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Why Can’t Deaf People Just Read the Bible?

Why Can’t Deaf People Just Read the Bible?

August 20, 2025

  • Ruth Ferguson
  • Published: Aug. 20, 2025
  • Updated: Aug. 14, 2025

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A child learns from a Bible Translation team member at a Deaf school.

Understanding the need for sign language Bible translation

Did you know there are more than 350 unique sign languages worldwide? Only one of these—American Sign Language (ASL)—has a complete Bible, which was finished in 2020 after 39 years of work. This means nearly 70 million sign language users don’t have access to the Bible in a format they understand.

Sign language translation uses video technology to capture a signer’s face, hands, body movements, and expressions—all part of natural sign language. But when people find out how technical, slow, resource-intensive, and costly sign language Bible translation projects are, they tend to wonder …

Why can’t Deaf people just read the Bible?

  1. Sign languages differ from spoken languages. They aren’t literal word-for-word versions of a country’s spoken language. For example, ASL isn’t simply a manual representation of English. Sign languages have their own complex grammatical rules and use hand shapes, facial expressions, and body movements to convey meaning. What Deaf people see on the written page isn’t the same as what they are signing—it’s not their language.
  2. Deaf and hearing people don’t learn to read in the same way. The Deaf often find learning to read uniquely challenging. For hearing children, reading means starting with the alphabet and attaching sounds to each letter. But for Deaf children, learning to read is a different process. Because they can’t hear the sounds in a word, they must memorize the sequence of letters as a full word, attach the sequence to a concept, and then connect that concept to a picture. This difficult process ensures that a written language will always be a second language—and one that requires much extra effort.
  3. Sign languages are heart languages. Sign languages are powerful, expressive, and for many Deaf people, a key part of their identity. Asking them to prioritize reading a spoken language can feel like asking them to abandon their culture. In Bible translation, the priority is to empower people to experience God’s Word in a way that truly resonates with their hearts!

Translating the Bible into sign language isn’t just about signing words; it’s about communicating God’s truth visually, the way Deaf people comprehend their world. It’s about ensuring Deaf people can encounter the love of God through a language they fully understand. Because God’s Scripture is for all people.

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Chief Field Operations Officer

Matt became Chief Field Operations Officer in August 2024 after serving as Vice President of Field Operations. He joined Seed Company in 2010 and most recently provided leadership to nearly 1,200 Bible translation projects across diverse cultural contexts. With over 31 years in full-time Christian ministry, Matt is known for fostering international team-focused environments and driving strategic initiatives that enhance operational efficiency. In addition to being fluent in English, Spanish, and Portuguese, he has traveled to all 50 states and more than 100 countries. He also is a private pilot. Matt and his wife Aimee live in Hideaway, Texas. They have two children and two grandchildren.

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Tom is President and Chief Executive Officer of Citygate Network, North America’s oldest and largest gospel movement of rescue missions and life-transformation ministries. More than 320 organizations and ministries are connected to provide hope and healing to the lost and lonely through emergency shelter and housing, addiction recovery, and mental health support. Tom has been a church planter, multisite church lead pastor, and church multiplication movement leader. Before Citygate Network, Tom served as President and CEO of the Global Leadership Network, an international ministry producing training and equipping through the Global Leadership Summit. The Summit is an annual event experienced by over 300,000 people in 110 countries and translated into 56 languages. Additionally, Tom was General Secretary of the Reformed Church in America. He holds a bachelor of arts from Wheaton College, a master of divinity from Fuller Seminary, and a doctorate in ministry from Western Seminary. Tom has a track record of innovation, strategic planning, and leading high-performance teams for increasing ministry impact. Tom is married to Laura, and they have three adult children.

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A seasoned business executive, board member, and serial entrepreneur with both operational and financial expertise, Steven has held senior leadership roles from founder to managing partner to chief financial officer across multiple industries. Steven is Managing Partner and Co-founder of ReignRock Capital Partners, a growth- and operations-focused private equity firm. Previously, he co-founded Athas Health, an organization dedicated to helping people with chronic spine and migraine pain find meaningful relief. Steven was Chief Financial Officer for Athas Health from its founding until its sale in 2014. Steven also served as an investment banker for Frost Securities and Wasserstein Perella & Co. In addition, he worked for KPMG Peat Marwick’s corporate finance consulting unit. Steven earned his bachelor of business administration in finance from Baylor University. He is also a graduate of the Stagen Integral Leadership Program and the National Outdoor Leadership School. Steven and his wife have two children. They live in the Dallas/Fort Worth area.

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Beyond the huge investment Melissa has made into her family as a full-time wife and mother, she has a passion for seeing an end to sexual exploitation in the country of Malawi. For the past 13 years, through prayer and finances, Melissa has served When the Saints, a nonprofit whose mission is to bring healing to both the oppressed and oppressors in Malawi. She joined the board of When the Saints in 2018, taking on responsibility for their fundraising events, elevating their social media, and hosting weekly prayer meetings. In November 2019, she also partnered with DonorSee as a founding investor after seeing how this charity platform was helping missions like When the Saints engage and retain new kingdom-minded donors from around the globe. Melissa and her husband live in St. Louis, Missouri.

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Prior to joining the Bible translation movement in 2008, Mark enjoyed a 20-year career as an information technology director at an investment banking firm, an oil company, and a state community college. After serving as regional center manager in Papua New Guinea, Mark joined Seed Company in 2012 as a field coordinator in South Asia. Then he led the Growth Partners team for four years before being named Chief Field Officer in 2020. His role changed to Chief Field Growth Officer in August 2024. Mark has a degree in business information systems from Indiana Wesleyan University. He and his wife Kim have been married for 34 years. They have four children and live in the Dallas/Fort Worth area.

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Chief Translation Quality Officer

Jim served in Bible translation for more than three decades before being selected as Chief Translation Quality Officer in August 2024. He joined Seed Company in 2011 as a translation consultant and has also served as Director of Translation Consulting and Vice President of Bible Translation. Before Jim came to Seed Company, he and his late wife Virginia spent 12 years in Mozambique working on two translation projects with Seed Company partner SIL. Jim enjoys exercising, playing the bass, and taking road trips with his family. He lives in Waxhaw, North Carolina, and has two college-aged daughters.

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Jeremy joined Seed Company as Chief Financial Officer in August 2024. He is a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) and Certified Treasury Professional (CTP) with a BA in accounting and finance and an MA in business organizational leadership from Vanguard University. Jeremy most recently served as Vice President of Finance and CFO at Vanguard from 2014 until coming to Seed Company. He previously was CFO at Mariners Church. Jeremy also serves on a number of boards and committees, most recently on an audit and finance committee within the Wycliffe Global Alliance. Jeremy and his wife Donna live in Costa Mesa, California. They have a son and a daughter.

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