February 2021 Update from Brooke Bateman

Dear ABC Church family, 

Your congregation and the country are in my prayers daily! I am very thankful for your willingness to pray with me as well. Please pray for me as I prepare to interpret for ICON, it is hosted by SIL and is an international conference for leaders from across the globe. They have invited some Deaf leaders to participate in the conversation. This is truly groundbreaking and I am in awe to be involved. I need prayer as have 3 months preparing and pouring over the materials from various missionary leaders that will be sharing over the span of 5 days (the duration of the conference). Please pray for all involved as they seek God’s direction and set visions and goals in motion in light of the changes we are living in. Pray God gives my mind, heart, and hands to the ability to communicate very clearly and accurately. To serve my Deaf brothers and sisters and all involved. To God be the glory! Secondly, please praise God with me that He is opening doors of communication and relationship with various people here in my host country. I am still keenly aware that I am just a guest here and I seek to be humble, be a learner and ask good questions while administering the hope and light of Christ through each interaction. Thirdly, Deaf ministry and Sign Language Translation are known to be a “final frontier” meaning they are one of the largest unreached. This means our church is pioneering the way to reach the Deaf across the world and here in Romania. With that is a host of challenges, trials, and the enemy... BUT our God is great and He will make a way. Please pray for more workers to join the efforts, both Deaf and Hearing. Please pray for those of us who are currently serving across the globe to be united, strengthened, and have the wisdom of God to know where to focus our efforts in a huge field with many needs. Please pray for: Remus, my language helper. He has been invited to lead some projects. And he is a person of peace as well as a bridge between the orthodox, unbelieving, and the translation team. But for now, it’s all about building trust and relationship with him and others. I thank God for Remus and ask that you pray for him to sense God’s call and direction in his life. Pray for me to be a light to him. Pray for Claudia, the newest member of the Translation team. She is only 19 but is on fire for the Lord and has many abilities and strengths. Pray for me to disciple her well and for me to have the mind of Christ as I share with her. Pray for Claudia to stay the course and continue to flourish! Pray for unity among the Deaf believers in Romania and within different religious backgrounds. Praise God that the Gospel of Luke Chapters 1-4 were published! Pray that the Romanian Deaf will use the scriptures and seek Jesus together. Lastly, I will begin a 15-week course on Scripture Engagement titled, “Wise and Fruitful factors that help or hinder the Impact of Scripture in communities.” Please pray for me to glean all I can and discernment of how to apply the knowledge for Deaf and sign language communities. I know that’s a lot! Thank you 🏼  

Serving Together,  

Brooke