MinistryWatch has a look at what it calls “the final Gospel frontier”: bringing God’s Word to deaf people.
What’s happening
- The International Mission Board and RevelationMedia are adding American Sign Language to animated videos of the Gospel of Luke, which they call the world’s first natural sign language animation of Luke in ASL
- Once the first chapter is done, the plan is to reanimate the scenes into more than 300 sign languages
- An often-cited (if murky) figure says only 2% of deaf people worldwide have been reached with the Gospel. Estimates of the deaf population run from 70 million to 80 million, and unofficial counts go much higher
“In many parts of the world, Deaf individuals are treated as second-class citizens,” RevelationMedia’s CEO said.
My take
This is tech used the right way. Jesus touched a deaf man and said “Ephphatha!”, “Be opened!” (Mark 7:31-37). Every tongue includes every sign language (Revelation 7:9). Pray for these translation teams and for deaf believers to be welcomed in our churches.
God Bless, and May the Source Be with You!
