This post shares Mr. Drawing’s* story from our summer campaign. Find out how you can help a Deaf person see and believe the gospel at wycliffe.ca/summer/
“There are so many Deaf who feel oppressed. But we want to share with them. We want them to feel relief—to know that God is comforting them.”
Mr. Drawing* knows firsthand what oppression feels like. As a Deaf man in a sensitive part of Southeast Asia, it’s something he’s encountered many times in his life.
It began when he was six years old, and a serious illness changed his life forever. He lost his hearing—and with it, his sense of being connected to the world around him. Previously a keen student, he began to struggle in school simply because he couldn’t hear what the teacher was saying. Normal social interactions faded into silence, and his family didn’t know how to support him.
Facing cultural stigma
What made his experience even more difficult was the stigma that his community attaches to deafness. In this region of Southeast Asia, many believe that deafness is a punishment for sin in a past life, so the Deaf are often mocked, rejected or seen as cursed.
“If people see Deaf people signing . . . they [sometimes] make fun of us,” Mr. Drawing explains. “Some hearing people call us not deaf, but dumb.”
It was when his parents discovered a Christian school for Deaf children that Mr. Drawing’s life began to change. He learned sign language, and rapidly covered lost ground academically. Signing allowed him to have real conversations, something he still finds challenging with his own family.
For the first time since he lost his hearing, he was part of a community that understood him. But still, it seemed that God was silent. Mr. Drawing recalls sitting in church, watching the sermon in frustration. There was no interpreter or explanations, and he and the other students were completely unable to follow along.
One day, Mr. Drawing’s teacher attended the service with her students. She immediately saw the problem and stepped in to interpret. The change was dramatic: suddenly, the students could understand the sermon. God was not silent and Mr. Drawing’s life would never be the same.
Joining the translation team
Today, Mr. Drawing is a member of the Jade Star Bible translation team. He’s following God’s calling on his life because he wants to ensure that other Deaf like him won’t have to go through the same experience of feeling distant and abandoned by God.
“There are so many Deaf who feel oppressed. But we want to share with them. We want them to feel relief—to know that God is comforting them.”
The team translates Scripture into Jade Star* sign language, and creates videos of the translations for the Deaf community. Many are learning—perhaps for the first time—That God is not silent. He has never left them.
*Mr. Drawing is a name sign. Most Deaf people adopt a name sign rather than signing the letters of their given name. The name sign might represent a physical attribute, personality trait, or skill, and it’s typically a choice made communally with other Deaf people.