Deaf Ministry
Join Me in Reaching the Deaf
Did you know that*:
- the deaf community is the 3rd (sometimes considered the 4th) largest unreached people group with the Gospel of Christ?
- out of the approximately 6 million deaf people in North America, only 2 to 4 percent are Christians?
- less than 2% of the deaf around the world have an active relationship with Jesus?
*Information provided by Aid the Silent.
I have a particular interest in reaching out to the deaf. My niece, Cindy, is deaf. She has never heard one sound. She isn’t a candidate for Cochlear implants. Hearing aids don’t help.
If you haven’t been around a deaf person, it’s difficult to understand what a tremendous handicap it is to be deaf. Cindy is excellent at reading lips, but what if someone turns away as they’re talking? What about at a dinner table where the conversation, jokes, and discussion bounces from one person to the next?
Cindy learned to speak without ever hearing a sound; which is amazing. But, communication is still a challenge.
When her mother, Linda, asked if we could have deaf interpreters at two of my conferences, I was thrilled to arrange it. Two ASL interpreters came and interpreted my P.R.A.Y. with Passion Conference and Listen UP! Conference.
Life isn’t always tied up in a pretty bow. It often comes with scars both on the inside and outside. Cindy and I grew up more like sisters than aunt/niece. As a child I remember children making fun of Cindy because she didn’t talk like they did. I remember the hurt in her eyes. I wish I could say the hurt stopped. But adults are often as or more cruel than kids. But we can do something to impact those, who like Cindy, have been hurt and isolated. We can offer them resources of joy and hope – of Christ.
Join us in reaching the deaf with the good news of Jesus Christ.
- Give a P.R.A.Y. with Passion Conference DVD and Listen Up! Conference DVD to your church, city library, and deaf action center.
- Offer ASL interpretation during services.
- Offer live captioning of sermons during services.
- Offer Bible studies for the deaf.
- Share our Vimeo closed caption teaching videos with the deaf and hard of hearing.
- Pray for the deaf to open their hearts to the good news of Jesus.
- Pray for us as we develop more closed captioned and ASL interpreted materials.
- Pray for DOOR International.
ASL Bible: Click here.
Daily Devotions for the Deaf, Deaf Missions: Click here.
DOOR International: Chronological Bible Storying in ASL. Click here.