wfn.org | Deaf Ministries in Kenya

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"UNITED METHODIST DAILY NEWS 97" by SUSAN PEEK on April 15, 1997 at 14:24
Eastern, about DAILY NEWS RELEASES FROM UNITED METHODIST NEWS SERVICE (476
notes).

Note 474 by UMNS on Nov. 24, 1997 at 16:14 Eastern (2768 characters).

CONTACT: Linda Bloom						  662(10-71B){474}
		New York (212) 870-3803					Nov. 24, 1997

UM volunteers to work
with deaf in Kenya

			by United Methodist News Service

	When the Rev. Peggy Johnson, a United Methodist pastor from Baltimore,
recently visited a school in Kenya that had deaf students, she found
communication to be even more of a problem than expected.
	"The kids don't have a language," she explained. "Sign language hasn't
reached them and they're not reading lips very well."
	Ministering to deaf children in Kenya -- spiritually, through Bible studies
and physically, through repair of school dorm rooms -- is the goal of a July
1-15, 1998, Volunteers-in-Mission trip being organized in the
Baltimore-Washington Annual Conference.
	The trip, which already has attracted 30 volunteers, will build upon contacts
made by an exploratory group led by Johnson in September.
	The idea for such work started earlier, when Johnson attended the United
Methodist Global Gathering in Kansas City last spring with a deaf member of
her church, Christ United Methodist Church of the Deaf. One of the workshops
there focused on supporting Advance Specials. Among the projects in Kenya were
the Kaaga School for the Deaf in Meru and Nijya School for the Deaf in Maua.
	Through the United Methodist Board of Global Ministries, Johnson was put in
contact with Bishop Joseph Nthamburi of the Methodist Church of Kenya, who
extended an invitation to visit. The six-member team represented Johnson's
church, Asbury United Methodist Church in Arnold, Md., and Fairview United
Methodist Church in Baltimore.
	Although the Kenya schools suffer from a lack of resources, Johnson and the
other team members found the children to be thriving and well-cared for. They
discovered a need for specialized training of teachers for deaf students and
an interest at the Kaaga school in establishing a church for Methodist deaf
people in the area.
	In general, she said, deaf people in Kenya are marginalized in society.
"People speak around them without bothering to sign and tell them what they're
saying," she explained. "They just are considered less capable and less
valuable."
	 One challenge for the 1998 team will be to learn Kenyan sign language. About
half of the vocabulary is different from American Sign Language, according to
Johnson.
	The 1998 VIM team will be led by the Rev. Kirk Van Gilder of Christ Church,
who is himself hearing-impaired. The Rev. Terri Rae Chattin, pastor of Asbury
church, and a part of the team also will lead a quality-of-life retreat in
Kenya for those suffering from HIV/AIDS.
	Sponsors are needed to help fund the trip and provide supplies. For more
information, contact Johnson at (410) 747-5689.
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