heart to reach the Deaf with God's Word in their heart language, Sign Language. We are continually humbled by those God brings in
to our lives; people that we would otherwise never meet.

If you are curious about Sign Language Bible translation and what we will be doing in Kenya, please visit www.doorinternational.com or www.simonsfamily.com.

Homeschool - week 4

2009-09-17T10:52:00.001-05:00
Well...this is our first real posting. Since we are moving to Kenya, we had decided to home school our children for the time we are living oversees and possibly after. We began at the end of August and are now on our forth week! Praise the Lord! Evan, our five year old, is really excited about school each day. The night before, he always asks me what we will be doing the coming day. It is such a blessing to teach your child, having the whole family involved!

Upon starting, I was pretty overwhelmed with the amount of material! Whoa! We have learned to be flexible and try different schedules and curriculum. It is such a joy to see your child learn new things and new truths about God's Word!!!

One of our favorite parts of the day is scripture memory; the curriculum we picked uses music to help children learn their weekly verse. Sometimes the children sit quietly and listen, other times they are up dancing and signing the words. The children have really learned a lot! I catch them singing the Word at random times throughout the day. So fun!

2009-08-28T11:00:00.000-05:00

Welcome to the Simons' Blog