LAHORE (UCAN): It was a Christmas event with a difference. The worship, sermons, hymns, traditional play and even jokes were in sign language for the participating deaf Christians.
“They face discrimination for being special and hence are our top priority today. Those who can speak must take the back seat,” said Salas Rashid, coordinator of the Language Recordings Institute [LRI] in Lahore.
The ministry has produced audio recordings of biblical stories in 45 local languages in the past 35 years. Last year, it launched Pakistan’s first sign language church. Its members include more than 30 Christians with hearing loss, aged six to 46, in the Lahore and Sahiwal districts of Punjab province.
Santa hats were handed out to the hearing impaired while family members received Christmas tree tags at the December 18 gathering in Bahar Colony, a rundown Christian neighbourhood in Punjab’s capital. The deaf worshipers were asked to lip-read and follow the gestures of their teacher.
A group workshop on learning from the sermon was also held for those with hearing loss. Face names were given to pastors, depending on their facial features, meeting the group for the first time. Church leaders prayed for hearing impaired Christians facing discrimination, their families and teachers.
Hasham Mubashar drew the artwork for each of the six verses of Psalm 23 a week prior to the programme. The 24-year-old graduate learned about the meaning of Christmas after joining the LRI.
They face discrimination for being special and hence are our top priority today. Those who can speak must take the back seat
Salas Rashid
“We learned about our faith and to be joyous in the Lord through pictures and videos. I hope my sketches help my friends better understand the message of the Bible. The annual event is an exciting opportunity to celebrate and meet others with the same experience,” he said via an interpreter.
Mubashar is one of the volunteers helping the LRI by making signs of hymns in the evening after returning from a fast-food restaurant in Lahore where he works as a cook.
Rashid reached out to most of the Christians with hearing difficulties through Facebook Live sessions and visiting their families. His research took him to a school in southwestern Balochistan province, an experience he describes as heartbreaking.
“The teacher shared that local families don’t grieve such people after their death. They are considered half-humans. Minorities have been given four reserved seats in the Senate but there is none for persons with disabilities [PWDs]. There is a serious need for awareness and empathy regarding this community in the state, society and the Church,” he said.
Reaching out to financiers is another barrier to caring for such people.
“The donors demand establishing a Church to support its projects but such people need training before giving them sermons. Many families, who care less for special children, don’t prioritise such sessions. Finding interpreters was another challenge,” said Rashid whose daughter has been deaf since birth.
The teacher shared that local families don’t grieve such people after their death. They are considered half-humans. Minorities have been given four reserved seats in the Senate but there is none for persons with disabilities
Rashid
He struggled to guide her until meeting a hearing impaired Bible instructor while studying orality in the Philippines in 2020. In February 2021, he held the first church service for the hearing impaired in Sahiwal at the church of a pastor whose two children are also deaf.
His team, which includes Mubashar, is creating new signs to tell biblical stories. So far, they have produced four hymns, all of them composed by Rashid.
“The universal sign language lacks biblical diction. We have to make them from the scratch. Our institute is the only opportunity for these lonely Christians to live the gospel. We need time, skills and if possible, money to support them,” he said.
Sabir Michael, a blind Dominican and assistant professor at the University of Karachi lauded the LRI’s efforts for PWDs and urged the Church to support such groups.
“The Pakistan Catholic Bishops’ Conference should let us know if they have any policy regarding the PWDs regarding their participation in Holy Mass and receiving the sacraments. There are zero job opportunities for PWDs in Catholic institutions,” he said.
Michael, the only blind Christian PhD in Pakistan, was rejected in 2011 because of his disability when he applied for the post of executive secretary of Caritas Pakistan.
“There are no blind or deaf priests in Pakistan. A blind youth was expelled by the Dominicans after studying philosophy arguing he couldn’t lift the ciborium. Jesuits rejected a physically handicapped person. We are considered rude for complaining,” he said.
The total population of persons with disabilities is around 22 million, out of which 1.2 million are registered persons with hearing impairment.
Among 95 sign language interpreters, only 22 are certified and available in the metropolitan cities of Pakistan, according to DeafTawk, a digital platform service aiming to bridge the gap between deaf people and society.
