by Bob Van Sant
In 1996, Judy and I arrived in Simferopol, Ukraine, to work with deaf people. At that time, none of the deaf that we met had ever owned a Bible, nor had they been told the simple Bible stories that most children in America grow up learning. We started the first deaf service in our home with twelve deaf and it quickly grew to twenty. We began each service with flannelgraph so that they could visualize the stories. After three months, we were able to rent a theater at the KGB “House of Culture” and the deaf ministry continued to grow.
About this time, we had our first invitation and seventeen deaf were saved. Because of their deafness and a lack of a Biblical background, we dealt with each one individually. About eighteen months after the deaf church started, hearing people began to come (friends, relatives and people that we met on the street).
God blessed us with a building in January, 1998. Every time we walk into God’s house and see the people, we are reminded of how God has worked and is working in Simferopol. As our church grew, we realized the need for a worship service for the hearing as well as for the deaf with spiritual teaching and music. Therefore, we orchestrated a “church split.” The building belongs to the deaf people; they have Sunday School and church services on Sunday morning starting at 9:00 AM. By 1:00 P.M., most deaf have left the building (sometimes we encourage them to do so) and the hearing begin their services. On Wednesday nights we have a joint prayer meeting.
Through the years, many deaf people have come to know Christ as their Savior and we have seen lives changed. People that had no hope, lives that were centered around the ‘bottle,’ and lives that were in disarray are being rescued. They have been given hope of a home eternal and have lives centered around the Bible. Their lives are now focused on serving the Lord through the various ministries of the church.
In the past eleven years, Simferopol Baptist Deaf Church has also started three additional deaf churches in Crimea. Because there is a large number of deaf in Sevastopol and some deaf travel two hours each Sunday to get to church, our deaf pastor Slava (see “But I’m Deaf”) felt called to go to Sevastopol and start Lighthouse Baptist Deaf Church. They began meeting in a park next to the Black Sea. Because they were deaf, their singing and preaching went unnoticed by the normal activities in the park. However, winter came and a need for a building arose. We were able to rent a room for them and this church continues to grow today.
Slava still makes monthly trips there, but another deaf man Andrei (who was trained by Slava) is over-seeing the work. Five years ago, Yalta Deaf Baptist Church was started. Recently, in Feodocia another new church (headed by deaf BIMI missionary Robert Fuller) was started and in September, 2007, they celebrated their first anniversary. Men from our church go weekly with Robert to work in this new ministry.
Deaf Couples Conferences: Each year, we put together a deaf couple’s conference where families can receive instruction on marital and family issues. Deaf people do not have the modern technologies and conveniences that deaf in America have. So we offer them as many opportunities as possible to fellowship with other believers. We rent a resort on the Black Sea coastline and spend two to three days together. The couples come back challenged and eager to serve the Lord.
This year we held our eighth annual deaf conference. We had over 50 visitors from eight cities. Specialized training is provided for the deaf leaders and interpreters. Three young men accepted Christ as their Savior. Many gave testimonies of how much they benefited from the preaching, teaching, and fellowship.
Deaf Camp: After several major challenges, it seemed that the Devil was working overtime trying to prevent the camp this year. We had planned on thirty deaf children; however, one deaf school backed out, sending twenty of the kids to another camp that would keep them longer. We had planned on children up to age fourteen, but ended up with ten young people ages sixteen to twenty-two. God’s plans became ours! Only one out of the ten had any biblical knowledge and she claimed to be a Christian. So, nine unsaved older deaf teens required the full staff we had in order to keep things controlled.
We started building a foundation on Monday. By Wednesday night, Judy had the privilege of leading three young ladies to the Lord (Vika, Inna, Lesa). Immediately, these three girls changed. Their attitudes and their faces were a reflection of what had happened in their hearts. But right away they began receiving threats and abuse from the other deaf.
Vika had a best friend, Rita, who became angry. That evening as we were standing outside talking, Rita walked past us and struck Vika on the shoulder. She said, “You are stupid. You have listened to American lies. There is NO God and I want nothing to do with you!” For the next two days the girls never sat together and Rita only glared at Vika. Because of her faith, Vika lost her best friend.
On the last day of the camp, Rita hurt her foot pretty badly and she could not walk. Vika saw her friend in pain and went over to her and asked if she could help. With her arm around her friend, she helped her hobble to the camp nurse. Rita was shocked by this kind gesture and by the time camp was over that night, Rita also accepted Christ.
Why so many DEAF?
Many people through the years have asked us why there are so many deaf people in Ukraine. In America, 8.6% of the total population is deaf or has a hearing disability. When we contacted the Ukrainian Embassy in 1994, we were informed there were NO deaf people in Ukraine. In those days, when they took their census, deaf people did not count. There were NO blind, NO deaf and NO handicapped people. However, we knew that this could not be true. When we arrived in Ukraine, we found that there was actually a higher percentage than normal. Due to the lack of hearing aids and proper medical attention, hearing loss is greater in this part of the world. (The newest craze among the deaf in Ukraine is mobile phones so that they can text message each other.)
In America deaf marry deaf or, if they choose, they can marry a hearing person. In Ukraine, deaf ONLY marry deaf (it is cultural). We know that if a man is born deaf and his wife is born deaf, they have a greater chance of deaf children. There are other factors; therefore, it is hard to give an exact number. We do know that the people of these former Soviet Union countries have a larger percentage of hearing loss than in America. The need for missionaries to the deaf in Ukraine and Europe is great. They need to “hear” the Gospel. The deaf ministry in Ukraine is thriving. Pray for Bob and Judy Van Sant, Robert Fuller, Slava and others as they minister to this wide-open mission field.
Jam Sunday in UKRAINE
On "Jam Sunday" at Simferopol Baptist Church, all the ladies got a chance to show off their culinary talents. In deaf church, there were twenty different jams. Hearing church had twelve different jams. The men judges wore nice white chef hats with matching white aprons. There were the normal jams: cherry, strawberry, peach, and raspberry. Some of the stranger jams were: red tomato jam, squash jam, rose petal jam, assorted woods jam (by the way, that jam got second place to Judy Van Sant’s peach jam) and muskmelon jam.