God divine appointments- Two Deaf people get jobs in MB

Posted by Dan and Carole McClelland

God divine appointments- Two Deaf people get jobs in MB

God cares so deeply for me, a mother in missions! I do often fight lies related to feeling left out as I am juggling caring for my family and supporting my husband as he leads our community. Mother's Day was this month, and God broke all those lies and spoke truth that He cares deeply for me. He practically emphasized the truth that I am not missing out of His kingdom through this amazing testimony! 

Please meet Davia.  When we moved to Jamaica she was one of the students at CCCD vocational training program we met early on.  Here is a picture of the very first Deaf gathering we had sharing about our heart to train Deaf missionaries.  (You notice Kenroy and Clifton were there, too, that night in Jan 2019.)  Well, Davia was there as the only girl! 

After she graduated, she got a job at Progressive Food bagging groceries and had been working there since. I shop weekly at Progressive, and weekly I look for Deaf people who are working there. I get in their lines so they bag my groceries; giving me the opportunity to talk and sometimes pray with them.  Here in Jamaica, the bagger walks the groceries directly to your car and loads them for you. Over the years, I usually get Davia and have times to listen to a brief update and pray for her.  Recently, her conversation has been about her desire to get a new job where she is actually working in the kitchen with food prep, which is what she was trained for. She had been interviewing without luck for months, and I continued to encourage her that God has a plan.  She has been so faithful at her current job and is a hard worker! 

Well, one day when Grandma was here, she and I were going out on a date just to get some quality time in the middle of the move, and we planned to get Thai food, my favorite. Unfortunately, the restaurant was not opened, so we need to look for another place quickly to have enough time to pick up the kids.  We walked and found a few places, going into each one to check out the menu, and we finally decided on DLE Cafe.  We walked in for the first time and was about to order when Davia walked out!  I quickly asked why she was there, and she explained she just finished an interview for a job there.  I asked who she interviewed with and told her I would advocate for her!  We hugged, and she left.  Immediately, I introduced myself to John, the restaurant manager, and I told him what a great worker Davia was. As we talked, I found out John was a Christian.  I gave him my contact information and told him our staff would help train his hearing staff for Deaf workers. He soon called me and said he was going to hire Davia and also wanted to hire a Deaf male! Kenroy and I went that Saturday and trained his staff on how to interact with the Deaf. A chance encounter? No way!!! God intervened on a lunch out to place me exactly where he wanted me! It was such an amazing moment for God confirming He loved me and was using me for His kingdom! 

Kenroy Longrin, a Deaf Jamaican Missionary, 

doing a Deaf culture/JSL training for two managers at DLE Cafe.  

Kenroy did an amazing job sharing his story of losing his hearing at 10 years old over night and his journey into the Deaf world.  He shared that he is thankful and believes it was a miracle of God for him to be able to be a bridge between hearing and Deaf communities and share the gospel with Deaf people! 

Kenroy also taught the cafe staff about Deaf people and Deaf culture; Simple facts like we are a people group that uses sign languages as our main mode of communication with a "way of life, values and beliefs, based on "seeing" and visually receiving information.  So we are just like Jamaicans in their culture or any another group of people with the same values. Kenroy and I also taught, through some basic Deaf culture pointers, how to honor Deaf people and gave  communication tips! Some of our topics included:  viewing us as normal people, communicating with writing on paper, text messages or using gestures and body language to communicate, the importance of eye contact, and how to get a Deaf person's attention by waving, tapping on the shoulder or pounding a table for vibrations! John, the head manager, videoed the workshop to share with his workers. 

Lastly, Kenroy taught some Jamaican sign language to help give them a start for the first day with two Deaf workers.  He taught the alphabet, greetings like "good morning" and "how are you", "my name is . . . "He also provided space in the training for them to learn common phrases they use daily in the cafe such as "kitchen" "juice bar" "can you help me?" and common fruits and vegetables the two Deaf workers will be cooking daily! 

Both John and Suehan did an amazing job learning JSL and understanding how to welcome Deaf people! Kenroy was impressed with how quickly and eagerly they were learning the concepts he taught 

and using signing with him after he taught it! DLE Cafe is going to be a great environment for Deaf people to work and come to for lunch or a smoothie! 

They blessed us with smoothies after the training.  We will definitely be going to this cafe more and telling more people about it!  I love God and his connections and how He cares deeply about me too! 

A visit after her first week of work!  

Here is John, the manager's testimony of the encounter!