NO EXCUSES: Deaf challenged to share faith

HOUSTON?When the music ended in the gym-turned-worship center, all was quiet?no shouts of “Amen!” and no applause. Instead, hands rose in the air and shook, giving silent praise. Those same hands, moments earlier, sang out in worship during the Deaf Empower Evangelism Conference last month.

Coordinated by SBTC deaf ministry consultant Aric Randolph, the conference drew 925 participants during three days at Houston’s Woodhaven Baptist Deaf Church. The number in attendance doubled from last year’s conference that drew fewer than 500. Randolph said the success of the 2008 Deaf Empower Evangelism Conference indicates similar events, on a smaller scale, are needed throughout the state.

Randolph, who is deaf and pastor of New Life Deaf Fellowship in Fort Worth said, via e-mail: “I see [the goal] of the conference as being two-fold. One: empowering the deaf throughout the state of Texas to be effective witnesses of Jesus Christ;two: empowering the local church (where we have the conference) in uniting together and to be a lighthouse of the gospel of Jesus Christ in their community.”

According to statistics, those who are deaf, using sign language as their language of communication, are one-fourth of 1 percent of the U.S. population.

Those attending the conference came from across Texas and as far away as St. Louis, Mo. Some of those attending the conference came from just north of Houston at the Healing Hands Ranch (HHR), a halfway house for deaf male ex-prisoners newly released from the state penitentiary in Huntsville.

One of the residents of HHR, Steven, 22, was attending his second Deaf Empower Evangelism Conference and said he appreciated the focus on communicating to the deaf in sermons, worship, and workshops.

Speaking through sign language interpreter Peggy Carpenter, Steven said growing up in a church of people who could hear, the worship service and sermons meant little or nothing to him because he did not understand what was said. But with the aid of deaf ministries like Healing Hands Ranch and the conference, Steven said his faith has grown and his desire to learn more and go back to school can actually occur.

For the deaf, learning and growing in their faith can be a struggle without consistent assistance from an interpreter, said Allan, 51, also a resident at HHR. But after learning from the guest speakers at the conference, the ex-prisoner said he is determined to change his life, be strong, and study the Bible.

“That’s what’s so beautiful here. It really does help with our faith walk,” he said.

The conference offered workshops, praise and worship sessions, theme interpretations, guest speakers and worship teams from New Life Deaf Fellowship and Woodhaven Baptist Deaf Church.

Randolph told the TEXAN, “Many Christians, not only the deaf, have become so complacent with their lives and are not a witness for Jesus Christ,” he said.

He admitted that the language barrier between the hearing and the deaf can cause communication problems when sharing the gospel, but it should never serve as an excuse for not doing so at all.

“Yes, that is often the excuse for not witnessing ? the language barrier. With technology today, we can overcome many barriers. We need to understand that it is God who draws the people to himself and all we need to do is tell them about Jesus Christ. When we do the work that God has commanded us to do, he will take care of changing lives.”

Having volunteered for many years as a coach for his son’s baseball team?an all-hearing team?Randolph said, “I personally did not see this as a communication barrier … I did my best with the ability I had. I believe when we do our part, God is faithful to do his part.”

Pastor John Lovas of Canal Boulevard Baptist Deaf Church in New Orleans, using sign language, spoke during the Saturday morning session. Addressing the theme of “The Harvest,” Lovas admonished the conference attenders to not be lukewarm Christians who think churches are established to meet their needs. The “on fire” Christians, he said, believe the purpose of the church is to serve God?going out into the community and drawing people to him.

Not unlike other churches, deaf churches can become social clubs, Lovas said.

“They were like deaf clubs,” Lovas said of deaf churches in the New Orleans area when Canal Boulevard Baptist Deaf Church was established in 1996. “It takes time to go from social club to fellowship.”

Lovas admitted that the growth in deaf churches can be slow due to communication challenges. Hearing people, he said, can witness to and disciple 12 people a year (if so inclined) while a deaf individual may only reach two.

But if each of those two deaf converts then witness to two more unsaved deaf people, the number of salvations would continue exponentially.

“Stop living with the expectation that the church is there for me. It takes time and devotion” to grow a church.

Lovas never allowed for the language difference between the hearing and the non-hearing, even within the deaf community, to be an excuse for not witnessing. He told the mostly deaf audience that although they do not have an audible voice they should never be silent about their faith.

Citing James 2:14-20, Lovas said Christians are commanded to share their faith in how they live, in the deeds they do.

“We need to stop being lazy and stop taking advantage of the salvation we have. Repent and change your ways to be pleasing to the Lord.”

Although to the deaf the world is silent, Lovas said, “There is nothing to be gained from a silent faith.”