House of the Sower

House of the Sower is the program for children that are deaf. In this society, a handicap such as this is often seen as a curse for sins of the parents. Most of these kids are shunned by society and there is very little or no assistance for them. Sower House helps them with homework, learning sign, and most importantly, gives them a great social support system of care and friendship. Most of the kids travel 2 hours by bus each way to attend.

The Sower House had an interesting start. It is run in part by one of the children of the Lukasses, who began the entire YWAM program here almost 25 years ago. Dilmas was adopted by the Lukasses' after being found in a box on the street. Dilma is deaf, and it is believed that her deafness was caused by her mother's attempt to abort Dilma. One common method of abortion in the slums is for the woman to ingest a mixture of herbs/chemicals/other substances meant to abort the fetus. Dilma survived, but doctors believe it was this tragic beginning that caused her deafness. After adopting her, Dilma's parents prayed for her healing from deafness. Instead, God healed her emotional scars, and today, the Sower House exists primarily because of Dilma's life.

While there, we were lucky enough to again visit the house of one of the students, who is 18 and has never learned the alphabet. The staff have been reaching out to his family for 4 years, trying to get him to attend the program. His parents were alcoholics though and were unable to have him attend. Now that they have stopped drinking he is starting to learn how to use sign language and learn the alphabet and write.

At the end of the first day with them, we all sat in a circle and the children at the center gave me a sign language name. It is the letter A made with your hand in sign, and moving behind your ear as if pushing your hair back. It was fun to learn with them and help them. The center is such a blessing!