By Lindsey Williams
Writing Specialist
From April 4 – 7, the Mississippi Baptist Conference of the Deaf (MBCD) will take part in the 2024 Deaf Missions Conference in Arlington, Texas, where attendees will watch the premiere of “Jesus (A Deaf Missions Film).”
Theresa Burns, president of the MBCD, Vickie Stuart, Deaf Ministry Consultant for the Mississippi Baptist Convention Board, and a team comprised of Deaf and hearing, travel out to the conference today, April 3.
Some may wonder, what is so significant about this movie, that an entire conference would assemble an audience for its premiere? The life of Jesus has been cinematically portrayed time and time again already. What makes this one different?
“The film features all Deaf actors, completely in sign language, and follows the life of Jesus, His death, His resurrection, and His appearances to the disciples,” Stuart described. “One thing they will have is closed captioning for the hearing members of the audience, but unfortunately most theaters don’t provide captions for the Deaf for regular movies, which is very sad. Hopefully that will change in the future, but that’s one thing great about this movie. It’s all in sign. They can see the story in their language.”
Deaf Missions is a ministry seeking to make Christ known among the Deaf worldwide, in their heart language. Having not only produced the “Jesus” film in sign language, Deaf Missions has also translated the entire Bible into American Sign Language (ASL) for free public use on their website and through their app.
As stated by Deaf Missions, “A lack of resources for the Deaf is a critical barrier between the Deaf and the Gospel of Jesus. Technological advances make the distribution of resources to the Deaf more possible now than ever before. Roughly 98% (68 out of 70 million) of the worldwide population of Deaf people have never encountered the real Jesus. What is the number one issue Deaf people face when it comes to knowing Jesus? The answer boils down to two words: communication barriers.”
“Some Deaf do read in English, but many do not,” Stuart said, further explaining the need for a Jesus film in sign language. “ASL is a visual, a gestural, completely different language of its own. To actually see it on the screen visually, to see it in their language through hands, gestural features, linguistics, all of that in one will just really open their eyes to the true meaning of the life of Jesus.”
Similar to the annual Mississippi Baptist Conference of the Deaf held at Garaywa Camp & Conference Center, the 2024 Deaf Missions Conference includes Deaf workshops and interpreter workshops. As a tremendous opportunity to share the Gospel, the premiere of such an extraordinary movie is pulling people in who may not have attended the conference otherwise.
“Pray first of all for that deaf person going to the conference who may not know the full story,” Stuart said. “Pray that they can finally understand it in their language, but then, after having fully comprehended it, be able to share it with somebody else. That’s the way of discipleship. We share that message, but we must know the message correctly also. Just having the story in their language makes such a huge impact.”
To learn more about “Jesus (A Deaf Missions Film)” or to watch the trailer, visit Jesus – Deaf Missions.
