Our Ministry Journey

In May 2013, we lived in Mishawaka, Indiana.  Rob was a mathematics professor and a dean at a Christian college.  Michelle was working at home in homeschooling our four boys.  But by May 2014, our entire family will have moved to Nairobi, Kenya to begin work with DOOR International on sign language Bible translation and leadership development among the Deaf.

You might be thinking, "How in the world did that happen?"  Below is an attempt to give a short summary of why we're going, how we got involved in Deaf ministry, and what's ahead for us.

The Deaf Community's Need
There is a great need in the global Deaf community for the gospel.  According to sources like Wycliffe Bible Translators:

• A vast majority of Deaf people globally are not literate, and thus have no access to their native country's written language.
• Only about 4 to 7% of Deaf people have heard the gospel in their heart language.  If they were combined together, Deaf people would constitute the third-largest unreached people group globally.
• There are approximately 300 to 400 sign languages globally, and currently none of them has a completed Bible.  Almost all of them have no Scripture at all.
• These sign languages make up about 15% of the remaining languages that need a Bible, but less than 1% of the Bible translation resources are being dedicated to sign language translation currently.
• In addition to a lack of Bibles, Deaf people have little or no access to other training and study materials that the hear world takes for granted.
• Deaf Christians also often lack community.  An interpreter at a hearing church, while a huge blessing and great resource, it not enough to give Deaf people access to full fellowship and opportunities for them to use their own spiritual gifts in God's community.

Wycliffe, in conjunction with SIL, the Seed Company, DOOR, and many other organizations, has a vision to begin a Bible translation in every language by 2025.  This includes every sign language and Deaf people group.

Our Involvement with the Deaf Community

Our involvement with the Deaf locally began in 2005 when Rob met Joey and Jennifer Kutcka, Deaf faculty members teaching American Sign Language (ASL) at Bethel College.  Rob wanted to get to know them, but communication through an interpreter felt awkward.  Additionally, Rob noted how language barriers inhibited fellowship between the Deaf and hearing.  Rob also has an affinity for languages (he lived a year abroad in Germany, and German is one of his undergraduate degrees), so Joey challenged him to start taking ASL classes.  He did, and a year later Michelle began to take classes as well.  Through language exposure and building friendships in the Deaf community, we have been privileged to get to know some wonderful people with big hearts, amazing stories, and compassion for the world around them.  We also began to learn about the need among the Deaf globally for God's Word and for resources to equip Deaf believers.  For the last year or so, we have begun to feel God's pull toward international missions involving sign language Bible translation.  In preparation for this work, Rob has begun taking linguistic classes at Bethel (including English and ASL linguistics), as well as Biblical Greek.  

As we sought God's direction, we became more acquainted with Bible translation through a Wycliffe Associates banquet.  They passed our information on to the partners in Wycliffe Global Alliance, and through that organization we got connected with DOOR International.  

As we sensed God moving us in the direction of Bible translation, we took the opportunity to go over to Kenya for six weeks during the summer of 2013.  This gave our family, including our boys, the opportunity to pray and watch to see if this was truly the direction God was moving us.  By three weeks into our trip, it was clear to all of us that this was God's next step for our family.

While we were originally planning for Rob to train to become a linguistic consultant, plans have changed and Rob has been chosen as CEO of the ministry. He is now learning much of the administrative side of the ministry, and our family is relocating to Michigan.