Margaret Mukami of Kenya and Helen Bickle from Canada, two members of the deaf community attending a course on preaching Image by: GBGM Mission News

Two deaf women are honing their preaching skills alongside hearing colleagues, thanks to a ministry that "went global" with help from the United Methodist General Board of Global Ministries.

Kenyan Margaret Mukami and Canadian Helen Bickle are signing to each other, their interpreters, and other participants at a license-to-preach course of study.

The course is offered at a 10-day, 80-hour school held annually by the United Methodist Church's Baltimore-Washington Conference.

"Deaf people are gifted in ways of ministries we hearing people can't do as well," says Rev. Peggy Johnson. Their gifts arise from their deafness, according to the pastor of Christ United Methodist Church of the Deaf in Baltimore.

The denomination's oldest deaf congregation began reaching out to the global deaf community with the encouragement of Carol Stevens, a missionary serving Christ Church through GBGM's 10-10-10 mission placement and support program.

In 1997 Stevens took a team from the church to the Kaaga School for the Deaf in Meru, Kenya. Through its Health and Welfare deaf ministries program, the Board for Global Ministries supports the school with pass-through funds from United Methodists. The Board also promotes full access to United Methodist worship and Christian service for members who face aural challenges.

The Christ Church team met Mukami at the Kenyan school. "She has served there since 1998 without any training," Johnson said. "It's been our goal for three years to fly her here so she could take this licence-to-preach course. For Margaret and others, this is as close as they can get to theological, pastoral, education because they are deaf."

While definitely not a seminary education, the study course in Maryland is one of the best and draws people from throughout the northeast, Johnson points out. "They can only touch the main points, but that's more than she would get in Kenya."
Bickle, a local pastor in deaf ministry in Ontario, had been hosted by Christ Church when she took a deaf immersion course sponsored by Wesley Theological Seminary in Washington.

Variations in the Kenyan, Canadian and American Sign Languages present the two women with additional challenges. Interpreters from Christ Church helping them depend on visual and facial cues and on body language, says Johnson.

	See Also... Topic: Education |  GBGM news |  Women |  Geographic Region: Africa |  Kenya |  United States |  Source: GBGM Mission News
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Date posted: May 02, 2001