Greetings, to all those who are found in Christ Jesus and know the love that He has given us in taking upon himself the sins that once bound us as slaves. Peace to you and joy in the hope of the resurrection that we will receive in the last day.

I write to you today because you are much loved and I hope to bring to you some encouragement from sharing with you what I was able to see and participate in.

I am now in the middle of my first cruise aboard the USS Nimitz, and I write to you from the rolling waves of the Indian ocean. And, here is what I wanted to share with you. I met an amazing group of people who were calling upon the name of Jesus and taking care of hundred of deaf children; many of which were orphans.

It was not to long ago that I had a port call In Chennai India where I had the privilege of participating in what the navy calls a COMREL. The fact is, that if it wasn't for the Lord opening special doors for me, I would have been able to do this. But, I don't have the time to tell you about that, but I praise God for the opportunity that he gave me. On our last day in port, me and a group of 80 sailors set off to a School For The Deaf, planning on doing any type of work that may have been needed in order to help support the vision of this place. And that's what we did. When we first arrived, we were greeted by all the children (about 120) who were lined up in a height line just waiting to greet each one of us! They ranged from toddler to about 15. I was sure hoping to get to see the children, and this made my joy complete. We first walked along shaking each precious hand giving hand shakes and high 5's and what not. Seeing into each eyes of every child was a privilege as I could see the joy rising up in their spirit. Although they did not speak English, or any language, they each made a joyful sound to me and it touched me deeply. The value of each human life is often over looked and not considered by evil men. But Jesus, He values each life more than all His creation, and we should do the same-as you already are doing!

Afterwards, not knowing what to expect next, they lead us inside to one of their buildings, where we all took a seat, and to my surprise, we sang both national anthems followed by songs of praise rising up among us as they began to praise the name of Jesus before us. And they spoke the Word of God to us and encouraged us to follow Him! Many sailors became uncomfortable but I was rejoicing as they all heard the Word. There were many leaders, men and women alike, who were teachers at this school/orphanage. They told us how they taught the children about Jesus and also many life skills  and communication skills. They were devoted and truly loved the children.

This is one of the best schools in India, where children without parents, hope, and God come to where they can be taken care of and learn to take care of themselves despite their disabilities living in a third world country.

We all broke off into 3 groups where we later rotated around so that all of us could get a chance with the children. We did painting, landscaping, minor renovation I think and a few other jobs. We played soccer with the boys in the heat of the day, where us navy boys were gasping for air sucking on our water jugs and they ran circles around us without even a sip! But even more was that, they put on several skits where they amused us with dances and plays and songs where they continued to share with us the truth. I was amazed at the love and knowledge of the true God among such foreign and false teachings.

I praise our God for this privilege of meeting some of our brothers and sisters across the world. It sure is true how the scripture says that the power of this gospel spreads and grows bearing much fruit all on it's own. None the less, it takes someone to share it right! Let us shine our light before men more and more not being ashamed of our God and the amazing and mighty things He is doing for those He loves and are called His children.

Let us continue to love one another through all time and hold fast standing our ground as we await for the things promised.

Grace be yours always in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Aaron Spence,