My name is Stephen, and I am a Deaf translation consultant-in-training (CIT) working with DOOR International.

God has truly blessed us in a special way. Setting foot in the land of the Bible last month was awesome. Seeing the places mentioned in the Bible is proof that the Scripture is TRUE. It is very real. We labor to translate a text that has historical proof.

The course offered by the Jerusalem Centre for Translators was very vigorous training. Who knew that a Deaf man from Kenya would ever make it to this training?! We had classes to learn about the geography, history, culture, the Hebrew text, etc. We were also introduced to many resources, like Satellite Bible Atlases. After the training, we visited ancient sites to see what life looked like in biblical times.

As a Deaf person, seeing, touching, and feeling something creates an unmatched experience.

To experience the Bible land makes a world of difference to us as we work in Bible translation. It was particularly meaningful for me to see the plants of the Bible. We do not have many of these in Kenya. Seeing fig trees, olive oil trees, sycamore trees, etc. gave me a clear picture of things. It was also interesting to see what the Bible calls mountains — they are just mere hills, in most cases. The Jordan River is actually a small river, contrary to what I imagined.

It will now be easy for me to assist translators. When they ask questions about the land of the Bible, I feel more equipped to answer them.

I am thankful for all those who supported us to travel to Israel and attend the study tour. This is a great investment in our lives, for which I am very thankful. I am also thankful to God for His perfect plan and that, as a Deaf translator, I can travel to the land of the Bible.

God is a fair God. He is not just God of the hearing, but God of the Deaf, too.

• Pray for us as Deaf facilitators and language consultants.
• Pray that we can pass all the information we have gotten from the Israel study trip to the Deaf translation teams in a manner that is understandable to them.
• Pray for God’s Word to spread among the Deaf in Israel. It was shocking to find that the Deaf in Israel are very secular.