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New Life Deaf Fellowship Usher Syndrome Ministry New Life Deaf Fellowship, a daughter church of Northern Hills in San Antonio, has embarked on a new adventure in our ongoing effort to offer Christ to the Deaf. NLDF now has two congregants who have Usher Syndrome, a condition that renders them both Deaf and blind. Imagine that not only are you unable to hear the message and the music, but you also are unable see the hands and faces of those who are signing it! Hopeless, you might say. But wait; remember that we serve a God for whom nothing is impossible (Luke 1:37). Believe it or not, the Deaf/blind are still able to communicate with sign language. How? They read sign through touch. They place their hands lightly on the hands of the person who is signing and they actually read and understand the signs through touch. It is truly an awesome sight to behold and it is an amazing manifestation of the power and the grace of our loving Creator.
We give thanks to God for bringing this challenge our way and for offering us the opportunity to allow God to demonstrate his awesome power to do what most of us would typically consider impossible. Thank you SWTX Conference and Northern Hills for your vision, your kindness, your humility and your faithful support of this awesome work. |
The presence of these persons in our worship services represents a two-fold manifestation of the amazing grace of God. First, consider that these are persons for whom the ministries of most churches today are inaccessible, leaving them left out. In Biblical days they would have been included with the outcasts of society, such as the leper, and the otherwise infirm, rendering them ineligible to participate in temple worship. Second, their presence presents an opportunity for other Deaf persons to step up and volunteer in ministry to their brothers and sisters. This is true because it is the Deaf themselves who serve as interpreters for these Deaf/blind worshippers. You have to see it to believe it! A Deaf volunteer sits with the Deaf/blind worshipper. The Deaf volunteer watches the "speaker" who is preaching, teaching, singing, praying, etc, in sign language. The volunteer copies every sign that is expressed by the presenter. The Deaf/blind places his/her hands lightly on top of those of the volunteer interpreter and reads the message through touch. This process is amazing to watch! So, by making this new ministry available at NLDF, we are reaching people for whom the church is generally inaccessible, plus we are making it possible for other Deaf Christians to serve God by using their natural talents and native signing skills in service to their Deaf/blind brothers/sisters.