{"id":1994,"date":"2024-11-30T01:00:35","date_gmt":"2024-11-30T07:00:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.deaflifechurch.us\/?p=1994"},"modified":"2025-06-07T04:46:03","modified_gmt":"2025-06-07T09:46:03","slug":"sharpened-by-gods-refining-fire","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.deaflifechurch.us\/?p=1994","title":{"rendered":"Sharpened by God\u2019s Refining Fire November 2024 &#8211; Newsletter"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<pre class=\"wp-block-verse\">Dear Family &amp; Friends,<br><br><br>As this season draws to an end, I\u2019ve been reflecting on the incredible ways God has worked in my life. From transformative experiences at the Sexuality School to a surprising journey to Rio, I\u2019ve seen His hand leading, refining, and strengthening my faith.<br><br><br>My attached newsletter, \u201cSharpened by God\u2019s Refining Fire,\u201d contains information about my time in Rio and the powerful ways the Holy Spirit moved. <br><br>Why 1 <strong><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">Peter 1:7<\/span><\/strong>?<br><br>\u201cThis refining has come so that the proven genuineness of your faith\u2014of greater worth than gold\u2014may result in praise, glory, and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed.\u201d<br><br><br>This verse reminds me that God is refining my faith, preparing me to live a life that glorifies Him now and ultimately points to the hope of eternity. In Rio, I saw this scripture come to life as God opened unexpected doors, refining my faith through opportunities to share His Word and trust His plans.<br><br><\/pre>\n\n\n\n<pre class=\"wp-block-verse\"><strong>Plans Ahead<\/strong><br><br>1. Returning to the USA: After completing the Sexuality School on December 6, I\u2019ll return home on December 8 to rest and celebrate Christmas with my host family in Texas and my family in Illinois.<br><br>2. Bible Training in Gambia: From January 19\u201331, I\u2019ll support a historic Bible translation training for Deaf Gambians. Recently, I learned that 66 Deaf people attended the first preparation meeting, an incredible testimony to God\u2019s work. It\u2019s an honor to witness God moving in Gambia since 2019 and to be part of this exciting project!<br><br>3. Hadassah\u2019s Wedding: In March, I\u2019ll be a bridesmaid for my dear friend Hadassah, who was born in Liberia and adopted by an American family. Hadassah has asked for custom African-style dresses for the bridal party to honor her African heritage.<br><br>To make this possible, I\u2019ve partnered with Deaf African tailors to craft the dresses. A friend from Benin attending Bible training in Gambia will bring the finished dresses to me, and I\u2019ll carry them back to the USA. Seeing how God orchestrates every detail of this special day is beautiful!<br><br><br><strong>Prayer Requests<\/strong><br><br>1. Strength to finish the Sexuality School with focus and perseverance.<br><br>2. God\u2019s blessing on the Bible training in Gambia that Deaf individuals would encounter Him through His Word.<br><br>3. Wisdom and provision as I prepare for Hadassah\u2019s wedding and upcoming ministry opportunities.<br><br>4. Rest during my furlough as I reflect on my spiritual journey and open my heart to whatever God wants to reveal.<br><br><br><br>Thank you for journeying with me. Your prayers and support mean the world to me, and I\u2019m so grateful for your partnership in this ministry.<br><br>With Love in Christ,<br>Kevlasha<\/pre>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image alignwide size-full\"><img data-opt-id=1000261746  fetchpriority=\"high\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"627\" height=\"893\" data-attachment-id=\"1995\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/www.deaflifechurch.us\/?attachment_id=1995\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/mlgl6izgoqq9.i.optimole.com\/w:auto\/h:auto\/q:mauto\/ig:avif\/https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.deaflifechurch.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/Screenshot_20.jpg?fit=627%2C893&amp;ssl=1\" data-orig-size=\"627,893\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;0&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"Screenshot_20\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/mlgl6izgoqq9.i.optimole.com\/w:auto\/h:auto\/q:mauto\/ig:avif\/https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.deaflifechurch.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/Screenshot_20.jpg?fit=627%2C893&amp;ssl=1\" src=\"https:\/\/mlgl6izgoqq9.i.optimole.com\/w:auto\/h:auto\/q:mauto\/ig:avif\/https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.deaflifechurch.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/Screenshot_20.jpg?resize=627%2C893&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-1995\" srcset=\"https:\/\/mlgl6izgoqq9.i.optimole.com\/w:627\/h:893\/q:mauto\/ig:avif\/https:\/\/www.deaflifechurch.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/Screenshot_20.jpg 627w, https:\/\/mlgl6izgoqq9.i.optimole.com\/w:211\/h:1080\/q:mauto\/ig:avif\/https:\/\/www.deaflifechurch.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/Screenshot_20.jpg 211w, https:\/\/mlgl6izgoqq9.i.optimole.com\/w:600\/h:1080\/q:mauto\/ig:avif\/https:\/\/www.deaflifechurch.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/Screenshot_20.jpg 600w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 627px) 100vw, 627px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image alignwide size-full\"><img data-opt-id=1285499143  fetchpriority=\"high\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"637\" height=\"894\" data-attachment-id=\"1996\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/www.deaflifechurch.us\/?attachment_id=1996\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/mlgl6izgoqq9.i.optimole.com\/w:auto\/h:auto\/q:mauto\/ig:avif\/https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.deaflifechurch.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/Screenshot_21.jpg?fit=637%2C894&amp;ssl=1\" data-orig-size=\"637,894\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;0&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"Screenshot_21\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/mlgl6izgoqq9.i.optimole.com\/w:auto\/h:auto\/q:mauto\/ig:avif\/https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.deaflifechurch.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/Screenshot_21.jpg?fit=637%2C894&amp;ssl=1\" src=\"https:\/\/mlgl6izgoqq9.i.optimole.com\/w:auto\/h:auto\/q:mauto\/ig:avif\/https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.deaflifechurch.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/Screenshot_21.jpg?resize=637%2C894&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-1996\" srcset=\"https:\/\/mlgl6izgoqq9.i.optimole.com\/w:637\/h:894\/q:mauto\/ig:avif\/https:\/\/www.deaflifechurch.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/Screenshot_21.jpg 637w, https:\/\/mlgl6izgoqq9.i.optimole.com\/w:214\/h:1080\/q:mauto\/ig:avif\/https:\/\/www.deaflifechurch.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/Screenshot_21.jpg 214w, https:\/\/mlgl6izgoqq9.i.optimole.com\/w:600\/h:1080\/q:mauto\/ig:avif\/https:\/\/www.deaflifechurch.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/Screenshot_21.jpg 600w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 637px) 100vw, 637px\" \/><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Dear Family &amp; Friends,As this season draws to an end, I\u2019ve been reflecting on the incredible ways God<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[66],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1994","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-newsletter"],"featured_image_urls":{"full":"","thumbnail":"","medium":"","medium_large":"","large":"","1536x1536":"","2048x2048":"","reviewnews-large":"","reviewnews-medium":""},"author_info":{"info":["DLC"]},"category_info":"<a href=\"https:\/\/www.deaflifechurch.us\/?cat=66\" rel=\"category\">Newsletter<\/a>","tag_info":"Newsletter","comment_count":"0","jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pftbrg-wa","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.deaflifechurch.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1994","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.deaflifechurch.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.deaflifechurch.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.deaflifechurch.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.deaflifechurch.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1994"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.deaflifechurch.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1994\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2000,"href":"https:\/\/www.deaflifechurch.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1994\/revisions\/2000"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.deaflifechurch.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1994"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.deaflifechurch.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1994"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.deaflifechurch.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1994"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}