Isaac, a young Deaf Ghanaian, joined one of the Deaf-led churches planted by the teams soon after it started. Before joining the Deaf church, Isaac went to a hearing church with his family. Sometimes there was an interpreter for the services, but often there wasn’t one. When an interpreter was available, the sermon was the only thing that was interpreted. The prayers, announcements, and worship sections weren’t interpreted.
Two other Deaf people went to the same church as Isaac, and they would all sit together and chat throughout the non-interpreted portions of the services. Even when there was an interpreter, Isaac and the other two Deaf didn’t understand what was going on. The interpreter wasn’t clear most of the time. At the end of each service, Isaac went home feeling like he hadn’t learned anything. This frustrated Isaac, so he started trying to understand the passages the pastor preached by reading them in the English Bible by himself.
“But it was not easy to understand,” Isaac reminisced. “Most of the English words were unknown to me, and it was hard for me to figure out what they meant.”
There's a Deaf church?
While at school one day, one of Isaac’s friends told him about a Deaf church led by Deaf people. Isaac became excited.
“When I went to the Deaf church, I was able to participate in the worship,” Isaac said. “For the first time, I felt a connection with God in church. I am so happy I found a place where Deaf people worship and teach God’s Word in sign language. It is very refreshing to be there.”
Today, Isaac is part of the worship team in the Deaf church. He is continuing to learn from God’s Word, and he says his faith in God has grown. Isaac constantly invites his friends to come worship God with him at the Deaf church. He also recently learned about the importance of prayer, and he now takes time to pray every day.
For more stories like this, check out: