BIMI Deaf Missions

By Reggie Rempel

The majority of deaf people around the world grow up in situations just as I did. They grow up with loving families and good schools to educate them, but have no one to minister to them spiritually or to tell them about Jesus Christ.

I was 16 years of age when I finally realized that my sin condemned me to hell but that Jesus Christ died so that I would not have to die and go to hell. Salvation is so simple, yet there are deaf all around the world that still do not understand that Christ can be their Savior and that they can have a home with Him one day. Not only can they have a home with Him one day, they can also have the hope that I have that I will hear in heaven.

We here at BIMI praise the Lord for all the opportunities He gives for us to share the gospel with the deaf. Let me share some of the areas of ministry with you.

BIMI DEAF BIBLE COLLEGE

In the last several years many Christian colleges have closed their deaf programs and have instead created mainstream programs. As a result, many have lost their deaf students as the deaf prefer to have their own classes in their own language and on their own level. My heart was burdened as Director of BIMI’s Deaf Ministry because I saw no prospective missionaries coming along. There is a desperate need of works for the deaf. As a result, BIMI Deaf Bible College began in the fall of 1994 with 12 students.

We are now in our 6th semester of school and have 28 students in attendance. God has blessed us with good students who are genuinely interested in serving God in a full-time capacity. About 80 percent of our students have surrendered their lives for missions. We will have our first two graduates this spring. Both are praying about going to the mission field following graduation.

BIMI Deaf Bible College is located in Ringgold, Georgia. Our property is actually a 14-acre farm. In the past three years God has allowed us to renovate one of our buildings into a dining hall and build a 3600 square foot building that serves as a men’s dormitory, library and office. We are constantly building as student registration increases.

BIMI Deaf Bible College is in need of your financial, physical, and prayer support. We need monthly support to keep up with day-to-day operating costs. We also need to raise $20,000 to pay off the debt on the dormitory building.

We are in constant need of helpers for buildings that need to be started or completed. Our biggest need, of course, is that of your prayers for us. We need your prayers for protection, for wisdom, and for strength. We need you to pray that God will send us students who are serious about serving Him.

BIMI DEAF CAMPS

In years past, many deaf ministries in local churches were started as a result of BIMI missionaries. Because these ministries wanted us to return as often as possible and time did not allow this, we began BIMI Deaf Camp in the northeast area of the U.S. Camp there grew to about 250 campers each year and word spread about the exciting program being offered. Pastors began calling about the possibility of having camp for their people in different locations around the U.S. This past summer we formed BIMI Deaf Summer Travel Team which was a group of 15 deaf college-age adults that traveled with us to conduct five different weeks of camp.

We praise the Lord for the many deaf who came to know Him as Savior and surrendered their lives to Him as a result of camp this past summer. We have received an abundance of letters from parents and workers who saw such a change in the lives of their deaf young people as a result of camp.

BIMI DEAF MINISTRIES

BIMI Deaf Ministries’ office is located on the campus of BIMI Deaf Bible College. Our office serves as mediator between the main office and the deaf missionary. We have the equipment (TDD or teletype phone device) and the interpreters available to help the missionary and director better understand each other. We praise the Lord for 15 missionaries serving the Lord and reaching the deaf. One of our veteran missionaries returned to the U.S. this summer for a short furlough. He and his wife were able to reside here on campus in between his meetings. Before leaving for the field, he shared how different it was for them to return home and to be able to live where there were people who understood their language and could be such a tremendous help to them. We praise the Lord for the opportunity to serve our missionaries on the field.

If you would like to have more information on BIMI Deaf Ministries, please write. Also, if you are interested in BIMI Deaf Choir “His Heart Our Hands” to visit your church please contact us at:

BIMI Deaf Ministries

1314 Old Three Notch Road

Ringgold, GA 30736

706-375-7107