On Friday at Desiring God we heard an incredible report of what God is doing through the global church. Several staff had travelled to the Lausanne Congress a couple of weeks ago, and we finally had the chance to hear from a few of them.
Included in their report was a list of the 632 unengaged, unreached people groups with populations over 50,000. “Unengaged” means these people groups have NO full-time workers involved in evangelism and church planting.
If I counted correctly, 52 of those groups represent deaf people in various parts of the world. Regardless of whether deafness is considered a disability or a culture, please pray that God would raise up workers for the millions of deaf people around the world who currently have no access to the gospel.
You can read more about all the unreached people groups at Finishing the Task.
The Works of God 
Hi John,
Thanks for writing about this. I am hard of hearing and have really been feeling a burden lately to consider how we can make our churches more accessible to the deaf and hard of hearing. It’s true that there are so many unreached deaf people around the world, but there are probably so many in our own neighborhoods, too.
I’m thankful for your blog and for the example that Bethlehem Baptist has set in coming alongside of people with disabilities. Thank you for being so faithful to the gospel and for your compassion that is borne out of a love for Jesus and an understanding of who God is.
Lucy
I understand that in the U.S. the deaf and hard of hearing, only 5% are “churched”, making them the largest unreached people group in the nation. We don’t have to go further than our back yard to find people who have never heard the gospel.
I am a late-deafened adult. Most other late-deafened adults I know just quit going to church, isolating themselves and feeling worthless. We are still part of the Body of Christ, but have difficulty in knowing how we can participate and serve in a corporate worship setting.
Thank you for the Disability Ministry at Bethlehem!
Pray to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into the fields of the deaf community. Please understand that where evangelism takes place, the deaf population is usually much less reached. In many places, those who are deaf are never provided the opportunity to read and write. When a missionary visits their remote location, the hearing are finally presented with the gospel and the deaf are not unless there is some communication from family and friends. You can see that the unreached of the deaf community is a larger percentage in every country. In remembering Paul’s writing in Romans 10:14, “…how will they hear without a preacher?” When speaking of the deaf, “hearing” means being presented with the gospel in a way that they understand what is being presented.” When you read this, please pray for the deaf of the world and of your community and your country. Remember to pray often.
Thank you for your work for the Lord.
Kelly