Sombat Apichai* and other Deaf Christians in Thailand were unable to truly connect or intimately worship God because of multiple translation issues with Thai sign language and spoken language. In addition, Thai religious vocabulary is hard to understand, even for hearing Thais.
Sombat and his wife, Alisara, met IMB workers Victor and Madeline Hawthorne, who invited them to a new church for the Deaf. The Hawthornes introduced them to Bible stories signed not only in Thai sign language, but also in Deaf style—not in word-for-word style as they’d previously experienced. Sombat and Alisara started attending a camp the Hawthornes hosted that taught Deaf Christians how to craft understandable Bible stories in Thai sign language. The couple now leads a church for the Deaf.
THE COOPERATIVE PROGRAM is the financial fuel for reaching every person for Jesus Christ in every town, every city, every state, and every nation. Your support through the Cooperative Program gives missionaries like the Hawthornes the opportunity to train local believers in how to reach their communities for Christ.
PRAY for the Hawthornes as they continue to disciple Deaf churches in Thailand and that more Deaf men and women will come to follow Jesus.
*name changed for security
