Our Braille travels around the world. A recent count revealed that we are sending monthly mailings of our Braille Magazine “We Would See Jesus” to 21 coun-tries, not including the United States. We send out well over 900 copies each month. Well over half of these go over seas. Some go to individuals; some go to lending libraries in various countries. For the most part, these countries are non-English speaking countries, but because many of the institutions teaching the blind were begun while these countries were under British rule, these institutions have continued to teach forms of English Braille. A number of these countries are in Africa. The country that we send more magazines to than any other country is Malawi, but we also send magazines to people in Nigeria, Tanzania, Ethiopia, as well as other African countries. We also send magazines to blind people in Asia, such as India and Ban-gladesh. Some countries will have multiple readers, while other countries will only have one or two, and occasion-ally from time to time will lose contact with a reader from a country only to gain readers from other countries or from that country later on. It is not unusual to receive a call from a reader from the Philippines or from one of the African countries. They are usually calling in the middle of the night so they can talk to us during work hours in the United States.

In the fall of 1975 we began publishing “We Would See Jesus” with a mailing list of approximately 60 read-ers. Now we are sending well over 900 copies around the world as well as right here at home. Yes, I do mean right here at home because my wife Barb faithfully reads the

magazines. The unfortunate thing about being the editor of the magazine as I do not read the magazine when it arrives in the mail because I’ve read the articles via Debbie my Secre-tary reading them to me in the selection process or have writ-ten articles. Articles are chosen from various magazines such as the Lookout, Christian Stan-dard, One Body, and Restora-tion Herald. I also write some articles. I attempt articles that

cause the reader to study the bible and think about a bibli-cal topic. However, occasionally I will include an article that describes an event in the life of a Christian, such as last year when I included the testimony of one of our local church ministers concerning their experience at the Bos-ton Marathon Race during the terrorist attack.

As with anything the International Christian Braille Mission produces, the purpose of “We Would See Jesus” is to proclaim the Lordship of Christ and the Gospel of Christ as well as to encourage the Christian reader to have a closer relationship to Christ. Each magazine copy costs the Mission over a $1.00. We subcontract the printing and the mailing of the magazines; it is done by Clovernook Printing House of the Blind in Cincinnati, Ohio. Until a couple of years ago, when Braille Inter-national of Stewart, Florida published the magazine, we mailed the magazine from our offices upon receiving them from Braille International. However, increasing cir-culation made it more and more difficult for us to prepare the mailing and get it to the post office. As far as Braille magazines go, because of our limited budget, it is a small magazine, but when you get 900 copies together it makes a small truck load.

International Christian Braille Mission • Winter 2014

HAVE BRAILLE, WILL TRAVEL

Mike and Barbara Smith (seated at the exhibit table) withSue O’Brien at the National Federation of the Blind.

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On January 4, 2014, I went to Haiti with Paul Ronk of Help Haiti Know Jesus Ministries. Another member of my local church, Todd, went with us. I preached three sermons and taught Sunday school at the Premiere Christian Church. I spoke to three classes of parents and children in the Christian School concerning the importance of staying in school.

I gave an audio bible to an older blind man in the church. I asked concerning blind people but was told that the only blind were elderly because being a blind child in Haiti basically was a death sentence. Life is rough there but I strongly suspect that there are some blind people there other than just the elderly. Many think that a disability is sent by God to punish, so disabled people are hidden because of the shame associated with having a disability.

One of my goals was to show that a blind person, or a person with any disability, could live a meaningful life and be an asset to not only God, but to the community. I demon-strated the reading of Braille by using Braille sermon outlines and read from the title page of a novel to the school children. While Paul and Todd were busy photographing children at the school or talking Haiti Mission business, I would sit on the bench outside and read my book that always gathered a few people.

Madam Nicholas, the preacher’s wife, was fascinated when I told her that Barb was a good cook. “How does Madam Mike cook without getting burned?” she asked through an interpreter. I did a very poor job of explaining how Barb cooked on a gas stove. Of course, Madam Nicholas uses the typical Haitian charcoal burning stove so the danger of being burnt is increased. One evening while sitting on the front porch, I was stunned when Madam Nicholas slapped my arm hard, only to realize a moment later that her slap had prevented me from touching a very hot charcoal iron. We learned from each other and when I left, I had many Haitian friends. Perhaps later we will be successful in locating and serving blind people in Haiti and just maybe my being there

has started a long thought process that will eventually result in people realizing that all people, in-cluding the disabled are loved by God, sought by Jesus and useful as participat-ing members of so-ciety. Please pray for my Haitian friends and for blind people in Haiti.

Much of the work of Braille transcription is a slow tedious process. When we put a new document into Braille it is either keyed or scanned in to Word or text file. Mike and Debbie proof the print copy. This may involve Mike correcting the text on the computer with the aid of a screen reader while Debbie uses the text copy to direct him to the area that needs correction. This part of the process is usu-ally repeated several times.

A proof copy is then converted to Braille via the Duxbury Braille translation software. Hard copy Braille is printed and Barb proof reads the Braille and corrections are made under Barb’s direction. Major corrections must be done on the original print file in the computer but a final minor correction may be done using the computerized Braille. This part of the process is also repeated a number of times.

Older Braille text that were printed before the age of computerized Braille and for which the original print copy is unavailable must be re-entered into the computer. This is done by Mike reading the Braille copy as Debbie keys in the text onto a Word document. Why do this? For example, a publication such as, “The Holy Spirit Lives in Christians”, was originally printed by Clovernook Printing House for the Blind and distributed by Campbell Church Of Christ, Campbell, California, Light for the Blind Min-istry. After I.C.B.M. received the library of the ministry upon their closing, we distributed most of the remaining copies of this publication.. If we were to have Clovernook reprint the publication, we would have to order multiple copies which would not only be costly but would create storage problems. Since Scriptural teaching is timeless we wish to continue to offer the publication. So we will create a computer Braille copy that we can print on demand, thus saving storage space, managing cost of publication and still having the publication readily available.

This is not very exciting material to put in a Mission Newsletter. The tasks involved are slow and repetitive. Hours of tedium are involved in the work but the result is the presentation of the Gospel of Christ and solid Biblical teaching that is intend-ed to introduce people to Christ, to draw them closer to Christ and to ground them well in the Word of God. Please pray for our staff as we do these not so exciting tasks and pray for the Braille readers who will read the publications.

SLOW, BUT STEADY

Mike at the Braille embosser.Mike Smith and Haitian children

in the ocean.

HAITI

tem in the Literary Format. 2016 is the starting date.

While countries in the other two areas of the world had already decided to adopt the Uni-fied English Braille Code, blind people in the United States were understand-ably reluctant. However, a couple of years ago Barb and I along with our friends Jim and Sue witnessed a historic vote of the National Federation of the Blind to accept a resolution adopting the proposed change by the Braille Authority of North America. As the vote was being carried out and counted by a roll call of states it became evident that the resolution would pass. I turned to Jim and said, “I know it is not exciting, but you are watching history being made because the way blind people read and write in North America will depend on what is decided today and we are witnessing it.”

The publications we have on computer I think can be changed by the press of a few buttons and current publica-tions will be used for a very long time as the change will be slow. The important thing for us is to remember that in the end we hope and pray that this will make it easier for blind people around the world to come to Christ and to come closer to Christ. Please pray for our English Braille readers from around the world as we prepare and go through this change.

When it comes to the second coming no man knows the day or hour, but I know when the current system of Braille reading and writing in North America will change. On January 4, 2016, the Braille Authority of North America will officially recognize the Unified English Braille code as the standard of Braille reading and writing for the United States and Canada. Three large areas of the world have been using a form of English Braille. The Braille Authority of the United Kingdom governs English Braille for the United Kingdom and most former English possessions. Another au-thority governs the rules of English Braille in countries such as Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, Hong Kong and other Asian and South Pacific countries. Unfortunately the three systems of English Braille differed. The British, for example did not use the capital sign. The differences were not great but it could create difficulty for Braille readers from around the world. The Unified English Braille will standardize English Braille. The good thing is the Braille readers that we serve and other English speaking countries will find it easier to read, but the bad thing is some older Braille readers in the United States and Canada will be relearning to read Braille for something like the third time. Some older readers may remember reading a system called New York Point; then Grade 1 and 1 ½ Braille; then Grade two Braille; then Grade Two revised Braille and now the Unified English Braille Code. It is understandable why some people are not happy; however it is hoped that this is the final change. The change will be done slowly over time and in North America will not include any changes to Nemeth Code which is used for mathematical notation but does not affect the number sys-

JANUARY 4, 2016

Barb reading Braille.

We are looking for property in Grayson, Kentucky. This property needs to have room enough to provide hous-ing for the Mission, private housing for Mike and Barb, and an efficiency apartment for an intern. We are being picky in looking for property. It needs to be in short walking distance to the campus of Kentucky Christian University. Preferably on one level but if not, it needs to be dry on all levels and have the ability to be modified for access by disabled persons. We are looking at space of between 4000-6000 square feet. Finally, we must be able to afford it. When you don’t drive you must be picky, so, since we must be so picky please pray that the Lord’s will be done for it is the future of the Mission that we are thinking about because we want the Gospel to continue to be preached among the blind.

LOOKING FOR PROPERTYby Michael Smith

Digital cassette tape recording is a thing of the past. Currently we are still sending cassette record-ings because we have not been able to do the editing of digital recordings. Editing of digital recordings is done with a person looking at a sine wave on a com-puter screen.

At this point, we do not have manpower or experience to use that technology. However, it is our hope that we can obtain some technical assistance from students at Kentucky Christian College in our planned move. In any case, we always have a need for volunteer narrators. If you would be interested in nar-rating Christian publications for blind people to read, please contact us. This is a ministry that can be done through the mail.

RECORDING MINISTRYby Michael Smith

This is the monthly thank you letter that was sent out in September to our contributors with their receipts. We include it here because it best explains our current situation.

September 2, 2014

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

Thank you for your kind support of the work of the In-ternational Christian Braille Mission. Your receipt is enclosed.

Due to economic conditions during the past few years, we are running a deficit of nearly $5000 a month. If you would like a financial statement we will send you one upon request.

Our Board of Directors made several decisions. First, the Board hired Paul Ronk to assist in scheduling and as-sist with transportation for Mike and Barb to visit churches. The need to visit churches with personal interaction and the ability to present the work and answer questions has been a severe problem for Mike and Barb because they cannot drive and public transportation has been drastically cut. Second, the Board approved the seeking of an intern. It is the beginning of a planned process covering a number of years in which we will begin to look for an apprentice or train a successor or succes-sors to continue the work when Mike and Barb are no longer able to continue to do so. Finally, the Board directed Mike, Barb and Paul to look for, locate, and procure property near by Kentucky Christian University in Grayson, Kentucky on which to move the Mission facilities. This is an attempt to locate our facilities whereby we can make use of student volunteers and technical assistance in the operation of our audio ministry from the audio tech school of Kentucky Christian University. Grayson is only an hour and a half west on I-64 so we are still within the area. Aside from the interruption of services that will occur during the actual move, if God wills that we are successful, we hope and pray that these decisions will result in strengthening our ability to proclaim the Gospel to the blind.

This is taking a leap of faith. First, we are spending money in order to increase our financial support in the future. We are only able to do this along with assuming the cost of moving expenses for a limited time because of the bequest which we believe God has given us for such a time as this. We have and will continue to do our best to be frugal but Braille and audio are expensive, yet we are committed to taking the Gospel to the blind. You have been faithful in supporting us and I know that I am writing this letter to the choir, so to speak, but I want to keep you informed as to the situation and as to what we are doing about it and why. If you have any comments or questions, don’t hesitate to contact me. Meanwhile, please continue to pray that the blind might read the Gospel of Christ.

In Christ,

Michael Smith, PresidentInternational Christian Braille MissionRev. 22:4

A debate occurs among our supporters as to whether it is cost effective for us to include preprinted envelopes. In the past, I’ve tended to include such envelopes because as a blind per-son, I think of the convenience that they provide. However, this time in order to save a little bit of money I am not includ-ing them, so in addition to asking for a donation we ask for your donation of the envelope. Please send contribution to:

International Christian Braille Mission5312 MacCorkle Avenue SW PMB277

South Charleston, WV 25309

Your contributions are tax deductable. THANK YOU

TO ENVELOPE ORNOT TO ENVELOPE

International ChristianBraille Mission

5312 MacCorkle Avenue SW PMB 277South Charleston, WV 25309-1012

Telephone: 304-768-8876E-mail: icbmwv@icbminc.org

Web address: www.icbminc.org

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Mission Services2004 E. Magnolia Ave.Knoxville, TN 37917

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