One Word Makes All the Difference

George is a Deaf friend in Kenya who helps train Deaf church planters across Africa. George has many talents, especially in sports. But George is a GREAT storyteller. When he gets up to tell a story, everyone pays attention. About a month ago, George told a story that had us laughing so hard we cried. And the story hinged on a misunderstanding of one word. Here was his story:

A few months before, George had been visiting a Deaf church in Kenya. It is a common practice in Deaf churches for the leader to ask for volunteers to lead songs. (If you haven't ever seen a Deaf song, watch George lead one by clicking here.) One man got very excited to share a song with the church. He went to the front of the church, and began to sign his song. Here's an approximate translation of the song from Kenyan Sign Language into English: "I love you, Peter, because you eat My lambs." As George sat and watched the song, he was confused. What could the man possibly mean by "you eat My lambs"?

When the service finished, George approached the man and asked where he had gotten the song. The man responded that he had taken the song straight from Scripture. When George pressed a bit more, the man opened up the Bible to John 21. Here Jesus meets with Peter by the lakeshore, and the following exchange happens: "... Jesus said to Peter, 'Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these?' He said to him, 'Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.' He said to him, 'Feed my lambs.'" (John 21:15-17) The man pointed to the passage and signed, "There! See? Jesus said, 'Eat My lambs!'" George realized that the man had mistaken the word "feed" for the word "eat," and that mistake meant that he had completely misunderstood the meaning of the text.

We all had a good laugh about the mistake, but there's a tragic side to this, too. So many Deaf people don't have access to Scripture in sign language, so they do their best making do with a printed version in a spoken language. Since spoken language is so different from sign language, and most Deaf people struggle with reading, this creates many potential misunderstandings when they try to read Scripture.

This is one reason why sign language Bible translations are so crucial. There is no way this Deaf man would have misunderstood the passage if it had been signed. In story after story, we hear of Deaf people who, when they encounter our translations for the first time, finally understand concepts they have struggled to understand for years; concepts like sin, death, salvation, marriage, and many more.

Would you consider giving a financial gift to help support the great work that DOOR continues to do in sign language Bible translation? Your support allows us to "feed His lambs"... to see God's Word reach people who have never understood it before, and allows us to equip them to share His Word with others!