Opportunities for the deaf in international missions will be the focus of the South Carolina Deaf Conference set for June 8-10 at White Oak Conference Center near Winnsboro.
The annual meeting has been sponsored by South Carolina Baptists for more than 50 years, according to Jerry St. John, who is retired after more than 20 years as director of language programs for the South Carolina Baptist Convention. St. John continues to serve as the liaison between deaf ministries and churches and the state convention and also serves as a consultant for the state convention.
St. John“The main emphasis this year is on volunteer missions, mostly focusing overseas,” said St. John. “Several deaf people have gone to South American countries and to European countries. The opportunities for the deaf to serve overseas are growing.”
The annual conference is a time of fellowship, retreat, training, Bible Study and worship for the deaf. St. John said there are currently more than 30 churches in the South Carolina Baptist Convention with deaf ministries, and there are five deaf churches.
St. John, who started working in deaf ministries while a student at Golden Gate Seminary in the 1960s, said the need for deaf people in ministry has grown in North America and around the world.
“[The North American Mission Board] gets requests from pioneer areas for help in establishing deaf ministries,” he said. “Deaf people can find other deaf people better than hearing people.”
In addition to the annual conference at White Oak, St. John also works with the Tri-State Deaf School of Theology, which provides theological training in North Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia. The program is affiliated with Gardner-Webb University and will begin its 18th year of theological training this fall.
For more information about the conference at White Oak, contact Cynthia Cabezas at 803-227-6135 or email cynthiacabezas@scbaptist.org.