Approximately 8.6 % of Americans have serious auditory problems. Many suffer from this later in life after a lifetime of hearing. However, approx. 2.2% of Brazilians are born with little or no hearing at all. That is over 4,500,000 people. These people have never heard music, the words, “I love you”, “you are important”, “you matter”, and few will ever “hear” the good news of Jesus Christ.
Only a small percent of the deaf know LIBRAS, the official Sign Language in Brazil. The new law passed on April 24, 2002 gives great hope that many things will change. However, many live in neighborhoods and communities with no one to work with them. Families mimic to communicate. Many are left alone in their world of silence.
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| Margo and Marilia |
Marilia with the Brazilian Home Mission Board and Margo our Salvador Deaf Team leader work with volunteers trying to reach this often forgotten group. Conferences, trainings, class, and countless hours of one on one with the deaf often leave Deaf workers exhausted and discouraged. The challenges are enormous. Please pray for more volunteers to reach the deaf. Pray that the volunteers will learn the language and skills needed to reach this group. This is demanding work, it does not suit everyone. Pray for more resources in LIBRAS for reaching and discipling new believers.
Reaching the “Hidden Peoples” with the Gospel is serious business. Who are the “hidden people” in your community? Who is going to reach them? If not you, who? If not now, when?
Hello,
ReplyDeleteI am contacting you on behalf of Drs. Irene Leigh, Jean Andrews, and Raylene Paludneviciene. They are interested in using the last picture from this page in a book on Deaf Culture, published by Plural Press. They were hoping to get permission from you to use the picture for the book, and if so, they would need a high resolution jpeg image. If you would like to discuss this, please contact me at erica.wilkins@gallaudet.edu
Thank you,
Erica Wilkins