What She Can Do
Francisca Trexler is pictured on the right.
What She Can Do
Francisca Trexler tells her inspiring story and gives tips on ministering to the deaf community
Story by Jeremy Johnson
When her mother left the denomination she had been attending for years, she encouraged 16-year-old Francisca Trexler, a member of the Potomac Conference's Silver Spring (Md.) church, to seek a faith that more closely followed the Bible.
Several years later, Trexler found the Seventh-day Adventist Church and began what became a lifelong passion of sharing the gospel with anyone, regardless of age or culture. She began with her family, and, within months, her mother and favorite aunt responded to her enthusiastic invitation and became members of a local Hispanic Adventist church.
Years later Trexler is still on fire. But, today her passion for the gospel spills over into making sure Adventist members across the United States and beyond remember that all congregants have gifts to share, and that they shouldn’t focus on what people can’t do.
“Live for Jesus Christ,” she says. “Think about what He has done for us—and what we can do for Him!”” she says.
As a deaf person she asserts, “Deaf people are not disabled; they just can’t hear anything.” She offers these suggestions for giving back to the Lord in a ministry that is both sensitive and inclusive:
- Share your story—how Jesus guided you to a new and better life. Talk about the life of Jesus and His amazing love for sinners.
- Encourage your pastor and church members to learn sign language so that they can communicate with deaf people. Invite a deaf person to teach the class!
- Welcome them with open arms—and talk to them! If you don’t know sign language, communicate by writing notes back and forth. Usually the hard-of-hearing and those with cochlear implants can talk well and are able to read lips.
- Read the booklet Can you Hear Us? Author Esther Doss, herself a CODA (child of deaf adults), offers great ideas for helping the general population know about, and how to start, a ministry for the deaf. (Contact Doss at esther@3angelsdeafministries.org to order a copy.)
When you think about any ministry for Jesus, shares Trexler, you must realize that it’s never been about what we can’t do but rather what we can do with the opportunities God offers us. Remember what God did with that stick in Moses’ hand?
Read more from the June 2014 Visitor issue:
June 2014 Visitor cover
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