Write His Answer

“Let everything that has breath, praise the Lord!”
Psalm 150:6

Guest Post from CCWC & GPCWC Keynoter
Michael Gantt

Just about seven years ago, I stood looking across a weed infested, half flooded plot of land in Western Kenya.  We had purchased the property for some future use for the Immanuel Christian School for the Deaf.  The school had so many real and pressing needs, there were some who considered the purchase with great consternation, thinking that the purchase was a great waste of money.  However, as I stood there gazing out over the little plot of land I saw neither weeds nor water.  Instead, I saw great brick buildings rising up out of the overgrown soil. I saw sleeping quarters and a beautiful dining hall and kitchen.  In my mind’s eye, I saw a meeting room for chapel services and public meetings and most beautiful of all – – a grand educational center towering above everything else; a place where Deaf children could overcome every disadvantage their Deafness had saddled them with.

I turned my gaze to a small room where I would meet with our Headmaster Wes Agengo and members of the school board.  On a table in front of us we had rolled out a large piece of white paper and threw some markers on it.  We prayed before picking up those markers and began  to draw a dream. We asked God to give us a vision greater than us. He gave us a vision for a Center for Deaf Education that would not only train Deaf children in basic academics, but a technical center where they could learn a trade and eventually, a Deaf College and Technical Institute.  We had scarcely a penny with which to begin but God had given us a vision and a kernel of faith and with that we began to dream and with the dream,  to plan.

When I returned home to the US,  I shared our vision with my own church. After one meeting a member of my church approached me with a twenty dollar bill.  She said, “That’s all I have, but I am giving it to you in faith that like the loaves and fishes, Jesus is going to multiply this into all the money you need to finish this work.”  Her faith (along with many others) has been rewarded, for God has indeed multiplied that small offering into a great miracle.

The New Academic/Administration Center
for the Immanuel Christian School for the Deaf

     This morning, I received some photos that are a testimony to the power of a small faith and the great faithfulness of our God.  They are photos of that grand Educational Center that is within a few weeks and a few dollars of completion.  It is beautiful beyond any words I can share, but I must tell what God has done.  The campus I could only see in my spirit just seven years ago is today, almost complete. We are just $4,000 and a few weeks away from completion. How great is our God!!!

And yet, it is not merely buildings that have been built there; not just brick and mortar.  The Immanuel Christian School for the Deaf is now considered the leading academic center for the Deaf in all of Kenya.  Our students are excelling at a very high academic level.  Recently, we entered into an agreement with a national Teacher’s College that is now holding lectures on the new campus, training teachers to teach the Deaf.  Some of our own students are training at the college level to be teachers of the Deaf.  I could not have imagined just seven years ago that this would be possible in such a short time.

I asked Marlene Bagnull if I might submit this article for publication on her blog because I wanted to express my deepest gratitude to so many who have been associated with Write His Answer and the Colorado and Philadelphia writers conferences who have been instrumental in the fulfillment of this dream.  Each year as I have spoken at these conferences, those in attendance have sent me home with very generous offerings; amounting to many thousands of dollars in support of my kids in Kenya.

As we stand at the precipice of victory, I want to express my gratitude to the many persons associated with the Greater Philadelphia Christian Writers Conference and the Colorado Christian Writers Conference for your encouragement and support.  Without your generous giving we would yet be many miles and many dollars away from completion.  You came to the conferences to learn, to hone your craft, but in the midst of it you found it in your hearts to invest in the lives of desperate children who live far away from you.

I expect to see many of you in Colorado in May and then in Philadelphia in July. I plan to bring photos that are different than those I’ve brought in the past. Photos not of what we HOPE to do – but of a work that is DONE!  Thank you Marlene for your generous allotment of time given to me to present the needs of the school and so many of Marlene’s friends who have made such generous contributions to our work. May His peace and blessings be yours.

Michael Gantt

From Marlene: Thank You, Father, for giving us the opportunity to be part of this ministry to the deaf children in Kenya. Thank You for again doing exceedingly, abundantly beyond . . 

To learn more about this life-changing work go to http://www.kenyadevfund.org.