Seeing Is Believing: Encountering Jesus Through Sign Language
Have you ever heard a story so outrageous that you wouldn’t believe it until you saw it for yourself? There’s something inherently human about the fact that we need to see it to believe it; some things are just too good to be true to accept at someone else’s word.
Think about Peter, who ran to the tomb after the women announced that Jesus had been raised from the dead (see Luke 24:9-12). He needed his own eyewitness account to truly believe the women’s report as fact. Or consider Thomas who, after others told him that Jesus had been resurrected, said, “I won’t believe it unless I see the nail wounds in his hands, put my fingers into them, and place my hand into the wound in his side” (John 20:25b, NLT).
Experiencing something for ourselves changes everything — seeing really is believing. And when it comes to encountering Jesus, this is particularly true for the Deaf. You see, for Deaf people, written or spoken language isn’t sufficient; they need to be able to see the love of Jesus on display. After all, a visual language should have a visual Bible, should it not?
If the gospel is delivered in a language people only somewhat know, they might get the general gist. But the gaps in understanding make it harder to believe that the stories are true — and that God’s promises are for them. That’s why Bible translation is so important: because no one should have to learn another language to understand the truth of God’s love for them. They shouldn’t have to wonder about the inherent value, dignity and worth that they possess because they are made in God’s image. They should be able to experience it personally.
The Need for Sign Language Bible Translation
There are four countries or regions that have the highest remaining Bible translation needs in the world. East Asia, Indonesia and Papua New Guinea each have between 100 and 215 languages still in need of translation efforts to begin. Vanuatu, a small but linguistically diverse Pacific nation, is the fourth. We praise God for all the progress that is being made in these regions, knowing that it is His desire to see all people worship Him.
But there’s a fifth area on the list, and it’s the largest unreached people group in the world: the global Deaf. Today nearly 400 sign languages are used in the world that we know of. Yet, the American Sign Language Version of the Bible is the only full sign language Bible. (Take a look at Revelation 7:9 to see Scripture come to life in ASLV!)
Today, only 2% of the global Deaf population have access to any Scripture at all in a language and format they clearly understand, which means millions of Deaf people around the world have yet to get even a glimpse of who Jesus is.
But that’s changing!
God’s Word for the Deaf in India
An exciting translation project in India is underway that will result in a full, verse-by-verse, book-by-book Bible translation in video format within six years! Soon, Indian Sign Language will be the second sign language to have the full Bible.
As part of the current phase of the project, the team has completed 18 Old Testament books and will translate the remaining 21, as well as eight New Testament books (Romans, Galatians, Philippians, Hebrews, James, 1 & 2 Peter, Revelation), in the next three years.
The team has benefited from locally available Deaf resources that accelerated their efforts; partnered with the local Deaf church community representing various denominations; and welcomed non-Deaf, sign language-trained individuals to help speed up and streamline the process and assure a quality translation. It truly has been a collaborative effort!
In just over three years, a significant amount of Scripture has already been made available to — and widely accepted by — the Deaf community. The impact, both inside and outside the church, has been so great that the government has asked the team to help translate the national education material into sign language!
Because the sign language translation videos are published in the public domain, the Deaf community can engage daily with God’s Word by watching. The viewership in the first three years has been unprecedented, with more than 3,000 regular subscribers and several hundred thousand views. Analysis of the viewer statistics shows that people from all across India are viewing.
We praise God for the progress the team has made and for the impact this Scripture translation is making on the Deaf community in India!
The Power of an Eyewitness Account
Carlos Silva is a Deaf Brazilian pastor who knows firsthand that Jesus’ love changes everything. That’s why he’s working to advocate for and reach the nearly 10 million Deaf in Brazil with the Scriptures.
As a child, Carlos struggled with his sense of worth and value. He was born into poverty and experienced trauma and abuse. At 15 years old, Carlos was invited to attend church with a friend. At first, he didn’t want to go, thinking, Why would I go to church? God doesn’t love me. Nothing ever helps me; no one has ever helped me. But finally he gave into his friend and went to church.
There he learned about how Jesus died on the cross for his sins, and something about the story resonated with him deeply. Carlos shared, “My eyes were opened. I started crying and felt my whole spirit burning. My heart had been really heavy previously, and all of a sudden I felt lighthearted. I felt the Holy Spirit take something off me — a burden — and I felt lighthearted. I felt love coming back. I felt emotions coming back.”
Carlos then started going to church and studying the Bible, but it was extremely difficult because he had to use Portuguese words instead of his sign language. He would look in the dictionary and underline everything he could, trying to understand what God was saying. Carlos’ Bible soon became filled with all kinds of notes. It was a source of comfort and hope to him, even as he labored to fully understand its meaning.
One day, Carlos was invited to São Paulo to preach. A woman raised her hand to accept Jesus and then asked if he had a Bible she could take home. The only Bible Carlos had was his own, but he chose to give it to her, praying that it would serve her well.
The woman went back to her family and told them what she’d learned about God, and before long, her whole family was saved! About a year later, she called Carlos to let him know she was in the hospital with cancer; her time on this side of eternity was coming to an end. But first she wanted to give Carlos’ beloved Bible — that had transformed her and her family — back to him. For Carlos, it was a surprise gift.
Today, Carlos is pastoring in Brazil, working to bring the Good News of the gospel to other Deaf Brazilians — including his daughter, Isadora. Because she has been able to encounter Jesus through Brazilian sign language videos, she’s accepted Him as her Savior and now works to share the Good News with kids like her.
Carlos passionately shared, “The time is now for translations to be done in all these languages so the hearts and minds can be opened and people can behold who God is. Then we can all be together in heaven, and we will all worship him and wave our hands. We will be screaming or singing, ‘Marvelous, marvelous God!’”
Check out this video by our partner, Seed Company, depicting Carlos’ story.
How Do You See Jesus?
In the West, we have countless opportunities to see Jesus. If your primary language is English, for example, you have hundreds of versions of the Bible — tailored to your age, gender, phase of life, preferred font size, you name it! Not only that, but we have countless Scripture resources that equip us to dig deeper into God’s Word, to learn more about who God is and His love for us, and to strengthen our relationship with Him.
The next time you read your Bible of choice, stop and pray for the global Deaf:
- That God would raise up partners to start translating the Bible for the hundreds of Deaf communities still waiting around the world.
- That He would raise up local believers to participate in translation projects.
- That we’d see unprecedented levels of collaboration and innovation as we work together to provide opportunities for people of all languages and backgrounds to encounter God through Scripture.
We’re all invited to see Jesus’ love on display — and ensure others can too. May we all work with fervor and passion so that every Deaf man, woman and child can see with their eyes and understand in their hearts how much Jesus loves them.
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