Deaf in Spain

Introduction / History

The Deaf community (capital D) is the group of Deaf people who identify and communicate with each other using their own sign language. Spanish Sign Language is a language totally different from simply signing or spelling Spanish.

What Are Their Lives Like?

Nearly all Deaf Spaniards can read some written Spanish and communicate to a limited degree by lip reading. Their ability to read Spanish, however, is very limited.

Only ten percent of Deaf people have Deaf parents; few Deaf children can communicate adequately with their hearing parents. Instead, Deaf people congregate with each other at "associations" in urban centers. These "associations" are open most nights and provide full programs of social, cultural, sporting and support services so that most socialization takes place with other Deaf in these settings.

What Are Their Beliefs?

Spanish Deaf are nominally Catholic but most have no interest in pursuing an understanding of spiritual things. There are no churches just for Deaf. Two groups of Deaf meet regularly as part of a hearing church and there are Catholic services with signing in most of the larger population centers.

What Are Their Needs?

Because of a lack of access to the spoken language, many Deaf people have a difficult time participating in church services and activities; relatively little Bible translation work has been done in sign languages and interpreted church services provide only the most basic of access to the Deaf community. Just like spoken languages, sign languages are not universal and vary widely from country to country and often even within a country.

For Deaf people to have full access to scripture, they need both Bible translation in their heart language and services in sign language. This means the Bible is out of reach. Limited access to education makes learning a spoken language well enough to read scripture exceedingly difficult, and only a small percentage of Deaf people have access to scripture in a sign language.

The global Deaf community needs missionaries, but the most effective way to reach a Deaf person is often through another Deaf person. Providing training for Deaf leaders and Deaf missionaries is crucial.

Prayer Points

Pray for the Lord to prepare and send out Deaf missionaries to Spain.
Pray for the Holy Spirit to prepare the hearts of Deaf people in Spain to respond to the gospel.
Pray for many Deaf to be healed as a testimony of God’s power and goodness.

Text Source:   Joshua Project