Salvation is one of the primary desires of God for all people regardless of their physical looks. For a long time, the gospel has been preached to people who have sound ears to hear the Word of God and an understanding mind. Meanwhile, the Bible says in 1 Timothy 2:3-4 (NIV) that,
This is good, and pleases God our Savior, who wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth.
Just above these verses in the Bible, Apostle Paul was speaking about the need for believers to pray for those in governmental authorities, of which some were very wicked at that time of writing. It hasn’t changed much today. But it’s possible. What does this imply? God wants even the person with the stubbornest heart to receive His free gift of salvation.
God wants even the person with the stubbornest heart to receive His free gift of salvation.
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The deaf, dumb, and people with other disabilities) can’t be neglected in the administration of God’s salvation. Here are some basic things to note and apply when preaching to deaf (and dumb) people about Jesus, especially for the purposes of salvation.
Recognize the infirmity
The first thing to do as a minister of the gospel whenever you encounter such disabled people is to recognise their infirmity. Every minister can testify that we speak to many people, and most aren’t disabled. So it’s easy to assume a deaf or dumb person is as ordinary as the other normal people we minister unto. After speaking for a while and checking the response, be quick to recognize their disability and change your method of ministering to the person. If you find difficulty in discerning the infirmity, you can do this by seeking help from the people around the disabled individual or those who live in the community you find yourself.
Change your method of ministration
The kind of disability you encounter with such a person will determine the method of ministration you should use. For example, it’s better to get a writing pad to write your messages in short but huge texts when ministering to deaf or dumb (not blind) people. If you don’t have a writing pad, you can open a new chat on messaging apps to write your messages. I recommend making it short so that with each message, it’ll be well explained to the disabled person.
However, there’s a disadvantage to it. If the person can’t see small texts, consider increasing the font size of the available technology device. Better still, you can use sign language (if you know it) to communicate the message of Christ to them. Use the method of ministration suitable for the benefit of the disabled person.
Supporting ministers should pray
Prayer cannot be excluded in evangelism. If Jesus’ first time of demarcating seventy people to preach the gospel was done in pairs (Luke 10:1), then I suppose many evangelism campaigns held by various ministries are done with ministers being sent out in groups or pairs. When a deaf person is encountered on the mission field, one can preach, and the other(s) can pray. It takes the Holy Spirit to convict people’s hearts to believe in Jesus. However, the tone should be low enough not to distract the ministration. The one ministering can practice silent prayers as he (or she) continues to minister patiently to the disabled person as well.
The reason for the prayer is to allow the Holy Spirit to work the Word in the heart of the one receiving the ministration.
Help the disabled person to be saved
Well, many people have spoken about Romans 10:9 as a scriptural method to use to help people to be saved. However, the Bible also says in Romans 10:13 (NKJV) that, ‘For “whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.”’
When you check Strong’s definition of “call upon”, it does not necessarily mean using your tongue to utter a voice. Instead, it means to appeal to or entitle. Neither deaf nor dumb people can speak salvation prayer well. (Note that the salvation prayer doesn’t save you, Jesus does. That prayer serves as a guidance to help unbelievers to accept Jesus into their hearts). But they can call upon the name of the Lord. How can they do that? By acknowledging the Lordship of Jesus over their lives in their hearts.
The minister can’t do much at this level. But God can do it. He (or she) can confirm this by asking the disabled person of his (or her decision to follow Jesus). If it’s a yes, then say prayers for the person to remain sustained in the consciousness of his (or her) salvation in Christ. But if it’s a no, keep preaching the Word, explaining in details why they ought to accept Jesus into their hearts. God will work behind the scenes.
Concluding, I want to inspire ministers. Please don’t ill-treat anybody just because of a disability. Help them to also get salvation and healing in Christ.
I hope this article answers the question on how to lead dumb (and/or deaf) people to receive salvation.
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