My name is Paata Kapanadze. I live in Georgia in the city of Tbilisi. I am a pastor to the Georgian Deaf community.
Being able to distribute the Bible is so incredibly important. In America, they have access. But in my country, Deaf Georgians are not literate and cannot read the printed or written language. It’s very difficult for them to access the Bible.
Many times they ask questions to their friends or ask me as their pastor for help. Many of them would have to rely on me, and that’s not effective or sustainable. Being able to have the Bible in their own sign language would allow them to be autonomous in their journey with God.
I reached out to Deaf Bible Society, asked a lot of questions, and learned about sign language Bible translation projects. With those introductory conversations, I came back to my community of both Georgian Deaf and hearing people.
We had a lot of deep conversations about what the translation project could look like and what the potential impact might be, along with gauging people’s interest levels. It all seemed to be very positive. People were very willing to get the ball rolling on a project like this.
I went back to Deaf Bible Society and asked for their help. They were able to provide me with lots of opportunities and resources to grow in our translation efforts. We focused on the books of Matthew, Mark, and Acts as the first three books in the translation process. And that has gone really, really well.
People have been able to truly and finally grasp the Bible in their native sign language! They’re able to follow it far more effectively and it is making a tremendous impact.
There are also churches here. Once they have the Bible accurately communicated, the congregants can receive the Bible into their heart and have their salvation assured. In the past, when the Bible was just written in print, the comprehension was not there. Now to be able to follow the Bible in sign language brings Deaf people closer to God. And that’s what it’s all about.
I was born hearing, but I started losing my hearing when I was nine. I had gone to a public school prior to that. Soon after, I transitioned to a Deaf school. Because of my prior exposure, I was able to read and write in the printed language. But members of the Georgian Deaf community are not able to read and write. There was definitely a disparity there. I wasn’t necessarily fluent in Georgian Sign Language at the time, but I thought, “I’m Deaf. They’re Deaf. We’re on the same page.”
I saw so much and realized that these Deaf people had a very different understanding because of their lack of literacy in Georgia’s native written and spoken language. Ever since then, there has been a hunger within me to see that the Georgian Deaf community has the same access as their hearing counterparts. I wish that I had the ability to sign these things that I’ve learned along the way.
Deaf Bible Society has the resources and have given us this opportunity. They are supportive of us. They were able to provide us with so many different resources and tools to be able to engage with the Bible and to do it in a way that serves and loves our Deaf community.
I’m so incredibly grateful for Deaf Bible Society. I’m grateful for their help and support in providing resources and for their care for the Georgian Deaf community who is hungry for the Bible.
The Georgian Deaf community needs the Bible and the opportunity to have access to the Bible in their native heart language, just like the American Deaf community does. This is something that we want to see, not just here in Georgia, but in other Deaf communities around the world.
