CREATIVE INTERPRETATION

 

“What are you? A medium, or something? I thought I heard you say you were a DEATH INTERPRETER?”

That is only one of the strange questions Joe Peal has had to answer when trying to explain his goal of becoming a Bible interpreter for the DEAF! Not for DEATH!

At a recent meeting I attended Joe spoke for about twenty minutes and then spent most of the next hour answering questions.

“Historically, deaf languages have been understudied,” he explained. “The first deaf dictionary didn’t appear until 1965. The first complete Bible in sign language was not published until 2020. And even using the word published is not quite correct. This is not a print Bible, it is a video Bible.”

Joe informed us that it took thirty-nine years to complete that video Bible in ASL or American Sign Language. But there are more than three hundred and fifty sign languages in the world each with its own grammar and syntax. His goal is to join with Wycliffe in bringing God’s Word to other deaf communities in their own language. Thirty-six deaf languages have some portion of the Bible. Fifteen others have been started and still three hundred and twenty-two have nothing.

“I feel privileged that God has given me the ability and time to do this work,” says Peal. If you are like the rest of us and have questions, you can contact Joe at joseph_peal@wycliffe.org