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Trexler Speaks to Church World Leaders
On October 8, 2009, Pastor David Trexler had the great opportunity to be the morning worship speaker at the General Conference (GC), the world headquarters for the Seventh-day Adventist Church.
Larry Evans, the Undersecretary of the GC, invited David Trexler to be the speaker for the morning devotional. During this time, the world Church leaders converged for the annual Fall Council.
Pastor Ron Friedrich, a Lutheran pastor for the Deaf in Silver Spring, was David’s interpreter. Ron has been a long-time good friend of David, knowing and working with him at Gallaudet’s Office of Campus Ministry in the past. Ron was the bridge between the hearing people and David at the GC office.
Larry Evans gave a short introduction on deafness and David. During his introduction, Larry explained that there are an estimated 90 million deaf people in the world and only approximately 2000 of them are Adventists. He pointed out that the church has given much-needed focus on various minority groups, youth, and women, plus a concerted effort in the 10-40 window; however, the same concern has not been given to the Deaf.
David gave a short message about a pastor of long ago who believed that the Deaf could not be saved because they could not hear God’s word based on the wrong interpretation of Romans 10:17—“So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.” Then David told about a Deaf man in New Guinea who lived in a remote village away from civilization. The villagers had no contact with white people and they did not know anything about the gospel. One night an angel of the Lord woke him up and taught him Bible truths. The angel taught him many nights, and the Deaf man taught the people about God’s messages. Eventually, the whole village accepted the gospel and changed how they lived. Then a white Adventist missionary came to investigate and found that the Deaf man already had the truth similar to the SDA Church. David closed with Revelation 14:6, 7, specifically on “nation” that refers to people group. Deaf is a people group that we need to reach out with the everlasting gospel.
After worship, several people came to David to say that they were impressed by the message. Then Ted Wilson, GC General Vice President, invited David to the Council of Evangelism and Witness (CEW) which started after the morning worship service. Many of the world’s Church leaders attended this meeting. Mark Finley, GC Vice President of Evangelism, is secretary of this council. GC President Jan Paulsen and NAD President Don Schneider were there, as well. Soon after the meeting began, David gave a five-minute talk about the Deaf work. They all were aware of David’s involvement with Adventist Deaf Ministries, an independent, non-profit organization that works closely with the Church. David emphasized the importance for the Church to be actively involved with the Deaf.
“It was a great opportunity to share our convictions with the Church leaders,” David Trexler said. “Thanks to Larry Evans who has a big heart for the Deaf. Pray for the Church leaders to be more sensitive to the needs of the Deaf all over the world, thus hastening the Second Coming of Christ.”