Ronald Henson served the Lord for many years in various positions at Highland Park Baptist Church, Chattanooga, Tennessee. He was working in the bus ministry when the Lord spoke to him about getting involved with the deaf ministry.

It was at Tennessee Temple University that we came to know Ron and Susie Henson. Ann went to Temple in 1970 and encountered the needs of deaf students on the campus. God immediately put a desire in her heart to do something with the deaf. Rev. Henson was the pastor of the deaf at that time. One year later, Gary went to TTU and was introduced to the deaf ministry and the Hensons by Ann. We started a lifelong friendship with two of God’s greatest servants. They taught us the sign language and how to reach the deaf for Christ. The Hensons taught us that the deaf are not just people who do not hear but are rather a totally different world that exists alongside the hearing world. We learned that to have a useful ministry, we must enter the deaf world and not expect them to try to enter ours. Our first occasion of doing that was in the home of the Hensons.

The Hensons showed us by their lives the dedication needed to truly minister to a group of people, especially those who are a little different from others around them. We learned the in’s and out’s of deaf ministry while sitting at their feet.

About 1972, God began speaking to Brother Henson about going full time as a missionary to the deaf. He was already teaching in the Temple Bible School and pastoring the deaf church. Through a mutual friend, he was encouraged to go to the Texas border and see the needs of Mexico. No one was aware that there were no Baptist missionaries in Mexico ministering to the deaf.

In the meantime, they visited several churches in the Midwest and suggested we should visit some of them as we sought the Lord’s leading in our future ministry. One church especially impressed the Hensons and led Susie to eventually say to us, “You have to visit that church.” In our years of knowing the Hensons, we had never heard Susie say that we had to do anything, so we listened. That church was Community Baptist Church in Andalusia, Illinois, which became our sending church. We went and were greatly impressed with the work and stayed eight years until God likewise called us to Mexico.

While visiting the Texas/Mexico border, God gave Brother Henson his own “Macedonian call” by allowing him to see the deaf of Mexico standing on the other side of the border begging him to come help them. He awakened his wife and told her he felt God was calling him to Mexico. Susie replied that if God was calling, she was ready.

They returned to Chattanooga and contacted Baptist International Missions, Inc., and were approved as missionaries to the deaf. After raising support they moved to the Texas border to begin learning Spanish. The language school suggested he was too old to learn a new language, but he decided that if God had called him, he needed to obey.

Upon moving to Monterrey, Mexico, he made a horrendous discovery. As they began “talking” with the deaf, he discovered that the concept of a “universal” sign language was just a fable. The deaf could not understand him! Nor could he understand the deaf. After moving his family to a foreign country, expecting to start a ministry immediately, he discovered he must learn another language-the Mexican sign language.

Over the next couple of years, he recorded every sign he learned and eventually had two different artists come to help him put those signs into book form. It became the first published book of Mexican sign language. Every hearing worker to the Mexican deaf owes a tremendous debt to Ronald Henson!

God had moved us to Illinois to start a deaf ministry there. While there, we were able to visit the Hensons twice in Mexico. The Lord broke our hearts for the Mexican deaf while on our last visit. Not wishing to leave our ministry in Illinois, Gary asked the Lord to make His will plain through a “fleece.” Gary wrote the Hensons to thank them for being good hosts on the trip, without mentioning what God was doing in our hearts. He asked the Lord to use the response from the Hensons to make clear His will for us. The letter arrived, written in blue ink. In the center of the letter, perfectly spaced, were the following words in red, “We want you here in Mexico.” The rest of the letter said, “Of course we can not determine God’s will for you, but if it were left to us… we want you here in Mexico.” Again, the Lord used the Hensons to bring about a tremendous change in our lives.

The Hensons ministered in Monterrey for five years and then the Lord led them to Guadalajara. Their hope was to begin a church and start a Bible institute for the deaf. Most of the deaf have very low educational skills but not low educational abilities. What the deaf lacked was education.

Ronald Henson talked with us about the move as we were on deputation to go to Mexico as well. He was very careful NOT to try to suggest God’s will but only to inform us of the changes. Immediately we knew that God was changing our city of ministry. We started our journey towards Guadalajara.

When we arrived in Texas, the Hensons met us to help us find our way. Once in Guadalajara, Brother Henson started the task of teaching us a new language. Neither of us yet spoke Spanish, so we were learning sign language before we learned the spoken language. Soon, we were completely involved in the ministry while trying to learn the languages.

The Hensons took their first furlough a couple of years later and left the ministry in our hands. After returning, they got back into the work whole-heartedly, even though Brother Henson had already experienced a couple of slight heart attacks. Eventually, they decided they had accomplished what they could and returned to the USA. Later, when we needed to go home on furlough after nine years on the field, they quickly returned to maintain the ministry for the year.

They continued in the Lord’s work full-time in North Carolina and later in Florida until his stroke about three years ago. Ron Henson is like a patriarch in Mexico. He and his wife are responsible in one way or the other for every deaf ministry that is presently there. They either started the work or taught the person who did for each of the twelve churches throughout the Republic. No other person has ever had such an effect on the deaf of Mexico. We still meet deaf people who tell us they met a very large man at some of the soccer games in 1978 who tried to get them interested in the Lord. Their response was varied, but the witness of the Hensons was faithful.

Several years ago, the deaf leaders decided to rename the annual deaf camp, Camp Henson. It will forever be a reminder to all of the faithfulness of this incredible missionary to the deaf of Mexico. His work is over, but his ministry will continue until Jesus comes again.

Gary and Ann Layne are BIMI missionaries to the deaf, serving in Mexico.

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PRESENT WITH THE LORD — Missionary Ron Henson went to be with his Lord and Savior July 19, 2003. He had been in a nursing home for an extended time. Brother Henson, and his wife, Susie, served with BIMI for 31 years. Brother Henson leaves his wife, four children and five grandchildren.

Sunday, March 14, 2010

1 Timothy 3:16 And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory.

EDWARD & CAROLE HEMBREE -  ROMANIA - ASSISTANT EUROPE DIRECTOR
BRYCE & SARAH HENDERSON -  BOLIVIA
JASON & KATHLEEN HENEISE -  MILITARY - CALIFORNIA