All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness.


2 Timothy 3:16 

DOOR began work in sign language Bible translation in 2006. We have worked with teams from 16 language groups, with more translation projects beginning each year.  These translations are authorized Scripture, just as the New International Version or English Standard Version are.  The goal is that, one day soon, every Deaf person will have access to God’s life-changing word in his or her heart sign language.

And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ.

Ephesians 4:11-12

DOOR began church planting among Deaf communities in 2005, training pairs of Deaf leaders to plant churches that are Deaf-led, reproducible, and sustainable. These churches and teams are equipped with a sign language translation of God’s Word. DOOR’s tagline is “Deaf reaching Deaf for Christ”, and that value is evident in the training portion of our ministry, where almost all of our Deaf leaders are trained by fellow Deaf leaders.

Chronological Bible Translation

cbt

Deaf people best understand the Gospel when a Deaf believer shares it with them in the local sign language. Furthermore, Deaf people prefer to learn new information in a chronological order. They like to “see the big picture” from beginning to end.

That’s why our Deaf staff chose Chronological Bible Translation as the most culturally appropriate way to communicate God’s Word with Deaf communities. We’ve found CBT to be a very clear, accurate, and natural way to teach unreached Deaf people about God. Because Deaf people can easily understand God’s Word when it is in narrative form, they are able to go and teach it to others.

Each Chronological Bible Translation consists of 110 biblical narratives from Genesis to Revelation. Each narrative is accompanied by an introduction to give context, and a section giving more information about the passage.

These 110 narratives are divided into three overlapping sets:

  • Evangelism (“Know God How?”) — 32 narratives from Genesis 1 through Acts 2
  • Discipleship (“Follow God How?”) — 77 narratives from Genesis 1 through Acts 2
  • Church Planting (“Serve God How?”) — 35 narratives from Acts 1 through Revelation

Deaf believers use the CBT to lead Bible studies, home groups, worship services, leadership training classes, children’s classes, camp programs, and much more.

Repeatedly, the Deaf say that they never really understood the Bible until they saw a Chronological Bible Translation.

2 by 2 Teams

2x2

We believe that Deaf believers are the best people to reach unreached Deaf communities. However, due to a lack of resources, Deaf Christians have almost no access to God’s Word. Deaf-friendly training in evangelism, discipleship, church planting, and leadership development is even rarer.

DOOR’s 2-by-2 program seeks to remedy this. We help recruit and train teams of two Deaf leaders (an evangelist and a teacher), called a 2-by-2 team.

These teams are trained, equipped with a translation of God’s Word in the local sign language, and then sent into a city to do the following:

  • build relationships with local Deaf
  • share God’s Word in the local sign language
  • disciple new believers
  • help form local Deaf believers’ fellowships
  • identify and train Deaf evangelists, teachers, and leaders
  • help the Deaf form their own national Deaf Christian association

The goal is a model of Deaf-led church planting that is reproducible and sustainable. These local fellowships are not “DOOR churches,” but instead are led and run by local believers.

The 2-by-2 teams follow the practice of the Apostle Paul, staying in a given city until fellowships and leaders have been established (and can reproduce themselves), and then moving on to new cities to continue the process.