Every week, your family goes to a building where people stand up and sit down multiple times. Then, one man stands up to talk for what feels like forever. There’s a picture in that building of a man broken and bleeding, nailed to a wooden structure.

You have so many questions about that picture, but no way to ask them. You want to know who the Man is, why He’s been abused, where and when this crime took place, and why the picture is in this building – yet with nowhere to turn with those questions, you set them aside unanswered.

This is what church is like for many Deaf people. “Deaf people can be sitting in church. They can be part of a Christian family that tries to do devotions every evening,” DOOR International’s Rob Myers says.

“They can be very near to the Gospel, but if there’s no access to the Gospel in sign language, they’re incredibly far from it.”

Knowledge barriers

(Photo courtesy of DOOR International)

Deafness is the only disability that creates a separate language – sign language. Most Deaf communities are cut off from the Gospel because it’s not available in a sign language they understand.

“Globally, there are about 300 or more sign languages, and less than a third have any verse of Scripture translated,” Myers says.

You can help Deaf people know the Good News by partnering with DOOR International. Learn more about that here.

“Because one of the biggest issues facing the Deaf community right now, in terms of Gospel access, is a lack of awareness in the global church, one of the biggest steps that people can do is spread the word,” Myers says.

“If this is your first time recognizing that Deaf people have had barriers to the Gospel, take an opportunity to share this story with other people.”

Use the buttons at the bottom of this page to share this story on your social platforms. Most importantly, pray. Ask the Lord to use DOOR’s “I Want to Know” campaign to educate hearing believers about Deaf needs and encourage them to support Deaf ministry.

Header and story images courtesy of DOOR International. 

Rob Myers with DOOR International says Gospel access that only comes from hearing people can lead to the belief that the deaf do not have direct access to God. They believe they cannot pray to Him because He either doesn’t understand sign language or that it needs to be voiced.

“That’s one of the beautiful things about the Gospel, that Jesus gives each of us direct access to the Father, and that through His grace and His sacrifice, we have the opportunity to boldly come before God’s throne and ask for what we need and commune with Him, and that they too are created for a purpose that God can use in His plan,” Myers says.

When deaf people see Scripture in their own sign language, it touches them in a way that other languages cannot.

Myers says, “Sign language is different from written language, and deaf people have been cut off and have had significant barriers to the Gospel.”

Scripture in sign language reaches people differently than in writing. (Photo courtesy of DOOR International)

A significant Bible passage in the deaf community is Exodus 3 and 4, where Moses is called from the burning bush to go to Egypt and rescue the Israelites. In the passage, Moses tries to excuse himself from his call, saying that he is not a good speaker.

“Exodus 4 says, ‘Who made the deaf and the mute and the blind and the seeing? Is it not I, the Lord? Now go,’ effectively saying, even if you can’t speak at all, Moses, I’ve gifted you in ways that I want to use you,” Myers says.

Myers says when deaf people realize that sign language is a gift from God, they realize that God has created them for a purpose, and because there are so few deaf Christians globally, they have an opportunity to share the amazing news of Jesus Christ with other people who are also deaf.

This month is Deaf Awareness Month, so DOOR International is raising awareness for sign language ministry needs among deaf communities. Please pray that this ministry will reach new communities and that it will convey the personal nature of Christ’s love. 

To learn more about deaf people’s stories, go to DOOR International’s website to partner with them financially and prayerfully.

(Photo courtesy of DOOR International)

More than 70 million people around the world are deaf, according to the World Federation of the Deaf. The majority – over 80 percent – live in developing countries. Collectively, they use more than 300 unique sign languages.

Many people in the Deaf community remain cut off from essential information. While closed captioning helps some, this service is not universally available and doesn’t meet the needs of all Deaf people.

(Photo courtesy of DOOR International)

“For us as hearing people, we think of reading as a visual activity, and so we think, ‘Oh, deaf people should be fine just with captions,’ but what we don’t realize is that reading is a sound-based activity for hearing people,” DOOR International’s Rob Myers says.

“We learn to read by first hearing and speaking a language, and after we become fluent in that language, then we go on to learn how to sound out letters connected to the language that we already know,” he continues.

“They (Deaf people) miss all of that sound-based activity growing up, and reading becomes a very different exercise.”

Challenging assumptions

International observances like the International Day of Sign Languages and the International Week of the Deaf, always held during the last week in September, serve as essential awareness tools for the majority-Hearing community.

“For most of us – not having grown up around Deaf people – we don’t know things like there’s more than one sign language around the world,” Myers says.

“We assume sign language and English are the same language when they’re not.”

Myers held assumptions like these before he became involved in Deaf ministry. The recently assassinated political activist Charlie Kirk faced criticism earlier this year for similar views.

(Photo courtesy of DOOR International)

“He commented that it seemed the interpreter was distracting, and deaf people could just use captions through reading. Someone helped him understand that some Deaf people have access to written language. They can read, but many, many deaf people struggle with reading… And that’s one of the reasons that sign language is so critical to the Deaf community,” Myers explains.

“Charlie, to his credit, published a video explaining how he had misunderstood, and others had come to him and explained this, and he now recognized why sign language interpreters are so, so critical.”

Ongoing barriers and a call to action

Although awareness tools can help us move from ignorance to understanding, significant communication barriers remain. “Less than half of the countries around the world recognize sign language as one of the official languages of their country,” Myers says.

“If Deaf people’s first language is a sign language, then not having access to information – particularly from our vantage point, not having access to the Gospel – is a critical gap.”

By partnering with DOOR, you can help Deaf communities access the most critical information of all – the lifesaving Gospel message of Jesus Christ.

“DOOR is empowering Deaf leaders to be sent out as missionaries to share Jesus and make disciples, and then to train those leaders to begin translating the Bible into their various sign languages,” Myers says.

Header and story images courtesy of DOOR International. 

“Deaf friends of mine have talked about the experiences they had in Deaf schools where their hands were tied behind their backs, and their hands were beaten so that the children were not allowed to sign in class,” Rob Myers of DOOR International says.

“Thankfully, that’s changed significantly, but the (Deaf) community is still reaping the repercussions of over 100 years of that happening within their community.”

Similarly, Deaf communities today are cut off from the Gospel because it’s not available in the language they understand best.

“Access to sign language means access to information,” Myers explains.

“You have to have access to information in order to have access to the Gospel and to understand who Jesus is.”

DOOR International meets this need by training Deaf missionaries and translating Scripture into sign languages. More about that here. As a Deaf-led organization, DOOR creates Gospel access by the Deaf, for the Deaf.

“DOOR has about 230 staff globally, and 85 percent of our staff are Deaf,” Myers says.

A Deaf Gospel worker and Deaf students in Burundi.
(Photo courtesy of DOOR International)

Instead of imposing methods that work best in a hearing context, Deaf leaders at DOOR International teach other Deaf Christians how to share the Gospel in a Deaf way.

“We as hearing people have thought that Deaf people, because they can see, can read easily. Therefore, we just need to give them a written Bible for them to have access,” Myers says.

“[Instead,] they need access to God’s Word in their heart language, in sign language. They need somebody who is Deaf, who is trained to share the Gospel in a way that meets their language, culture, and context perfectly.”

Visit DOOR’s website to learn more about the needs of the global Deaf community, and consider partnering with DOOR International.

“There’s some great information from Deaf leaders in the field about how to effectively share the Gospel with Deaf people. There’s access to Scripture that’s been translated in case you run across a Deaf person and want to allow them to see Scripture in their own heart language,” Myers says.

“Deaf leaders across our organization would love for you to come alongside and partner with them in this amazing, effective work that they’re doing in over 30 countries.”

Header and story images courtesy of DOOR International. 

Instead of using the sign language that was most natural to them, Deaf children were forced to learn using oral methods.

“Oral education is the idea of using lip reading and speech therapy rather than sign language,” DOOR International’s Rob Myers explains,

“There were only one or two Deaf people out of hundreds of delegates in the room. The [Congress] decided that sign language education needed to be stopped and oral-only education needed to be emphasized. That destroyed the access to language and information for Deaf people,” he continues.

“Over about 40 years, from 1880 to 1920, about 80 percent of Deaf schools shifted from having sign language and oral education to just oral education only.”

The decision paralyzed Deaf education for generations. Think of gaining knowledge like a chain reaction, where one event sets off a sequence of similar events, much like how tipping over the first domino in a line causes all the others to fall.

(Photo courtesy of Bradyn Trollip/Unsplash)

“In order to know anything, you need access to information. And in order to get access to information, you need access to language. That language domino for Deaf people comes from a Deaf school; it doesn’t come from their families,” Myers says.

“Education in sign language is the key domino.”

Because the Milan Congress removed the sign language domino, none of the other dominoes could fall. Deaf students couldn’t learn because they couldn’t get access to information.

Thankfully, teachers met this summer in Rome to reverse the 1880 decision. More about that here. It was a “very, very different meeting with many, many Deaf people present,” Myers says.

“Their emphasis was ‘We need to stop oral-only education, and recognize – as the United Nations has done, and as over 40 percent of the world’s countries have done – that sign language is the language of Deaf people, and they need access to it to have access to information.’”

We’ll explain the connection to Gospel work in tomorrow’s report.

“Many of us, as hearing people, want to see the Gospel come to everyone. We can make some great plans, thinking that we understand the needs of a community, when, in fact, we’re missing some of the basic needs. That’s unfortunately been true for the Deaf community for thousands of years,” Myers says.

Header image is a representative photo courtesy of DOOR International.

This marginalization becomes even more severe in times of war. More about that here.

“For groups that experience inequality or marginalization, that vulnerability is incredibly heightened in wartime,” Rob Myers of DOOR International says.

(Photo courtesy of Ahmed akacha/Pexels)

As conflict spreads across the globe, survival becomes even harder for Deaf individuals. Communication barriers – like missing emergency alerts or not understanding soldiers’ commands – can quickly become life-threatening.

Sometimes, “they (Deaf people) struggle to get the critical care they need. If they try to go to the hospital during a war and no interpreters are available, no one can understand them,” Myers says.

The Deaf also tend to miss critical information. “Governments will make very important announcements, and either a sign language interpreter is unavailable, or that interpreter is not skilled,” Myers says.

As a result, “The information that they’re telling the Deaf audience is different or just plain wrong compared to the information that a hearing audience will receive.”

Despite these barriers, Deaf individuals often find creative ways to adapt.

“They will depend on hearing family members,” Myers says. “They will [use] social media to try to share information, [building] trusted networks.”

A shelter in the time of storm

DOOR International is currently ministering in several conflict zones, addressing the urgent needs of Deaf communities. Here’s how you can help. Donations help cover costs for staff evacuations, trauma healing workshops, and creative solutions that allow ministry efforts to continue.

In addition to physical hardship, Deaf communities also face spiritual isolation. Less than two percent of the global Deaf community can access the Good News in any sign language.

“That lack of information access (during war) carries over almost exactly in the case of spiritual understanding,” Myers says.

“Many Deaf people are cut off from the Gospel in their heart sign language and don’t have protection in the midst of this spiritual war.”

Pray for Deaf people worldwide to understand the truth of Jesus and His salvation. Consider partnering with DOOR International to help unreached Deaf people access the Gospel.

Header image is a representative stock photo courtesy of Emad El Byed/Unsplash.

“Deaf President Now!” recounts a week of protests held in 1988 at Gallaudet University, the world’s only four-year liberal arts school designed for Deaf students.

“When the board was voting to elect a new president, there were three candidates: two Deaf people and one hearing person. The hearing person had no background in the Deaf community and no knowledge of sign language at all,” DOOR International’s Rob Myers says.

“The board ultimately picked the hearing person for the position, and this caused a huge stir.”

(Artwork courtesy of Deaf President Now!)

Although well-suited for the presidential position, “The Deaf candidates were passed over. When the board chair was asked [why], she said, ‘Gallaudet isn’t ready for a Deaf president yet,’” Myers explains.

“Deaf people from all over the US were protesting. They said, ‘No, now is the time for us to lead our own community. We have well-qualified people.”

The movement carried beyond Gallaudet’s campus and helped to develop the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). “Ultimately, the person who had been voted to become president resigned, and one of the other candidates was elected,” Myers says.

Watch the film here on Apple TV+.

“It is primarily in American Sign Language, but anyone can watch it. It is both captioned and there’s voice interpreting,” Myers says.

Deaf-led Gospel work

The 80s were a critical time for the Deaf community. “The history of DOOR’s founding mirrors a lot of this,” Myers says.

“In the 1980s, if you were a Deaf person, you could be skilled in teaching, a great pastor or evangelist, and there was no place to exercise those skills.”

A handful of Deaf Christians took action. “They said, ‘There needs to be a place for Deaf people to exercise the God-given gifts to teach, lead, and expand His kingdom.’ So, they founded DOOR International, led by the Deaf, for the Deaf,” Myers says.

“The woman who helped found DOOR watched as her father was turned down by over 50 different [missions] organizations simply because he was Deaf,” Myers continues.

“He had the skills and leadership qualities, but they simply said, ‘We can’t send a Deaf person into the field.’”

Learn why the Deaf remain one of the world’s largest unreached people groups.

Header and story images courtesy of Deaf President Now! 

There is a community that makes up over 5% of the global population but is often overlooked in outreach efforts. They live among us — people with partial or complete hearing loss whom we may pass on the street or stand behind in the supermarket.

Rob Myers from DOOR International comments, “We never realize that, out of 70 million Deaf people worldwide, so few actually have access to the Gospel.”

Without access to the Gospel, many Deaf people remain unaware of the value they hold in God’s eyes and the purpose for their lives. They are audibly isolated from the voice of a street preacher, the wail of an air siren urging people to seek shelter, the chirping of the birds, and, most importantly, the knowledge of their Creator.

Photo courtesy of Mark Paton via Unsplash

“God sees them as having infinite worth,” Myers adds. “They’re worth Him dying for. Therefore, they’re worth us engaging with, drawing in, and giving opportunities to be part of His kingdom.”

Change starts with the church’s understanding of the Deaf community. Chapter 4 of Exodus offers a glimpse of God’s attitude toward Deaf people. In this passage, the Lord encourages Moses, emphasizing that deafness, blindness, or numbness are not excuses to avoid pursuing one’s destiny.

“From a Deaf perspective,” Myers explains, “that’s a very powerful passage. It confirms that Deaf people are called — just like everyone else — to be part of God’s kingdom and to be used by Him for His glory.”

Bridging the gap between churches and the Deaf community begins with awareness. The first step is recognizing that Deaf people have been excluded from the Gospel for years. The second is to come alongside, support, and encourage Deaf leaders in their communities. Third, share this message with others — whether in your circles or on social media. Considering that one in every 200 people is Deaf, someone in your network may already have a connection to this community.

Myers reminds of Christ’s ministry as a standard for our outreach, “God has such a heart for the marginalized, the broken, and those whom society often calls ‘the least of these.’ In Jesus’ life, we see a pattern: He sought out those people.”

Finally, visit DOOR International to learn more about their work and discover ways to pray and help.

Header photo courtesy of Thirdman via Pexels.

Even fleeing to safety can be deadly. Rob Myers of DOOR International says, “We know of Deaf people who have been shot on site because the person asking them questions doubted that they were Deaf.”

Deaf people often miss critical wartime information because of language barriers. For example, in Ukraine, “Hearing people in the cities would hear the UN trucks coming and would know that they were carrying food and supplies, and so they would run out and start to grab supplies,” Myers says.

“Deaf people were not aware that the trucks were in town. No one told them. When they finally became aware, they would run out, and the supplies would already be gone.”

In 2022, DOOR International partnered with Deaf Bridge to help Deaf Ukrainian refugees fleeing the war in Ukraine.
(Photo courtesy of DOOR International)

Many Deaf also lack information about the spiritual war raging around us because they cannot access the Gospel in their heart sign language.

“Oftentimes, we think of spiritual as immaterial or invisible, and it’s interesting that the needs of many of these Deaf communities, particularly the spiritual needs, are invisible to us as the Church,” Myers says.

DOOR International equips Deaf believers to reach Deaf communities for Christ. More about that here.

“DOOR recognizes that God’s word is central to being able to know Him and follow Him, so DOOR is involved in sign language Bible translation in various parts of the world,” Myers says.

“[We also] recognize that the people most likely to share Christ with the Deaf are Deaf missionaries. We train Deaf missionaries to go into unreached Deaf communities and ultimately raise up indigenous, local Deaf leaders to reach their own people groups with the Gospel.”

You can be part of the change. Learn how here.

“For those who want to see people know Jesus, and especially want to see that happen for whole people groups who haven’t had access to the Gospel for millennia, we would encourage you to look at what God is doing through DOOR International,” Myers says.

Header image is a representative stock photo courtesy of Mahmoud Sulaiman/Unsplash.

Delayed Language Access

Rob Myers with DOOR says that around 90% of Deaf kids are born into hearing families. However, many of those children’s families don’t ever learn sign language.

“The statistics that I’ve heard is somewhere around 80%-85%, but it’s at least a majority of the parents don’t learn sign language. When you think about places in a rural area, in a developing country, the percentage is going to go up even more so. So you’re probably talking somewhere between 90%-95%. A vast, vast majority of hearing parents don’t learn sign language, and there’s a number of reasons behind that.”

This delay in access to language means both speech and written language are restricted. Myers explains that learning to read and write is really a sound-based activity. The symbols on paper are connected to a language a person already knows. So many Deaf children struggle to learn to read.

“So there’s this huge discrepancy there in terms of what information a Deaf child will have access to, and that carries over into them knowing that they have a name,” Myers states. “Many Deaf kids, before they get access to sign language, don’t have access to any language and that includes understanding their own name. So most Deaf kids grow up not knowing they have a name. It’s only when they enter Deaf school and they finally get access to sign language that they begin to understand what’s being communicated around them, including their own name.”

Discovering Identity in a Name Sign

Myers says that when a new child comes to a Deaf school, one of the first things that the other kids do is introduce themselves and look for unique characteristics of the new kid. These characteristics can be included in a name sign for the child. A name sign is a special honorific sign given by a Deaf person that incorporates some feature of the person named. For many kids understanding their new name sign is incredibly exciting.

(Image courtesy of Luisella Planeta on Pixabay)

“When I visit Deaf schools kids will come running up, and the very first thing that they’ll do is they’ll give you their name. They’ll say, I’m and then they’ll sign their name. And the first thing that they want you to do then is to repeat back their name sign so that they feel seen and they know that you recognize and understood their name.”

Always Known by God

Two-by-two teams share that the Gospel often moves powerfully once Deaf children begin to understand their names.

“One of the things I’ve heard from them repeatedly is how powerful it is when these kids learn not just that they have a name, but that God knows their name. And that God has always known them. And that even in these isolating experiences where they’re in places where it feels like no one knows their language, no one can communicate with them, no one knows who they are – God still sees them. He loves them, and He’s been pursuing them.”

There are many Deaf who need to hear about God’s love for them through Christ. DOOR works in many countries with their two-by-two teams to go into schools and share the Gospel regularly with Deaf children. DOOR shares updates from these programs through their website and newsletter so people can be praying. Learn more here. 

Myers also explains that while DOOR mostly works internationally there is a wonderful ministry in the US called Deaf Kids Connect. He recommends that parents of Deaf children or churches that have a Deaf child check out their resources on how to engage Deaf kids. Learn more here.

Image courtesy of Pavel Danilyuk on Pexels