Gospel Light Foundation for the Blind, Inc.

01/04/2023

Smokey (Robert) Nevins, President, Audio Librarian, Teacher, Councilor, Friend and so much more, passed away last night about 10 PM January 3, 2023. He was blind since birth but now his eyes are wide open in Glory and is seeing his Savior face to face.

01/30/2020

Gospel Light Foundation for the Blind, Inc.
448 Winder Hwy.
Loganville, GA 30052
678-475-7879
www.glfb.org
[email protected]

Winter
2020

Issue
71

Dear Friends & Family,
Several of you have asked how my mother Barbara Keathley is doing and have wanted information on her and where she is now since her fall in 2017. Since she is one of the founders of this ministry along with my father Bill Keathley, I thought it would be good to hear from my mother yourselves. Her is a letter from her to you:

“My dear friends and family, since my fall with two broken vertebrate in my neck September 24th, 2017, I have been living in a nursing home. Some of you have been writing and calling to ask how I am doing. I appreciate each of your love, prayers and interest. Previously some of you have even been helping in our work and to lead the blind to Christ down through these last 36 years, some even helped us before my marriage and missionary work. God has blessed me tremendously through answered prayers and the privilege in using me in His work. At first I didn’t know how He would use me but then God gave me a life verse, I Corinthians 15:57 and He sure has accomplished it.
The Lord has used many of you in our financial support. Through this we have been able to eat, provide for our family, and work for the blind in driving, buying materials, phone calls, speaking in schools, and churches. I thank God for your part in this ministry.
Gospel Light is still receiving calls from the blind, attending meetings for the blind, and sending out materials. Gospel Light needs your financial support now, in order to continue this work. The blind are still all over the world and need our help to obtain materials to witness to others. So far Perry Owen, Lilianna Hanley, and the board members barley receive enough financial support to cover Lilianna’s livelihood and for materials that are a necessity to run the ministry.
My two children Rob and Lilianna and their spouses Ruth and Joshua and my grandchildren visit me at least 4 times a week. We are able to attend special meals and services together in this nursing home. I am not able to attend my local church which I miss so much, but I read my Bible, Christian books, listen to a 24 hour Christian daily radio station ‘Reformation Network’ on my I Pad, and I listen to Christian music. These things have been a great encouragement to me. I was told by my blind friend and board member in California, Smokey Nevins, nothing encourages people that love our God like Christian music. I have found that to be true.
Here at my nursing home where I live permanently, they have religious services and other activities and therapy every day. I pray continually to be able to help other patients including several blind and partially blind as well as nurses and other workers by witnessing to them and praying for their health and strength and salvation.
I would love to hear from you any time. My walls are covered with cards, letters, and pictures. Thank you so much.”
Barbara Keathley"

My mother’s health is doing well, but of course there are good days and bad days of how she is feeling but health wise she is doing better than expected. She also enjoys knitting, strolling through the nursing home’s 4 gardens looking at and enjoying the beautiful flowers and greenery, and she enjoys playing games in the dining hall with other patient friends and she also enjoys when my brother and I are able to join them and stay a while. She encourages us and continues to pray for Perry and I to be able to continue her and my father’s work to the blind to further God’s Kingdom for His glory.

Your “lights” in a dark world,

Lilianna Hanley

01/29/2020

Be expecting a newsletter here tomorrow, which consists of a personal letter from Barbara Keathley, one of the two founders of Gospel Light, alongside her husband in 1983. Please pray as these newsletters go out, that they would touch the hearts of just the right people to pray for us daily and that the Lord might choose to open their hearts to give financially to Gospel Light through monthly, yearly or an occasional donation to be able to further reach the blind all over the world with the "True Gospel". May God bless you all.

12/09/2019

Gospel Light Foundation for the Blind, Inc.

448 Winder Hwy.
Loganville, GA 30052

Please remember your missionaries to the blind this holiday season in your gift giving. Our finances are extremely low and we have not been able to pay for a lot of our supplies needed to reach the blind this year. May the Lord bless you in this holiday season with many blessings and may the Lord remind us of what Christ did for us by coming into this world to save us from our sins so that we can glorify God for eternity. We praise the Lord that he has given us opportunity to witness and help the blind for 36 years now. We thank you so much for your many thoughts and prayers for us this year.
In Christ's love,
Lilianna Hanley
Secretary/Treasurer

11/04/2019

Gospel Light Family and Friends,
Please continue to pray for my Brown Recluse spider bite wound. I am still wearing a wound vac on my wound but the doctors say it is healing up nicely but still may take 5 weeks yet to completely heal. 2 weeks ago Saturday we found a Brown Recluse spider in our bedroom closet. Because my husband is a quadriplegic and can't feel from the chest down and that I seem to be so allergic to the Brown Recluse spiders, we had to end up staying in a hotel till we figured out how we could kill any others if there was any. Well we had planned on coming back home that Wednesday because everyone said it was so rare to have them here in our area and we probably only had one of them. Well that Wednesday we found 3 on a sticky pad we had put down. So we ended up having to stay at the hotel a total of 9 nights till we finally found someone who was willing to treat our house for Brown Recluse spiders. We also had to end up setting off a bunch of bug bomb/foggers in our house to get rid of anything live in our home. We have not seen any live insects or spiders in our home since, Praise the Lord. So it is confirmed that I was bit by a Brown Recluse spider back August 3rd or there abouts. This has been such a trying time for us but I am trusting in the Lord for His guidance and He is leading me to whatever our next steps will be.
Thank you so much for your prayers,

Lilianna Hanley

Secretary/Treasurer
Gospel Light Foundation for the Blind, Inc.

09/29/2019

This smart cane for the blind includes Google Maps, Bluetooth technology, and a hi-tech sensory device that will change the lives of the visually impaired.

08/29/2019

Gospel Light family,
My Vasculitis wound has been a journey. Yesterday was the first day I have not had to take any pain medications but that does not mean there is no pain, it just means that it's been manageable without medications. Because of the damaged skin there isn't any skin over the wound. I was notified by my dermatologist that if it is not healed over by September 10th at my next Dermatology appointment I will have to have a skin graft done at a plastic surgeon. That was hard news to hear but yesterday and till then it will be a struggle to keep the infection off the wound area. The dermatologist has given me step-by-step instructions on how to do so, and it is hard work and very time consuming and a lot of laying down and being still while it is working. So far it is the best it's looked. The waiting process is the most difficult for me and of course the unknown of what this was and what will come next. Please continue to pray for me and my husband Joshua as we wait on the Lord to show us what we are to do next and how we should do it. Thank you so much for your prayers and love you have shown to us. We love you all.
Lilianna Hanley

08/22/2019

Dear Gospel Light Family,
Please pray for me personally. I have been dealing with a very painful area on my leg since August 3rd that has become a very large soar or wound very quickly that is forming ulcers on the top of my skin. The doctors are not completely sure what it is from. The causes that have been brought up was first a tick bite then it was thought it was a spider bite like a Black Widow or Brown Recluse spider. But then they had taken biopsies and found that there is inflammation in my veins and arteries. That inflammation could be from a rare disease called Vasculitis but a spider bite could also cause something like Vasculitis as well so they have taken many many tests and are still taking them. I was in the hospital for a week, about a week ago. The dermatologist says the wound is healing up nicely but they are watching it very closely because layer upon layer of skin was damaged and the skin is having to rebuild it's self and run it's course. It still is extremely painful at times but they are trying to ween me off the medications because they are very careful now days with the drug dependency issues becoming more prevalent in our day and age. But with that being said I have to endure more pain than I had been with this issue. Whatever this is, is targeting the nerves in my skin and leg which is causing the inside of this wound to be extremely painful. Because of all the doctors visits and hospital stays (total of 3 different hospitals and 2 different doctors so far) our copay's from my health insurance and the gas going back and forth to the hospital which was an hour away for my husband to drive to visit me and the doctor's office visits which are a half an hour away without traffic, have costed us a significant amount of money out of our personal pocket which we do not have and Gospel Light has not been able to provide me with my salary check this month yet which I normally get the first of every month because the funds have not come in yet. We know that God will provide what is needed but I would greatly appreciate your prayers for Gospel Light funds to increase or that there might be some extra gifts to help us in this time of need. We greatly appreciate your monthly support and your continued prayers. On a side note my husband made me a wooden desk for me to put over the recliner so I can continue to work on Gospel Light things that are pressing and have to be done now. I do apologize if receipts and newsletters are delayed because of my recovery. The doctors have explained to me that this could be a long healing process because of the new skin that has to grow back correctly and run it's course. Thank you so much.

In Christ's Love,

Lilianna Hanley

Gospel Light Foundation for the Blind, Inc.

448 Winder Hwy.

Loganville, GA 30052

678-475-7879

08/10/2019

Thank you all for praying for me. It's been a real time of trusting in the Lord that His ways are best and that their are things that I don't understand and that that is ok. I do not have a "bug bite". It's a Blood Clot in the little artery or vein under the surface of my skin on my right thigh. The skin on the outside of my thigh has been damaged because there was no blood flow to the skin to nourish it. The massive red ring around the damaged skin is inflammation of the artery or vein. Both the blood clot issue and the inflammation issue are 2 separate things and it just so happened at the same time. The blood thinner that I was taking for the blood clot that I had a couple months ago was not working. I am now on stronger blood thinner shots and prednisone for 2 weeks. They just found out this today and after starting the new medications it seems to already be looking a little better. I do praise the Lord they figured out what it was. Their was only 1 doctor who was a dermatologist who knew what this was and she went to elementary school in Maryland with my regular Keiser Permanente dermatologist in Duluth, GA and had just gotten back in touch with eachother recently before they found out they had a patient in common and so my Grady dermatologist has been working together with my KP dermatologist to figure all of this out. Unfortunately the blood clot disease and the inflammation of the veins or arteries are more serious than the bug bite could ever have been. So please pray that the new medications work and the doctors know exactly how long to keep me here and be confident that right now this is fixed but how can we move forward to figure out what the diseases are called and catch blood clots or inflammation before they get this bad. It is very rare to have both diseases. One of the things that triggered the dermatologist thinking at first it was blood clot related is because of my miscarriage a year ago in January. So they think that the miscarriage happened because of my blood issues. I will at least be here at Grady Hospital till the beginning of the week but it could be longer because they are still doing tests and biopsies about it.
The other rash and issues that I was having were all drug allergy symptoms. It still itches but it is getting better. None of the things I have are contagious. I do welcome visitors to come see me while I'm here. Again, thank you so much for your prayers and love you've shared with Joshua and I. We love you all.

04/24/2019

Gospel Light Foundation for the Blind, Inc.
448 Winder Hwy.
Loganville, GA 30052
(678) 475-7879
www.glfb.org
[email protected]

Spring 2019 Issue 70

Isaiah 42:16 “And I will bring the blind by a way that they knew not; I will lead them in paths that they have not known: I will make darkness light before them, and crooked things straight. These things will I do unto them, and not forsake them.”

Dear friends & family,
Oh what beauty God has bestowed on us this spring season. Our tulip trees were in full bloom this year and they have come and gone and now our dogwoods and other flowering trees are blooming and beautiful. Everything is green and flourishing. What a blessing it is to see God’s beauty in the spring time. I hope your spring is as beautiful where you are. So much sickness has been going around here this past winter. It seems we were getting over one thing and something else would pass through. I pray that you all are well and that the Lord blesses you with good health.
In the past I have not mentioned much about our board members and volunteers so I wanted to do so at this time.
~Our Director is Perry Owen and he lives in Carmichael, CA. He is legally blind and is now working hard to raise our support and run Gospel Light as he sees fit.
~Mike Holland who is president of our Board or Directors lives in Plant City, FL and is the pastor of Ahava Baptist Church. He works hard to call the board members as needed and makes some very difficult decisions as quickly as possible and has run the Board meetings when we did not have a director.
~Gordon Houser who lives in Merritt Island, FL works for Lockheed Martin as a Florida Site Operations & Worldwide Launch Director and he and his wife Julie volunteer their time to put on a Blind Bible study in Rockledge, FL once a month and provide some transportation for them. Julie also volunteers her time to transfer the cassette tape part of our ministry to digital format to put in our digital library.
~Dr. Bob Dargie lives in Titusville, FL and is pastor of Forest Hills Baptist Church. Forest Hills Baptist church also volunteers their time to help in the Blind Bible study in Rockledge, FL.
~Smokey Nevins lives in Sacramento, CA and is totally blind. He also volunteers his time to send out digital recordings from our library to the blind and also used to help write “The Shining Light” magazine articles when we are able to put the magazine out. He also works for the state of California as a program analyst.
~Robert Stamey is a retired pastor and lives in Oxford, GA.
~Lilianna Hanley, that’s me and I live in Loganville, GA and have been working with Gospel Light fulltime since 1999 but have been involved in the ministry since my parents Bill and Barbara Keathley started Gospel Light in 1983 and I have been a missionary fulltime since 2008 when my father passed away. Now I mainly work in the office and go to blind meetings once a month and exhibit and attend blind conventions and help with the board meetings.
~Rob Keathley my brother lives in Loganville, GA and is our computer consultant for Gospel Light. He is a computer programmer and CIO of NetSoft.
Please pray for us all as we further the work God has given each of us here with Gospel Light Foundation for the Blind, Inc.
Here is a note from our Director:
It actually has been a year since I took over Gospel Light Foundation for the Blind, Inc. as the Director and it has been a fast paced year but I feel a very productive year. We have lost some support and yet have gained some support and we only hope that support improves as well as the economy. Sadly the churches and gospel related ministries are the first to be cut from our budgets as we strive to live and survive. I don't think that we can really put a true price on God's Word being spread to the lost. Can you place a price on your salvation since we know that we will spend an eternity praising and thanking God for our Salvation?
Smokey Nevins has been working with a blind student overseas and has supplied him a cassette player and tapes. Yes, I said cassettes and tapes as other countries we forget are not as advanced as we are. I personally have been working with a blind student overseas and so far have only been able to provide him with audio files and he wants more things sent but I can only help him with the resources we can afford to keep Gospel Light going.
If you cannot increase your giving can you at least put us in your prayers and also your shopping lists. If you just so happen to shop on Amazon please set up your internet browser or bookmark to smile.amazon.com and set Gospel Light Foundation for the Blind to be your charity of choice. You must make sure that every time you go on Amazon that you see the Smile and Gospel Light name towards the top left of the page. How easy is that and it doesn’t cost you any extra money so please tell your friends and family about this also. Thank you.
Perry Owen
Thank you so much for your continued prayers and financial support as we share the gospel to the blind. I have not been able to receive a monthly salary check this month, the month of April. Our support is very low and we would greatly appreciate any extra gifts at this time as the Lord provides. God knows our needs and I trust Him daily for His provisions. We love and pray for you all.
Lilianna Hanley

Today, Gospel Light Foundation for the Blind seeks to be an extension of the local church by providing the materials to the blind that most local churches are unable to provide themselves.