The Last to Hear

“Your son is profoundly deaf,” the audiologist declared after examining me.

These words were not what my parents wanted to hear for their 2-year-old son. Shocked, they went through stages of denial and grief, wondering what my future would hold. I was born deaf, grew up deaf, and I am still deaf. God knew me when He created me, and He had a plan for my life.

My Deaf Experience

I was the only deaf person in my family. Based on recommendations from experienced Deaf individuals, my hearing family learned sign language to communicate with me and build relationships. Since I was born and raised in the United States, American Sign Language (ASL) was used in our home. ASL is not used everywhere, however. For instance, Quebec Sign Language is used in the province of Quebec, Canada. In fact, there are more than 300 sign languages worldwide.[1]

Because my family is Adventist, I grew up attending an Adventist church. But it was a challenge for me as a deaf child because church services were geared toward hearing people. It was like watching television with the volume turned off. My mother was deeply concerned about how I, as a deaf person, could receive God’s Word and be blessed.

My mother did her best to interpret for me in my Sabbath School class. During the church service, however, I would read religious magazines such as Guide. That changed when I was 10. A woman who lived near the Adventist church heard about me and became both my school interpreter and my interpreter at church every Sabbath. It was a huge blessing.

When I entered college in southern California, I was thrilled to find a small Deaf group meeting at the hearing church. We had our own Sabbath School class, and I became a lay leader. For the worship service, an interpreter translated the spoken messages into ASL. Once a month, however, we would have our own worship service in the youth chapel. I prepared sermons and preached in ASL.

Additionally, there were three other Deaf groups in the region, so we rotated meeting at each location every month. This was invaluable, as it allowed us to meet, worship, and fellowship with our Deaf brothers and sisters in Christ—in our own language and culture.

A People Still Waiting to Hear

When I discovered statistics showing that more than 3 million Deaf people—and 48 million people with hearing loss—currently live in the United States, and that approximately only 2 percent of the Deaf worldwide know Jesus, I became deeply concerned.[2] Why is the number so low?

The primary reason is the lack of effective communication because of deafness. Many Deaf people rely on their eyes to “hear,” and sign language is a primary way they access information.

This is a vast mission field that we, as a church, must not ignore.

I wondered, Who would reach my people group? Romans 10:14, 15 asks it perfectly: “How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher?” These are critical questions.

Called to Serve My Own People

Eventually God called me to minister to my people group by enrolling in the seminary at Andrews University. In faith, my newlywed wife and I moved from California to Michigan, and the Lord provided a team of two interpreters—one of whom was my wife. Earlier Melissa had completed an interpreter training program at a local college and earned her degree. She had a desire to interpret in a church setting for the Lord, and God provided a way.

After graduating with a Master of Divinity degree, I was called by the Georgia-Cumberland Conference to plant a Deaf church in the Atlanta, Georgia, area. To God be the praise, Southern Deaf Fellowship was organized into the sisterhood of the Seventh-day Adventist Church in 2005. As of today, it remains the only Adventist Deaf church in the North American Division territory.

This reality raises an important question: Do we expect to continue with only one Deaf church? Or do we desire to establish more churches for the Deaf?

Currently about 15 small groups of Deaf Adventists meet each Sabbath across the United States. Statistics reveal that there are approximately 300 Deaf Adventists in the United States and only five in Canada. By contrast, the Deaf population in the United States is about 3.36 million,[3] while Canada has approximately 372,000 Deaf people.[4] This means the ratio of Deaf Adventists to the general Deaf population is about 1 to 11,200 in the United States and 1 to 74,400 in Canada. These numbers show that we, as a church, are behind—and that we have much work to do to reach the Deaf for Jesus.

Because Deaf individuals are scattered everywhere, the vision of the Southern Deaf Fellowship is to reach them through the internet, which knows no boundaries. While we meet in person near Collegedale, Tennessee, we livestream our worship services so that people outside the area can still worship with us in ASL.

Many Deaf individuals are unable to attend church in person because of distance. To address this need, annual Deaf camp meetings have been established. The most recent Southern Deaf camp meeting drew 110 people from across three countries for a spiritually rich five-day event. Various guest speakers presented the gospel in sign language or through interpreters if they didn’t know ASL. This event is significant, as we are encouraged to continue meeting with one another until Jesus comes (see Heb. 10:25).

A Vision Beyond One Church

In the United States 187 churches of all denominations have been planted for the Deaf—only one by the Seventh-day Adventist Church.[5] Should we be planting more Deaf Adventist churches—not only in the United States but around the world? Montreal? Chicago? Mexico City? Munich? Johannesburg? Mumbai? Bangkok?

More than 70 million Deaf people live on this earth, and 466 million people experience hearing loss—a number projected to rise to 630 million by 2030.[6] This is a vast mission field that we, as a church, must not ignore.

I believe the work of sharing the gospel with the Deaf will help usher in the coming of the Lord because they are literally the last to “hear”!

[1] United Nations, “International Day of Sign Languages,” https://www.un.org/en/observances/sign-languages-day.

[2] Pioneer Bible Translators, “Deaf Bible Translation Initiative,” https://deaf.pioneerbible.org.

[3] Joshua Project, “Deaf Peoples,” https://peoplegroups.org/results/?swp_form%5Bform_id%5D=1&swps=deaf;
National Deaf Center on Postsecondary Outcomes, “How Many Deaf People Live in the United States?”https://nationaldeafcenter.org/faq/?article=51-how-many-deaf-people-live-in-the-united-states.

[4] Canadian Association of the Deaf–Association des Sourds du Canada, Information Guide (January 2022),
https://cad-asc.ca/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/CAD-ASC-information-guide.pdf.

[5] Deaf Church Planting, “Why Deaf Church Planting Matters,” https://deafchurchplanting.com.

[6] World Health Organization, “Global Estimates on Hearing Loss,” via National Center for Biotechnology Information, https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC6796666/.