Now, 36 years later Bro. Ron Wilcoxson and his family feel God calling them into the building ministry for God's deaf people. God has allowed Ron to obtain a commercial and residential general contractors license for building. We have enjoyed being in business for ourselves for about 10 years. God has now allowed us to reorganize the Silent Bible Baptist Church here in Wichita and are working toward building a new building for the deaf here in Wichita at no cost to them except materials. We have also received calls by several ministers to the deaf and hearing pastors wanting us to help them build a deaf church or start a deaf ministry in their area.

How the Silent Church Builders started:
My late father received the call of God to start what we feel was the very first Independent Baptist “all deaf” separated services in the United States of America. He named the church the Silent Bible Baptist Church. Through that work we were able to see over 100 deaf come to know Christ as their personal Savior. In this church the deaf were able to do anything in it that a hearing person could do in their own church. For example, they could be a Sunday School teacher, a deacon, trustee, treasurer, church clerk, usher, or any officer they chose to be. Then the ladies had many offices and opportunities also. The deaf were able to enjoy many trips, camp outs and fellowship dinners and etc.

As a child I observed many deaf and also had many deaf friends. I thank God for the opportunity that I had as a child growing up with the deaf. They are very special people. God has given me a special love for these people and I feel that He has prepared me for this work that we are about to do.

After graduating High School in 1977 at the Wichita Baptist Tabernacle School, I then waited for a little over a year before attending Tennessee Temple University in 1979. I chose that college because of the deaf work there and the opportunity to meet more deaf all over the world. My father started loosing his eyesight badly due to his sugar diabetes. He then asked me to come back home and fill the pulpit there at his church.

I Thank God for allowing me to have a father with Godly principles, a love for God and His deaf people, and his ability in the building field. God had a plan many years ago for our family it has taken this long to prepare us for this ministry. I feel that we are still being prepared. In I Peter 3:20 ... “Which sometime were disobedient, when once the long-suffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was a preparing, wherein few, that is, eight souls were saved by water.” We see that God prepared Noah all those years for building the Ark to save just eight souls! My dear friend, if I do what God has called me to do and all we gain is eight souls for Christ... Praise God! However I hope to see eight thousand deaf souls won.

God has allowed us to obtain a General Contractors license for commercial and residential work here in the state of Kansas. God has brought many people into our lives that have helped us obtain the knowledge and wisdom that we will need for the building of His deaf churches. I have always knew that building was going to be a part of my life since at the age of 12, my brother and I built a three story tree house. My father and I always remodeled ever house we lived in. Then we moved to Gaylord Kansas to help my uncle and cousin with their construction business. After that God moved us to Olathe Kansas where He allowed us to start our own business and helped it grow to over 250 regular clients. The greatest time of all that we shared there was with our friends at Shawnee Mission Baptist Temple where Kevin Metsinger was pastor. God used Bro. Metsinger and his people to shape us and mold us for His ministry. To this church we will always be grateful. Bro. Metsinger was a man who loved his people and I was one of many people there that bear witness to that fact. He saw that I loved the deaf and was struggling as to what God wanted me to do for the deaf. I always felt that it was going to be in Olathe because of the deaf school and the great volumes of deaf that could be reached there. But that is when I was trying to see the future in my eyes and not God's eyes. Bro. Metsinger then called Bro. Fred Adams and his people to sing in our church with taped music and a message in sign language. God broke my heart right there and I wept through every song trying to video tape with tears running down my face and my nose a running. Then Bro. Adams spoke and God really touched my heart. Not long after that we knew that God wanted us back into the deaf work. Now then... where, when, and doing what?

God then allowed some group of thugs to steal every single tool out of our business van. Business slowed down, and calls were few. We always received just enough to pay the bills but that was it. We then went to visit relatives in Wichita and while we were there a deaf couple (Former members of my father's church) came to visit us at my mothers house. They had shared with us their burden for a deaf church like they had at one time. They had informed us that there were no deaf churches at all in Wichita Kansas that allowed them to do what they did at the Silent Bible Baptist Church. There were churches that had an interpreting service available to them. There was another church that offered the new vibration of the music movement. Then there was another church that allowed them to have their own Sunday School, and morning worship service and then interpreting on Sunday night and Wednesday night . This was truly sad. Then the former members (And now new members of the S.B.B.C.) told me...Bro. Ron we just want to be able to serve the Lord and read our bible in church. Then, they asked us if we would help them get a new deaf church started that was like the old S.B.B.C. I told them I would pray about it.

Also that week, my mother had told me that a deaf man living in Wichita (Also a former member and now member of the S.B.B.C.) had given me some tools out of his work shop to help me in replacing my tools that were stolen. Well, needless to say that was all I needed to hear to make the decision. I then prayed... Lord, if this is what you want us to do, then I wish for you to stop our business phone from ringing with clients calling and wanting something done to their homes. Guess what! We did not receive one phone call with even a bid for another job for over a month. I said okay Lord, now that I know what you want me to do I will obey the call and start making preparations to move to Wichita, but we will need another job to supply us with enough money to pay for our moving van rental to get us moved to Wichita. Shortly after that my wife, my son and I started traveling from Olathe to Wichita on the weekends to minister to these deaf people.

After moving to Wichita we then started to organize the church. We were meeting in my mother's home at first, then Bro. Steve Day and his people at Friendship Baptist Church out of Wichita Kansas opened up their building for us to meet in until we are able to get a building for these deaf people and their church. Bro. Day was very gracious in allowing us to choose whatever room we needed to accommodate our people. He also offered the fellowship hall and missionary apartment to the deaf if need be. Now the S.B.B.C. was well on it's way to being reestablished To Bro. Steve Day, his wife Vicki, and all the people at Friendship Baptist Church, the Wilcoxson's and the Silent Bible Baptist Church will always be grateful for allowing God to use you as a stepping stone in helping these deaf people have a place to be able to worship God in their own language.

After talking to the State of Kansas and Federal Government offices about the organization of the church, we were informed that it would be less expensive to just reorganize my late father's work there at the Silent Bible Baptist Church since we still had some of it's original charter members interested in restarting the work. This however was not a fast process. It took over six months of many phone calls, letters, e-mail and personal visits to receive the papers that were now in the hands of the Kansas Historical Society archives.

Since the church's reorganizing we have seen over 50 visitors, 10 members join, 2 souls saved, and many decisions made for Christ.

Now then, a little over a year after the S.B.B.C. was reorganized, then a deaf group meeting in a hearing church also being interpreted to asked us to help them get a church of their own started in Hutchinson Kansas. We are currently working with them to get their church organized and help the leader to become a pastor to that church.

God has had several people call us with a desire to have deaf churches of their own, or start a deaf ministry out of their church. Pray for us to be able to meet these demands of God's people. We are hoping to go on deputation this next year and try to raise enough monthly support to be able to build deaf churches all over the world at no cost to the deaf people. When we say “build deaf churches” we mean ...start with deaf people and getting them involved in their own church, finding a pastor that will love them with a godly love and feed them God's word, then help this church erect a building or remodel another building to suit it's people. God has already shown Himself to us through the blessings we have already received. Needless to say buildings are not cheap, and most deaf (not all) are those with low incomes. So therefore, we feel burdened to help them. Will you help us to help them?

The Wilcoxson's