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MY MISSION: HELPING THE DEAF TO ACCESS SCRIPTURE

Adan Burke Deaf Bible Society

ADAN BURKE (with MARISA SORENSON) writes about his work at the US-based Deaf Bible Society…

My name is Adan Burke, and I am the director of operations at Deaf Bible Society, which is headquartered in Arlington, Texas. I’ve been involved with Deaf Bible since April of 2017, so I am just shy of my one-year anniversary.

Deaf Bible Society’s mission is to provide “God’s Word in Every Sign Language.” We work on providing free and unlimited access to the Bible to the deaf in their unique sign languages. There are over 350 sign languages in the world, and only two per cent of the deaf have access to the Gospel. We want to ensure that each sign language has a Bible translation in progress as soon as is humanly possible. Our goal is to have a Bible translation project started for the remaining languages by 2033.

Adan Burke Deaf Bible Society

 

“Knowing that the deaf can have access to Scripture in their sign language is the most important thing for me. I am on the front lines working to bring them that access, and this is the reason I am thrilled to come to work everyday.”

As the director of operations, my primary responsibility is to make sure communication flows smoothly within the departments. I help departments notice things that they may have otherwise overlooked and connect individuals to work together on solutions. I also oversee partner relations, human resources, and our financial department. Basically, I make the organisation a well-run machine in which departments are constantly communicating with each other.

I became involved with this organisation through contacts in the deaf community. The deaf community is very close-knit, and I met the president of Deaf Bible Society, JR Bucklew, when I was working as a signer on the American Sign Language Bible translation project. Bucklew noticed the abilities I possessed that would qualify me for this position and offered me a job. The Lord made it clear that it was His will for me, and I’ve been here ever since then.

Deaf Bible Society’s project Chameleon is a source of inspiration for me. Chameleon is a technological software that will enable translation teams to use avatars in place of human signers. These avatars will enable sign language Bible translation to be about Christ and His story and less about the faces conveying the Scriptures to the audience. Translators of written languages are able to hide behind the pages and pages of text. However, due to the visual language of the deaf, the faces of translators of sign language Bibles have always been on display. Through Chameleon, we are able to make the Scriptures less about the translators’ faces and more about Christ!

A particular challenge for me in my position is making sure that information gets into the right hands. This is a young organisation with the majority of our employees being relatively new. As a result, the learning curve is steep and we are learning together as we go. This is actually an exciting challenge for me, because this is where my years of corporate experience come into play. I am able to implement those tidbits to help the teams work together. For example, when the translation acceleration department is working on a proposal, I am able to jump into their meetings and support our approach on how best create and design the proposal. The outcome will be that we will be able to implement the new things we worked on in the next quarter. Again, this challenge excites me because I am able to see growth and results.

This organisation, in combination with hitting 36 years old last month, has impacted me in that it forces me to revisit and evaluate a lot of things. I worked in secular workplaces for a long time, and being in a Christian workplace is an entirely different mindframe. Working for Deaf Bible Society has enabled me to reinforce my faith. For so long, I didn’t have the freedom of praying in the workplace and I had to watch my words around my co-workers to ensure I didn’t say anything that could be taken the wrong way. I’ve noticed I still carry some of those habits with me, but the Lord has been instrumental in encouraging and revitalising me.

That same encouragement has provided me with an opportunity to help my team revisit the Scriptures through the lens of sign language. We are now watching and embracing the Bible in American Sign Language with the intention of modeling this life-changing experience for the deaf community everywhere. Knowing that the deaf can have access to Scripture in their sign language is the most important thing for me. I am on the front lines working to bring them that access, and this is the reason I am thrilled to come to work everyday.

Adan Burke is director of operations at the Deaf Bible Society.

 

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