National Institute for the Deaf

In our country there are 8 parishes for the deaf with hearing ministers that have been working for 30 years to bring the Gospel to the Deaf. The outreaches and projects, which have been done during this period, were minimal. It was hardly enough to answer the great need of the approximately 400 000 Deaf people waiting eagerly to hear the Glad Tidings of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
The first and natural language of the Deaf is Sign Language, an extremely difficult language for the hearing to master. Even after many years, hearing ministers cannot communicate on a first language level with the Deaf and are not nearly as effective as Deaf communicating with other Deaf.
Only a Deaf person knows how the Deaf think and feel and also knows their habits and culture. The body language and facial expressions of the Deaf are not merely accompanying expressions of feelings. Often it is the message itself in their language, and is an integral part which the hearing does not always understand, as the hearing regard words or obvious recognisable gestures as the only meaningful communication.
The Deaf are able to communicate effectively with other Deaf, specifically with those within their own culture who use the same dialect of SASL. There are twelve recognised Sign Language dialects in South Africa making it difficult for any Deaf person to communicate in another Deaf person’s culture, and for a hearing minister even more difficult.