Deaf Reach Corner
Deaf Reach Corner
Evangelism!… witnessing…giving your testimony, telling family, friends and co-workers. This is fulfilling the Great
Commission. Christian evangelism means sharing our faith with others. According to Webster, evangelism means:
zealous preaching and dissemination of the gospel, as through missionary work. As Pentecostals, this has been
the mainstay of our revivals, camp meetings, and evangelistic services. Win the lost at any cost! Every Soul
Counts! Envision, Equip, Empower! These statements challenge us to disciple souls. We train Christians to
evangelize, teaching/training them how to witness effectively. Our goal? The whole gospel to the whole world!
There are no accurate numbers for the general deaf population. The numbers we do have are staggering. 250
Million deaf people worldwide and of that number just 1.5 to 2 percent of deaf people are Christians (as opposed
to 30 percent of hearing people). Only about 7 percent of deaf people even know the name of Jesus Christ. * The
United States alone has over 28 million deaf. The culturally Deaf do not view Deafness as a disability. Deafness has
been one of the most misunderstood of all disabilities. Even today, the Deaf Community must overcome barriers,
prejudices, discriminations and misunderstandings of their language and their culture.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Deaf: An Unreached People Unlike Any Other -by Chad Estinger
I often tell people that there are advantages to being Deaf. With my hearing aid, I have “selective
hearing.” I can turn my hearing aid on, but I can turn it off, too! How well do you think I sleep at night?
Great!
I take my hearing aid off so I don’t hear anything when I sleep. And Deaf people have an advantage
with sign language—we can talk about other people and they don’t know it!
While there are advantages to being Deaf, the sad reality is that many Deaf people do not know they
have a tremendous disadvantage—they do not know Jesus as their Lord and personal Savior. It has
been reported that out of an estimated 250 to 300 million Deaf people in the world, only 2% of them
are Christians.
That means 98% of Deaf people will miss out on the blessing of eternal life with Jesus in heaven. Deaf
people are among the largest unreached people groups in the world.
You may be wondering, “Why is it that so many Deaf people do not know Jesus?” Here’s a story that
may
help you understand, and within this story you will see some of the obstacles to Deaf people learning
about Jesus.
Years ago, I witnessed to a Deaf man, Chuck*, who was not a Christian. While visiting with Chuck, he
shared that his parents always brought him to church, but he never understood what was going on.
Apparently, he did not have an interpreter and no one in the church communicated with him in sign
language. His impression from the church, while growing up, was that the preacher’s main job was to
make money from church. Why did he think this way? All he saw, and clearly understood, was the
offering plate going around and people putting their money in there. Then, the offering plate would be
given to the preacher in front of the congregation
and he had a big smile on his face as he talked. He was probably praying for God’s blessing upon
the offering,
but the Deaf man did not understand this, as he couldn’t hear. Because of his negative experiences
growing up in the church, he wanted nothing to do with Jesus and his church.
This is an all too common experience for Deaf people. Deaf people are often abandoned, neglected
and isolated, even within the church. Outside of the church they experience the same in their families
and work places. In some countries where there is a lack of social and government services, parents
abandon their Deaf children because they don’t know what to do and where to go for help. Some
parents also see Deafness as a curse to get rid of. This explains why there are many Deaf orphans.
Deaf people are often looked down upon,
too. In many countries, Deaf people do not have equal rights. For example, in some countries Deaf
people are not allowed to drive. When I was in the Philippines years ago, I could only drive if I had a
hearing person in the passenger seat.
Nine out of ten Deaf children are born to hearing parents. In the United States of America, only 23%
of parents with Deaf children learn to communicate through sign language. The percentage is
probably much less in many other countries. Family, friends and churches often do not learn sign
language skillfully enough to clearly communicate God’s Word to Deaf people. Again, like Chuck,
many Deaf people have felt isolated within their own families and churches. We need a better way
to reach the Deaf.
Bring Them to Jesus
The Gospel writer, Mark, tells the story of Jesus healing a Deaf man in Mark 7:31-35 (NIV).
Then Jesus left the vicinity of Tyre and went through Sidon, down to the Sea of Galilee and into the region of the Decapolis.There some people brought to him a man who was Deaf and could hardly talk, and they begged Jesus to place his hand on him.
After he took him aside, away from the crowd, Jesus put his fingers into the man’s ears. Then he spit and touched the man’s tongue. He looked up to heaven and with a deep sigh said to him, “Ephphatha!” (which means “Be opened!”). At this, the man’s ears were opened, his tongue was loosened and he began to speak plainly.