The DOOR International, an evangelising christian outreach and its partners plan to hold a Sign Language Scripture Celebration on June 9th to commemorate the rendering of Bible passages into four different African national sign languages, INN reports from source.
DOOR International, as they are called is an outreach International Christian ministry which aim to bring God’s Word and reproducing Christian fellowships to the Deaf of the world. The group focus on translation and training.
They help Deaf communities translate the Bible (and other resources) into their sign languages.
INN learnt that they also train and equip Deaf leaders in evangelism, discipleship, and church planting to reach their communities for Christ.
According to source, this is not the first celebration of this kind that DOOR has been able to hold. In 2014, DOOR partners and pastors gathered to celebrate the completion of a DVD that told Bible stories using seven different sign languages for deaf people in Burundi, Ethiopia, Ghana, Nigeria, Tanzania, and Uganda, INN gathered
The Christian group said that the June 9th celebration in Kenya would mark the completion of portions of the Bible in the Kenyan Sign Language, Mozambican Sign Language, Nigerian Sign Language, and South Sudanese Sign Language.
Approximately one percent of the world population – about 70 million people – are deaf. Of those, fewer than 140,000 have been reached for Jesus Christ. That leaves a mission field of more than 68 million people but there is not a universal sign language system, INN learnt.
The group also pointed out that many of the obstacles to reaching deaf people around the globe are the same as reaching the hearing. While the obstacles are similar, they are much more difficult.
According to DOOR Ministry, “At first blush, teaching a deaf person in Africa may not seem so hard. After all, deaf people can read. The problem is that, since one of their major links to life is dysfunctional, even if they can read and have a Bible translated into their national language or tribal dialect, they are unable to understand the meaning of many words and phrases. This is especially true for a deaf person of any language trying to comprehend Scripture.”
“Further complicating the matter, the majority of deaf people around the world are functionally illiterate. Language is learned primarily through hearing, so many children enter school without the language comprehension of otherwise normal children. One DOOR representative explained that written language is not a deaf person’s first language. Their first language is sign language,” the group said as it identity some of their challenges
There are at least 350 sign languages in the world. More than a few well-intentioned people have wondered why there isn’t a universal sign language. The answer to that may be in the form of another question. Why isn’t there one universal spoken language?”
Furthermore DOOR international believes that the best people to reach Deaf for Christ are Deaf believers. They help recruit and train pairs of Deaf leaders from the local community to form what they call “2-by-2 teams.” These teams, INN gathered, comprised of an evangelist and a teacher, are equipped with a translation of God’s Word in sign language and biblical training. “The goal is a model of church planting that is Deaf-led, reproducible, and sustainable.”, the group explained
DOOR’s sign language Bible translation efforts are now in their 12th year. The organization has already worked to translate difficult Scriptural concepts in 16 different languages.
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