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University of the Nations

AN INTERNATIONAL TEAM of deaf Christians found plenty of "listening" eyes during an outreach at the 1997 World Games for 
the Deaf, last month. 

        The group - from South Africa, Puerto Rico, Japan and the 
United States - presented silent evangelistic dramas and spoke 
with contestants and spectators during the two-week event, in 
Copenhagen. 

        A joint initiative by two US-based groups -Youth With A Mission Deaf Ministries in Titusville, Pennsylvania and The Tenth Coin from Batavia, New York - the 14-strong team, which also included some hearing members, was one of several evangelistic efforts at the international gathering. 

        Outreach participants passed out gospel literature to those 
they met in and around Oksnehallen, the main venue for the games 
which drew 3,500 competitors from 66 countries, and around 
30,000 other visitors - many of whom were keen to hear more 
about the gospel. 

        "There were some tremendous opportunities to tell people about Christ. In some ways it was easier than sharing with hearing 
people," said Ron Southwick, director of YWAM's Deaf Ministry 
center. 

        "Signing crosses the language barrier more easily, and the deaf love to talk. In their home countries they don't always have a 
lot of opportunities for conversation, so being at this event they were more than ready to sit down and talk. 

        "One of our team members talked with a Muslim visitor for over two hours. He had a lot of honest questions. It was an 
opportunity to talk he would not have had in his home country." 

        The outreach encouraged short-term team members - who gave up vacation time to take part - that deaf Christians can be used in ministry, too, said Southwick. "It was encouraging to see them realize that God wants to use them - many times the deaf feel 
that the don't have much to offer." 

        "It was a challenging time, but it was so exciting to get to 
meet so many different deaf people from all around the world, 
and to see how open they were to the gospel," said Ceri-Jayne 
Hawley, a deaf South African member of the team. 

        In addition to leading deaf teams on overseas missions trips - 
with a group heading to India later this year - YWAM's Titusville center also runs special discipleship training programs for deaf Christians, and seminars for churches on deaf ministry. 

        "With an estimated 300 million people worldwide deaf or hard of hearing - and the majority of them in developing countries where the Christian  population is usually small - more evangelism and 
discipleship training should be targeted towards their needs," 
said Southwick. 
 

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