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Bible translation they can now have access to
the Word of God.

Participating in our conference were our
missionaries working with the Deaf in Brazil
where Portuguese is the spoken language. In
every country in South America, the sign
language is different with signs unique to
that particular country. This provides an
additional challenge to reaching this people
group. However, in 2023 the Deaf ministry in
Brazil reached a milestone with the opening
of the Deaf Baptist Bible Institute. It has been
a burden on BIMI Missionary Carl Johnson’s
heart and a dream for many years to provide
a training opportunity for the Deaf to learn
in their own
language instead
of through an
interpreter. The
first semester
began with nine
deaf students who
have surrendered
their lives to prepare for the ministry. Please
be in prayer for this ministry that God would
provide Brother Carl with other qualified
teachers to teach the course classes. The load
is heavy for one man as he is at the church
for about four hours each night teaching
each module.

God is doing an amazing work through
the lives of our missionaries to reach South
America’s largest unevangelized people
group. It is still only a drop in the bucket
of a sea of lives who have never heard the
name of Jesus.

In his book Into the Silence, Missionary
Joe Kotvas says, “There is only one foreign
independent Baptist missionary to the Deaf
for every 8 million deaf people.” Brother
Kotvas goes on to say, “There is only one
North American independent Baptist
missionary to the Deaf for every four
countries.”¹ It is overwhelming to even try to
grasp the magnitude of those statistics in the
afore mentioned book.

Missionary Dan Bennett has been serving in
the city of São Paulo, Brazil, for 20 years. In
response to those statistics he states, “We are
just barely reaching a small percentage of the
more than 270,000 deaf in São Paulo, much
less than reaching three other countries.

Those figures are staggering!”
The Great Commission states Go ye into
all the world and preach the gospel to every
creature (Mark 16:15). Millions of deaf
worldwide do not even have a language, no
one with whom they can communicate, and
no one to explain God’s love for them. They
know nothing of Jesus, the Cross, the empty
tomb, or heaven. Many deaf sit in silence,
alone, unreached, forgotten, and without
hope. Christian Friend, this needs to change!
Churches across America and around the
globe need to wake up and see this immense
“void” that is not being filled. The time is
now to make a concentrated effort to send
more laborers into God’s harvest field to reap
the souls of lost deaf. In Matthew 9:37–38,
Jesus said to His disciples, The harvest truly
is plenteous, but the labourers are few; Pray
ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that He
will send forth labourers into his harvest. We
are praying that God would send forth more
laborers among the Deaf around the world.

Would you please make this a matter of
prayer in your home and in your church?
Recently, I received an email from a college
student requesting information on the
Deaf ministry in Argentina. Unfortunately,
I had nothing to give him because to
my knowledge there is not a work being
done with the nearly one million deaf in
Argentina. Who will go? W
¹ Kotvas, J. (2006). Into the Silence: A Biblical Perspective
and Plan for Reaching the Deaf Around the World, Efata,
page 28.

Number 1, 2024
BIMI 25