Central Asia Deaf Team

Sign languages are as widely varied as spoken languages, and despite many major languages having written or audio portions of Scripture, very few sign language translations have even begun. With 72 million Deaf worldwide, how is it that they have such limited access to God’s message of salvation in the Bible? 

You can be a catalyst to change that reality. 

Join our team as we work working tirelessly to pull back the veil that has prevented the gospel from reaching this woefully underserved people group. Using training and Bible translation, we are multiplying national partners who can reach out to their own region. We remain small in number, but confident that God is prompting more and more Deaf to turn and follow Him.

In Central Asia, a region predominantly grounded in Islam, the light of the gospel is growing each day. Through church planting, discipleship, and evangelism, we are providing an incarnational witness to God’s plan of salvation for the Deaf of Central Asia. 

Discipleship and Church Planting
Small, midweek gatherings enable Deaf brothers and sisters from different nations to come together to pray, fellowship and SEE the truth of Scripture signed into the local sign language. In almost every case, these meetings are the first time God’s Word has been presented in a way that is clear and
meaningful to them.

These gatherings are more than ten years in the making. The first meeting began in our home with a single brother and grew to a small group of thirteen people. The group is growing in their understanding of what it means to be a church, a true body of Christ. In another city across the country, a local Deaf leader has been entrusted to lead a group of brothers and sisters. They have endured turmoil and persecution and showed themselves faithful to the truth.

We teach our Deaf brothers and sisters to adhere to Scripture, be faithful in prayer and obey the promptings of the Holy Spirit. We teach them that to be Christian is to be an evangelist, sharing the sweetness of Jesus with those around you. They are growing into bold, faithful, eager followers of Christ who love Him and want to share that love with the lost around them.

Bible Translation
For six years, we have hosted quarterly regional trainings and video-production workshops to translate Scripture into local sign languages. The teams that attend these trainings produce Scripture on video and return to their countries to share and lead others. Locally, translation progress is in its infancy. For the past four years, teaching resources have been produced by national partners, but nothing that is purely focused on Scripture translation. We intend to fill this gap and we invite you to join us. We are gathering a team of national partners to train so that together we can produce over 300 complete video-based Bible stories in the local sign language. Using these resources, our local partners will also assist us in training Deaf in neighboring countries.

Join us in the God-given and Holy-Spirit empowered work of sharing God’s Word with the Deaf across Central Asia! Together, we can offer abundant and eternal life to this marginalized people group as we share salvation through Jesus Christ.