Ana- she is 21 and never went to school to learn sign. She knows home sign and can talk a little but I've started studying with her and we are working on those signs! She actually learns pretty fast. On one study she learned God, Jehovah, bible, bird, water, tree, and all our names. Still more work to come but I have left her her own copy of the DVD Listen to God and we will see her progress in due time.
Ludres- she is 48 and never learned ASL. She knows very few signs, however she is independent and lives on her own. She is so funny because when we arrived at her house she had us sit down and wait for her because she was getting mangos from her tree...even though we waited a few minutes not only did she give us some but also we successfully sat down and studied. She learned on one setting God, BIble, and conversation.
Her sister Rosa lives next door and she has taken interest in the work we do. I hope to return next week and start studying with her as well. Rosa is not deaf, but to the ASL congregations they encourage us to study with the family of our deaf bible students. I also wanted to leave Ludres with her own DVD copy of Listen to God, but Rosa informed me that they don't have one. But assured me that they will work on getting one so Ludres can see the DVD.
Victoria- she is in her 20's and her husband is also deaf. They have a baby girl who is only 4 months old. Victoria and her husband learned ASL and are fluent. They have studied before at sometime but the sister who used to study with them has not been able to due to circumstances...so currently I am studying with them. In their case they now the basics and I will be working with them with the broshure Good News.
(Sorry I do not have a picture of them)
I informed about their current status why? Well because just like in Spanish or English congregations depending on our studies each one progresses at different rates. Same with deaf it depends on how much sign they know, how much they can learn at each study, how much they can retain, how much they can focus....so many factors come into play. It's work, time, energy, and patience but knowing that every little bit counts for them to be close to Jehovah makes it worth it! All those sweaty days in the heat are easily forgotten when you notice the spiritual growth!
Also you may wonder, if a deaf person doesn't know any signs why leave them an ASL DVD? Well, we do that so they can get used to sign language. Just like a person who wants to learn Spanish what do they do? They watch Spanish channels or listen to Spanish music...being around that helps them learn. Same with ASL. A deaf bible student may not know any signs but if they watch the DVD with time they can recognize signs, remember them...this helping them learn. That combined with their bible study which includes visual pictures and acting will help them develop their ASL. 
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