I was invited to present my position on beginning a Deaf Ministry program at our church during a council meeting this evening. Good news: everyone, and I mean everyone on the council, is in favor of it! They said that whatever materials I need to teach a class, and whatever books I need to help myself learn to interpret at church, including training that's offered by Concordia Theological Seminary, Ft. Wayne, Indiana, they're willing to help with!
It seems I will be able to start teaching a beginning American Sign Language class during midweek this fall! I need to get in touch with the church secretary after it's decided when the classes will meet, so that she can put out a notice to the other LCMS churches in town about the class, and people at those churches who want to attend will have the opportunity to!
Once the interest in ASL has grown enough, hopefully by this time next year, at least one or two other people might be willing to go with me to the CITI training (Church Interpreter Training Institute) at Concordia Ft. Wayne to learn how to interpret church services. That way, I won't be the only one, and if I happen to be absent from church when an interpreter is needed, there will be someone there who can do it for me.
I know it's going to take a while. Ministries like this don't just spring up out of thin air and become instant successes. Please pray for me and for this beginning ministry here in Wichita. God will bless us, I know.
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