Deaf ministry help needed

[deafarchangel]

:help: Hello everyone. I attend deaf church in Indianapolis, IN but I live 80 miles south of Indy so finding a deaf ministry in southern Indiana is extremely difficult. Do you know anyone who usually do deaf ministry that help me to establish one somewhere in southern Indiana? I am interested in being a preacher for the deaf (which we use ASL as our sign language) but finding a help is also difficult. I own a house and have 3 kids but I want to do God's work now... not in 20 years. The reason I wanted to do this is that because latest polls has been showing 2% of deaf people in this world are SAVED!!! :sigh: :eek: I am hoping God would help us to bring most of them to home. :prayer: If you have any more information about this, I would greatly appreciated. God bless you!

[PaladinGirl]

Hi deafarchangel. I really can't offer you any advice than this. First, I'd advise that you be patient. Good things come to those who wait. Also, are you sure that those stastistics are correct? I would think they'd be quite a bit higher.

[RED that's ME]

Contact Silent Word Ministries they might can help you out. http://www.silentwordministries.org/

[Father Rick]

Hi Deaf...

I interpretted for my church for several years, so I u/s your frustration.

A couple of ideas for you to consider...

1. If you truly feel called to ministry, you should prepare yourself. That may mean attending Bible school of some kind. Many Bible schools have correspondence, so you can study that way. Many others now have deaf studies.

I know you are anxious to get out and reach as many as you can for Christ, but think about the big picture. Which will do the most good in the long run? Trying to start now without the proper tools or spending 4 or 5 years preparing so that you can reach more later.

2. On a smaller scale, you can go ahead and begin ministering now. Why not contact a local church and ask if you can teach a Sunday School class? Some of the hearing churches here that have outreach to the deaf have HI Sunday School classes taught by HI teachers. This is a good way to both reach those in your area and to get ministry experience.

If the class grows large enough, it may eventually grow into it's own church. This is exactly what has happened at some of the churches here. The 'parent' church often helps underwrite the costs of the new HI church.