A couple from Damascus have seen a plan to reach people who are deaf with the gospel grow into an outreach centre and large conference in Lebanon, it was reported on 1 October.
Nidal and Fadi, from The Alliance Church, had a vision from God to start a ministry reaching out to deaf people, inspired by Isaiah 29.18: ‘In that day, the deaf will hear the words of the scroll.’ Nidal said: ‘Our vision was to treat and help deaf people in a different way. We wanted to treat deaf people as any other people, and wanted them to know Christ and become leaders in their deaf community.’
Immersing themselves in sign language, they worked hard to master it. They called the new ministry Speaking Hands. The Alliance Church purchased a centre for the work and have seen many baptised and become leaders for other deaf people. The centre offers activities like informal fellowship, individual counselling and Bible lessons.
Deaf from all backgrounds
As Speaking Hands is not run in a church building, deaf people of all kinds of backgrounds walk in. There is occasional training, whereby they are taught a profession and how to develop their own income. ‘Besides that, we continue with our weekly ministry time. Bible passages are studied with the seriousness and depth that hearing people have in their meetings,’ said Nidal.
Speaking Hands ran a conference for people who came from Syria to neighbouring Lebanon to meet together. The organisers chose a location far away from all reminders of the Syrian war, to invest in the people who were sometimes forgotten, rejected and living in isolation.
The focus during the conference was on the love of God, and on what God’s love can do in someone’s life. Nidal said: ‘The goal of the conference was to help the deaf to learn more about God’s love as a Father. They suffered harshly with feelings of abandonment and discrimination, so the conference’s goal is to help them realise their value in God’s sight.’
The speakers at the conference talked about the importance of staying close to the Father, and how Christians can grow weak when not in a close relationship with God. The conference helped to lead the participants into a deeper level of commitment to Jesus, with many publicly expressing to friends and family the impact it has had in renewing their faith. During the last session, tears of joy and wonder ran over Nidal’s cheeks, as he saw how the vision God had put in his heart had come true.
