Left to Right: Dominic Speranza, Kaye Peacock, Toby Welch, Mark Johnson, Phillip Macdonald

Deaf People Will Be In Heaven Too

The Apostle John describes a beautiful vision of what worship will look like in heaven, writing, “After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb…” (Revelation 7:9, emphasis added). Have you ever thought about how one of the “languages” represented in heaven will be American Sign Language? There will be people praising God with a loud voice in heaven who used to talk with their hands on earth.

IBC’s Deaf Ministry

I love that IBC has prioritized ministering to Deaf people. Our ministry to the Deaf community began in the early 1990’s, was paused, and then restarted over a decade ago. IBC members such as Kaye Peacock and Dominic Speranza have been influential in teaching a Deaf Bible ABE class at IBC every week for years. The ministry of Deaf interpreters such as J.D. Smalley, Jessica Smalley, Karla Gilbert, Christy-Ann Cushwa, and Lisa Marion is also very appreciated, as they simultaneously translate our worship songs and spoken sermons into ASL every week for our Deaf attendees.

Recently, however, our Deaf ABE teachers Kaye and Dominic became burdened that more needed to be done to reach and minister to Deaf people. In God’s providence, they made contact with a Deaf pastor, Dr. Toby Welch, who started to guest preach once a month for our Deaf Bible class. That has now led to a very exciting new ministry opportunity at IBC.

An Exciting Gospel Opportunity

The IBC elders are pleased to announce that that we have now entered a “ministry partnership” with Dr. Toby Welch. This means he will be preaching 3 times a month to our Deaf attendees in their own worship service at 10:45 AM in room 124. Our Deaf attendees will still join our hearing worship services at least once a month. However, we are hoping and praying that this new Deaf worship service, and the preaching of Dr. Toby Welch, will lead to much numerical and spiritual growth in our Deaf ministry.

Who Is Dr. Toby Welch?

Dr. Toby Welch is a Deaf pastor who is burdened to preach the gospel to Deaf people for the glory of God. He is a man of character, and Pastor Mark and I have enjoyed getting to know him personally (with Karla Gilbert translating for us). He has multiple degrees, including a Master of Science in Deaf Studies and Deaf Education, a Master of Arts in Theological Studies (in process), and a Doctor of Education. He currently teaches ASL and Deaf culture at Northwest High School in Germantown, Maryland.

An Open Letter to Hearing Churches

Dr. Welch recently wrote an article entitled, “Open Letter to Hearing Churches”, which opened my eyes to the great need to reach Deaf people with the Gospel. Dr. Toby Welch writes:

Only 2% of the Deaf population are Christians. This means 98% of Deaf people do not know Jesus Christ (see https://doorinternational.org/why-deaf ). I have heard many stories from Deaf Christians who attend hearing churches with Deaf ministries or Deaf services separate from hearing services. Some hearing churches decided to stop offering services for Deaf people or stop allowing them to have their own services. Deaf people wonder if hearing churches love Deaf people as God loves them. They often sense that hearing churches view Deaf people as a marginalized group or categorize them as having a disability that needs to be fixed. For many years, society has wanted Deaf people to be fixed because they believe that Deaf people are “less than.”

Unfortunately, many people who are uninformed about Deaf culture tend to reject Deaf people or view them as abnormal. Does God create Deaf people as abnormal?

There are many Deaf people who are ready to be harvested, but there are only a few Deaf laborers…It is our responsibility to reach out to both Deaf and hearing people for Jesus Christ our Lord.

You can read Dr. Welch’s full article here: https://drtobywelch.blog/2023/03/04/open-letter-to-hearing-churches/

I appreciate Dr. Toby Welch’s heart for reaching the unreached with the Gospel. The Deaf community is an unreached people group right in our backyard, yet it is often overlooked. At IBC we hope to provide a place where Deaf people feel free to come, hear the Gospel, and are made into Christ-like disciples.

What Can You Do?

So, what can you do to support our Deaf ministry and help reach this unreached people group? Here are some suggestions:

Pray for our new ministry partner, Dr. Toby Welch, that he will faithfully preach the Gospel to our Deaf attendees.
Pray for our Deaf teachers (Kaye Peacock and Dominic Speranza) and our Deaf translators (J.D. Smalley, Jessica Smalley, Karla Gilbert, Christy-Ann Cushwa, and Lisa Marion), who faithfully serve nearly every Sunday.
Pray for more Deaf people to come to IBC, to be saved, and to grow in their faith.
Take the time and effort to learn some sign language. Learning some basic signs (e.g. “hello”, “how are you?”, “good morning”, and “I’m hearing, I’m learning ASL”, etc.) can go a long way in helping Deaf people feel noticed, welcomed, and loved. You can learn many of these basic signs on YouTube. And who knows; maybe you will learn ASL well enough to someday share the Gospel with a Deaf person!

Dr. Toby Welch will be briefly introduced in our worship services on Sunday, July 9. We hope you can come and show support for our Deaf ministry!