International (MNN) — Imagine growing up and not being able to communicate with the people you love most – even your parents. Sadly, this describes the reality for most Deaf kids.
“Many, many Deaf children, 90 percent or more, don’t get access to any language until school age,” DOOR International’s Rob Myers says.
“If there are very few Deaf schools in a country, then those children grow up to be adults who never get access to language at all.”
(Photo courtesy of DOOR International)
This phenomenon — Deaf adults lacking language access — is sadly more common than not.
“Our leaders are out in the field sharing the Gospel and wanting other Deaf people to come to know Jesus,” Myers says.
“They’ll often run across Deaf adults who don’t have language. Part of the process of sharing the Gospel with those individuals is introducing them to their own sign language.”
Deaf leaders met one such individual when DOOR began partnering with the Deaf community in Burundi to start a church planting work.
Eric* never had the opportunity to attend a Deaf school because when he was ten years old, militants invaded his village, killed his parents, and forced him to become a child soldier.
“From the age of 12 to 14, he was forced to commit atrocities in the name of this army, or else he would have been killed himself,” Myers says.
Eventually, Eric managed to escape, but “he lived with a sense of guilt that he couldn’t even articulate because he didn’t have language.”
One day, Eric met a Deaf leader trained by DOOR who introduced him to Scripture in Burundian Sign Language.
“Over [the coming] weeks and months, this young man began to articulate and understand the idea of sin, guilt, and shame that he had been carrying for years, and also the grace that God was offering,” Myers says.
“He surrendered his life to Jesus and was so excited to bring that same information to other Deaf people.”
Today, Eric serves the Lord in a Deaf fellowship started by Deaf church planters trained by DOOR. You can learn more about and support Deaf church-planting efforts through DOOR International here.
*Name changed for security purposes.
Header and story images courtesy of DOOR International.
