TOCCOA, Ga. — The deaf should be in the multitude when, as the Book of Revelation depicts it, every language, people, tribe and nation will worship the Lamb around the throne, said Aric Randolph of New Life Deaf Fellowship in Fort Worth, Texas.
But the deaf pastor asked, “How will the deaf be there if they don’t know Jesus?
“Right now, there are about 35 million deaf all over the world,” Randolph noted. “Every day, 750 deaf die without knowing Jesus.”
More than 400 deaf Southern Baptists gathered in Toccoa, Ga., July 16–21 for the Southern Baptist Conference of the Deaf (SBCD) and to witness the commissioning of six International Mission Board (IMB) missionaries to work with the deaf.
IMB President Tom Elliff challenged deaf Southern Baptists to embrace a specific deaf people group from the more than 100 unengaged, unreached deaf people groups around the world. The IMB’s “Embrace” challenge encourages churches to make a lifetime commitment to an unengaged, unreached people group.
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