France (MNN) — A 16-year-old Brazilian skateboarder gets creative in sharing Scripture on the global stage. Competing in the women’s final at the Paris Olympics last week, Rayssa Leal looked into a camera and signed John 14:6.
Speaking through an interpreter, Mark Sorenson with DOOR International tells MNN, “In the Olympics, there [were] some laws regarding how athletes could share their religion, but because it wasn’t done vocally [and] she signed it, that was sort of ‘under the radar.’”
The video capturing the moment quickly went viral. “Right after that (Leal’s signing), I saw so many shared social media posts [on] Instagram [and] Facebook,” Sorenson says.
“It was blasted all over in the Deaf community.”
Leal is a Hearing person, but recognizing sign language on a stage like the Olympics does much to encourage the global Deaf community.
“Typically, if a famous person, say a movie star or an athlete, [signs] anything, that is taken and posted throughout the Deaf community because it’s recognized [that] this person values sign language,” Sorenson explains.
(Photo courtesy of DOOR International)
Deaf believers gladly seized an opportunity to build on Leal’s boldness. “Some Deaf people [who] posted this video shared a link to where you could find a Bible translation in their signed language,” Sorenson says.
Beyond the Olympics
Leal used sign language to bypass media restrictions and share her faith at the Olympics. In a similar way, communicating via sign language gives Deaf Gospel workers an advantage in countries that are hostile to Christianity.
“I’ve heard many stories where in sensitive, hostile countries, Deaf people can fly ‘under the radar’ and share the Gospel in sign language. Government agencies don’t recognize it, and the Gospel is spread in the Deaf community,” Sorenson says.
“Often, government officials look at Deaf people with pity, or they think, ‘Oh, those poor Deaf people. They can follow any religion because they’re disabled.’”
For example, “I lived in Thailand for three years, and that was a very strong Buddhist nation,” he continues. “I met a lot of Deaf people who said, ‘Hearing people look down on us because we’re Deaf.’ They (Deaf people) are left out and forced to learn life on their own.”
While cruel, this isolation also creates Gospel opportunities. When Sorenson and his team asked Deaf people if they were Buddhist, “They say, ‘Oh, I don’t know. I follow my family’s religion, but I don’t know what that means,’” Sorenson says.
“They were primed to [receive] the Gospel because any information a Deaf person [receives], they drink that up and share it amongst the community.”
DOOR International sends Deaf church planters into unreached Deaf communities through its 2-by-2 program. More about that here. Ask the Lord to give these believers boldness and courage, and pray for open hearts among unreached Deaf communities.
Header image is a screenshot captured by Lyndsey Koh/MNN.
