Meaningful Conversation
Birds chirp in the heat of the afternoon. The clinking of my neighbor’s dishes in the sink filters across the lawn mixing with the dizzying whir of the fans overhead. The engine of a motorcycle rumbles to a halt as someone returns to work from their afternoon break. Imagine a world where you hear none of this: not the washing machine droning in the room next to you, not the sound of little voices shouting to one another in the distance, not the road traffic just beyond the compound walls, not the scraping of your chair across the floor, not the clacking of keyboard keys as you type. Instead of hearing all of this, imagine your ears are filled with silence.
This is reality for the deaf. And those born so have no understanding whatsoever of what it is like to experience sound. Every day the hearing take their auditory sense for granted. Being born deaf, going deaf at a young age, or having gone deaf years in the past affects the development of a person.
| Deafness touches a person’s being. |
If you are reading this and you are hearing - assisted or not - you understand sound. You know what it means to be loud or quiet. You likely learned language by listening first. You know the sound of your mom’s voice, your dad’s voice, the voices of family and friends. As someone who can hear, you know what the combination of letters for your very own name sounds like. The deaf live in a world completely different and yet entirely the same. We may see the same things but we do not hear nor perceive, the same way!
Here in Togo, special needs like deafness are seen as a curse and many who are born deaf (or have hearing impairment) are seen as a burden and even an embarrassment to their families. Often neglected or mistreated, deaf children do not receive much, if any, education. However, a great burden has touched the hearts of those serving in Togo and they have begun to work with boys and girls that have never had a meaningful conversation with another human. Strategic meetings have started and they are saturated with prayerful desires to see the deaf engaged and reached not just with a language for education but with the truth of Jesus Christ!
Do you have a heart for deaf community? Do you believe they have a right to receive a quality education? Do you wish to see them thriving in life derived from community connection? Do you have a desire to see them reached with the truth of Jesus Christ? If you answered “yes” to any of these questions then we are asking you to use your own voice today in intercession on behalf of the deaf. Join us in prayer as we seek God’s direction for deaf ministry.
Partner in prayer!
For more information on how you can partner with us in prayer, at this time, please contact the Wards at andrewandmary@abwe.cc or the Aldermans at jja@converge.org
Andrew & Mary Ward serve in Togo with ABWE.
Andrew and Mary have a passion for Christian education, both for teachers and pastors. They work with the Christian school ministry and Bible Institute program. Andrew is the Togo South Team leader.
JJ & Melissa Alderman serve in Togo with Converge.
The 6 Degree Initiative is a church planting movement focused on the unreached people groups just north of the equator in West Africa. The sixth degree spans across the balmy African coast that has been impacted most by Voodoo and its exportation of precious human life through the slave trade. JJ and Melissa are partnering with national leaders to plant churches in the least-reached cities of the region.