Have you ever thought how is it to be deaf? A Deaf person, especially the profoundly deaf, cannot hear any sound AT ALL!!! How can they read words that are based on phonics, the sounds of each letter in order to make up words, to syntax and to grammatical structure if they can not hear a thing you utter? Can you imagine how much more harder it is for our deaf brothers and sisters to be reached by the Gospel? What can we can do? How can we help Missionaries bring the Gospel to them in the best way possible that they can comprehend? What does it mean by reaching them through their own "heart language"?
Reality by the Numbers.
One Sunday I just found myself staring at the left front row at church just staring and watching the interchange of sign language between the deaf members and the interpreter. And then this photo I took out of my pure amazement.....
This is the picture of the Golden Hills Deaf Ministry in action every week, on every church activity that they are called to serve. Never have I paid any attention to this group at church until this very Sunday worship. They are from different cultural background, different ages, both men and women, young and old and there was even a whole Asian family that sits together in the very front row for the Sign Language. They sing at the Praise and Worship with their hearts and hands, they pay close attention to the Sunday message through their heart language. They even engage and interact with each other
We are blessed here at Golden Hills Christian Church (GHCC) to have this Ministry for the Deaf members, as not all churches have sign interpreters and not a lot of deaf person even go to church for the basic reason that they cannot understand or communicate like most of us can.
The numbers will tell us the reality of the "most un-reached and un-engaged people group in the world"...the DEAF COMMUNITY. Did you know that there is about 70 million population of deaf people around the world? Only less than two percent (<2%) of that population have been reached by the Gospel. To add to that there are about 400 different sign languages around the world each with its own culture and distinct sign language. Imagine that! American Sign Language (ASL) is just one of the four hundred, and we are privileged at that!
Getting to know The Collins.
One Sunday in September, I saw The Collins Family out in the church yard to touch base with the church community and share their experiences with their Ministry. I remembered Dee doing the signing at the Sunday service. On my way out I passed by their table and felt like something was pulling me to stop by but didn't have the nerve.
Almost two more weeks pass, Dee spoke at the Women's Bible Study. That is where the Holy Spirit really encouraged me to connect with her. Right after the first session, just before we went into our small groups, I just found myself introducing myself to her and asking for a few minutes of quick questions to make this blog post a reality. A few days later, I was able to sit down with Andrew Pak's (Global Outreach Ministry Assistant, GHCC) interview with The Collins.
So, with no further adieu, who am I talking about?
I wanted you all to meet "THE COLLINS". A whole family of missionaries. A special group of missionaries that serve the deaf population. They go everywhere in the country and even all over the world to help share the Word of God to the deaf and try to reach every single one of them in every corner of the world.
The Collins with Andrew and me during the interview.
Shawn, the head of the family, is a video game developer by profession; Dee, his wife was in the Hotel Management business before all these; and their daughter Pari, 17 years old travels with them all over. They left their family and the comfort of their own home, got packed and followed their heart's desire and God's calling to do the missionary work!
How did it all started for them? Dee shared their humble beginnings in our quick sit down Q&A last week. She attended a Bible School where she got to hear from Missionaries flown from every corner of the world to share their experiences with the class. She was immensely fascinated by the testimonies she heard and encouraged her husband to come and help audit her class. In one of these occasions, Wycliffe USA recruiters came and introduced themselves and their ministry. The fire in Dee's heart was burning more intently now, though Shawn is still not sold to it. Wycliffe took their details down but said that they do not have anything that matches their talents and skill sets. A couple of months pass and Shawn got a phone call from London. They have been looking for someone with a "technical know how" on software development. BINGO! A job perfectly fit for Shawn but it didn't pull through because The Collins were not informed right away and the recruiter forgot to mention that it is not a paid job....rather a self-funded mission project.
Dee was quite determined and knew that she wanted to do this Missionary work, but because Shawn is not ready yet they waited and prayed about it. Until one night at their Group Bible Study, Shawn suddenly announced that they are called to serve and minister to the deaf community. So, you know what follows.... all bags packed, took care of what they have to and jet off to follow their calling.
Being Missionaries to the Deaf.
First things, first. The Collins equipped themselves. They worked hard to learn the American Sign Language (ASL) as much as they could. They even found and attended an all-deaf church for a full eight years. They have fully immersed themselves into the everyday life of the deaf and truly embraced the community they are serving.
Thirteen years on, The Collins are much more greatly involved now in reaching out the deaf communities to be able to bring to them the Good News about Jesus. To them being a Missionary is not just about evangelizing. It is also advocating, writing stories, story telling, educating awareness and even doing janitorial services - pure service. The Collins serve the deaf community by being part of their everyday life; they integrate with the people and "meet them where they are."
They envision a day when every Deaf person has access to God's Word in their heart sign language. The Collins mission is to use their God-given gift "to develop tools, provide technology and create resources to effectively reach each unique Deaf culture with God's Word." They are focused on bringing and distributing a Bible translated in the Deaf person's heart sign language to every corner in the world. -The Collins Mission & Vision
When Dee spoke at the Women's Bible Study, she quoted Psalm 23:5a as it was what the Lord wanted her to share with everyone during this trip. She pointed out that as GOD is "preparing a table" for all believers, and like us English speakers knowing that we have an abundance of God's Word in our own language and because of this, we are rest-assured, we have peace and we feel His words and His message. Through this scripture He also invites us "to come to the table just as you are". An invitation that comes with a responsibility for all of us. It is a calling for all of us to step up and make sure that we provide real access to God's Word everywhere in the world. The verse also said "to feast in God's presence", just imagine the 65 plus versions of the American Bible and the different forms it is delivered and accessed nowadays like through plain text, drama, audio, etc., proves that we are truly privileged here in America and yet not one complete version of the Bible for the deaf is available to them.
This is why they wanted to find ways and means so that they can help bring God's Word to the deaf on their terms, on the language that they can understand and nearest to their heart...thus sign language is called "the heart sign language". Their goal is to utilize the local language and culture in translating the Bible so that they can know and understand the good news about Jesus in a language that is closest to them, because when we hear GOD's Word in our own language we feel His words more and His message better.
"It is indeed a big task but not impossible." - Dee Collins on the VISUAL BIBLE
For the last ten years, they have been involved and specifically working to create a software tool that can mask the identity of the signer so that they can record the signing motion and therefore create a Visual Bible for the deaf. They are using avatars instead of the real person doing the signing, this is mainly for the safety of the signer as in the case of some closed or communist countries with very strict religious or political laws against distribution of the Bible.
Picture a deaf person who's got sign language as the one and only language he knows, asking them to understand us in a different way is just unfair. And again, Dee can not stress enough the need to meet deaf people where they are and not ask them to learn a whole new language so that they can understand the Bible. This is why their dream of a VISUAL BIBLE is on the works. "It is indeed a big task but not impossible" according to Dee..
Partners in the Mission Field.
The Collins are part of the Wycliffe Bible Translators. Wycliffe provides them with training as missionaries and in culture preparation. They also match the missionaries knowledge and skill set with their partners in order to maximize their potential and serve the greater need in the mission field. In the case of The Collins, they knew they wanted to serve the deaf community, their goal was set on spreading the good news of Jesus to this unreached group, they trained themselves in sign language early on before fully embarking on this calling.
As Wycliffe Missionaries, in partnership with the Deaf Bible Society, Shawn and Dee are pursuing the translation of the Bible into sign language; into the only language they know; a language that is nearest to the hearts of the group of people they are serving. They are busy working on this tool that can mask the identity of the signer as this becomes a necessity for their safety especially in closed or communist countries. Since sign language is three-dimensional (3D) and uses facial expressions, an immediate need for a Visual Bible for the deaf group is now in the works. Now they are using artificial intelligence (AI) to record and catch these motions and expressions of the signer and then mask their faces by the use of avatars instead. Shawn, as I have mentioned earlier, is a video game developer. His technical expertise is being used by God to a greater purpose and that is to help develop this Visual Bible.
The Deaf Bible Society has also come out with a Deaf Bible app, easily accessible on a smart phone (for which everyone, everywhere has access to, amazingly) and a free app that contains Scripture, Bible stories and chapters of the Bible. This app is their platform for launching all the 29 sign language translation. The sad reality up to now is that we still do not have a complete Bible version for the deaf. Dee shared that in 2020 the very first and most completed version of the 3D American Sign Language Bible will be released after long years of hard work. This is a major step even though it is only one out of the 400 known sign languages, but definitely a great start for our deaf brothers and sisters to have a "Bible to call their own".
With Wycliffe tapping into Shawn and Dee's skills and calling, they provided them with training and support. And together with Deaf Bible Society they are able to visit local churches, schools and even other countries to integrate with the locals. They live with the deaf community and identify local translators. They also set up and mobilize them and choose field coordinators from the locals. Mobilizing the community to lead their own and become part of the Translation Team is a big move. When the missionaries partner with the locals the translation become their own, their own language, a language closest to their hearts, their own heart sign language. This is how Bible translation for the deaf community becomes a success.
Just a little TRIVIA! Did you know that all sign language translation of the BIBLE is based on the original Bible text - i.e. Hebrew and Greek! And these translators are based in China (of all places, right?).
Shawn and Dee, apart from using their technical expertise, coordinates with their partners here to provide the local translators and field coordinators with all the things and resources they need so that the translation of GOD's Word can continue on and be a success.
The Story of Ira from the Philippines.***
Looking Ahead.
Progress is on the horizon, the future is getting brighter as they can see translation work coming more significantly now. The fruits of their years and years of labor are seen in stories of people around the world starting to know who JESUS is and the transformation in their lives. Look at the video above. It is the story of Ira, a deaf person from the Philippines who has reached out to other deaf young people like her and opened their house to gather together.
The Collins' vision, together with the Wycliffe Bible Translators and Deaf Bible Society, is to be able to translate the Word of God into a Visual Bible for the Deaf in every sign language available. So far, we have one full deaf translation of the Bible in American Sign Language coming out very soon and that is already a great progress.
Shawn looks ahead five to 10 years from now and sees that the Deaf Bible App will be fully and widely distributed. Of course things like that doesn't come easy, we have to work harder now to make that a reality. We can help by making this app known as much as possible, to advertise this great tool to people we know that might be part of the Deaf community or involved in the ministry for the deaf.
He can also see this app being used to see that God's Word get to be accessible everywhere and therefore help in changing lives. His heart is dedicated to getting the Word of God, the Scripture into the hands of the people. Through this a lot of opportunities can open up like discipleship, Bible studies, church planting and ultimately change a whole community.
"Through little miracles that you see have a larger impact." -Shawn Collins
Their Greatest Joy in Serving.
Shawn, in his most heartfelt reflection, enumerated some of his greatest joys in this mission work like being able to talk to different people and realize how sign language has evolved in the last decade. It is like a seed planted years ago, and now they are able to see and follow through the trajectory of development and leading up to their latest project on hand is just the best feeling that through little miracles that you see has a larger impact on the people they minister to and to those that support their missions too.
There are times in their Missionary life when things do not go according to plan, like funding and team members are cut and sometimes they can not go on further but God show up to provide everything. As Dee has put it "Every time we get to a place where I think it's the bottom, God shows up...every time..." This affirmation from God gives them joy to continue on the ministry knowing that this gives more affirmation to the Deaf community that they serve.
"Every time we think we have reached the bottom, GOD shows up...EVERY TIME..." - Dee Collins
This short visit has given them time to reflect on the work done and has renewed their spirits. It has energized them to go back out in the mission field, work on their very important project and continue on reaching out to the deaf community so that they may know Jesus Christ.
And in their closing words, "It is a JOY to COUNT IT ALL JOY when the SAVIOR is known and His glory is shining through all of the people He is using. It is truly a joy to be doing what we do."
How can we help?
There are several ways to help them continue with their mission. We can be a PRAYER PARTNER (by praying for them and with them through printed letters or e-mails they send out). They do a lot of hard work and sometimes truly challenging ones too, so they need you as an ENCOURAGER, to cheer them on to continue. They also need FINANCIAL PARTNERS who can either give monthly, quarterly or annually. Your one-time gift will be a great help too.
The Collins are just a few thumb strokes away. Get connected via phone or e-mail. You can also visit their website for further information about their current projects. Here are their contact details provided -
Brothers and Sisters in Christ, it is indeed true then and still true up to now, when Jesus told His disciples:
"Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few;" - Matthew 9:37
The Collins are out there in the field all ready and set for the harvest, ready to get down and do the work in the Deaf communities....but still the laborers are few. They need us to extend our helping hands and support them however best we can on this Mission to bring the Good News of Jesus through their native sign language that is freely accessible to them wherever in the world they are, therefore the dream of a Visual Bible for every sign language available.
This is indeed a big task but with GOD on our side it is not impossible, as Dee pointed out earlier.
We are needed. We can help. We can join in the harvest!
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*** Video Credit: The Collins
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