DOOR's Goal
We want many Deaf people to know Jesus and use their gifts to serve Him. We believe the best way for this to happen is to have many Deaf believers’ fellowships all over the world. We want to see Deaf people starting good, strong Deaf believers’ fellowships in their own countries. So we offer training to teach Deaf Christians how to start good, strong Deaf believers’ fellowships.
DOOR's Training
Deaf Christians can apply to come to one of DOOR's Training Centers (DOOR Africa) for 1 year of training. We invite teams of Deaf Christians -- 2-8 Deaf Christians from the same city or area. All of the teaching, studying, and tests are in Sign Language. The teachers are Deaf. We teach the Bible. We teach how to start Deaf believers’ fellowships. We teach how to be a Deaf Christian leader. We also have local training programs for Deaf believers in India (DOOR India), and Thailand (DOOR Asia/Europe).
Deaf CBS (Chronological Bible Storying) at DOOR
From our experience, Deaf people can learn the Bible very well. Deaf people just learn differently from hearing people. So we teach the deep things of God's Word through His stories. Deaf students who come to DOOR learn and memorize 165 stories from the Bible in Sign Language. They learn to use signed Bible stories for evangelism, discipleship, Bible studies, home groups, leadership training, worship services, counseling, etc.
This is how our Deaf students and staff compare hearing Bible teaching and Deaf Bible teaching through Chronological Bible Storying. (We believe hearing Bible teaching is wonderful for hearing people; it just doesn't work so well for most of us as Deaf people.)
| Hearing Bible teaching | Deaf Chronological Bible Storying |
|---|---|
| Not in order, themes and points, confusing | Biblical stories in order, learning through discussion with other Deaf people, clear! |
| Can you understand it? Does it change your life? Can you remember it? Can you teach it to other Deaf people? | You understand, you apply it to your life, you remember, you can share it with your Deaf friends! |
| You think, "I could never teach like that!" | You think, "The teacher is Deaf! I could do that, too!" |
| Maybe you don't read too well … there are long, hard words in hearing teaching. | You sign wonderfully! The teaching is all in Sign Language. You can understand even complicated concepts when a Deaf teacher explains them in Sign Language! |