This International Day of Sign Languages, we chat with a young adult who has been supporting the deaf community for the last 9 years. Serving with Wesley Methodist Church’s Ministry of the Hearing Impaired (MHI), Abigail Chow sees her work of bringing a message of God to the deaf as a privilege. Currently an educational interpreter in a school, the animated 27-year-old shares the signs and paths that have led her on this journey.

1. How did you first get involved with sign language? 

I joined a sign language club in polytechnic, and worked hard at learning the language and practising the signs.

I made my first two deaf friends there and learned about the frustrations and challenges they faced in school, at home and in society because of their hearing loss. They had no access to aural incidental learning like the hearing did.

In meeting discussions, they would never be able to receive full access to information because even though we helped to interpret during meetings, it was never good enough to send 100 percent of the message across.

They were patient about this process most of the time, but they had to constantly clarify information that was lost or misinterpreted in the process. 

It was ever so tiring for them! So a deep burden in my heart grew; I was conscious of their plight and supported them where I could.

And eventually, God opened the doors for a couple of Christian friends and I to serve in the ministry after a collaboration between MHI and our polytechnic sign language club.

2. What training did you undergo? How long before you became proficient in sign language?

Although I entered the ministry with knowledge of signs, I lacked the experience of using it within the wider deaf community outside of school.

As with most languages, sign language consists of nuances that are learnt only through interactions. I spent weekly Saturday dinners hanging out and chatting with deaf friends from the ministry for hours on end.

Naturally, this process of cultural immersion helped improve my proficiency in using sign language in a “deaf” way. Being open to feedback and engaging in ways to improve my signing skills were also crucial!

3. What does serving in the Ministry of the Hearing Impaired look like?

Serving in a deaf ministry looks like… a flurry of hands in your face and intense mental processing!

I serve as an interpreter for the deaf during church services, workshops or events. God has blessed us with a pool of homegrown interpreters that are rostered for service interpretation duty about once a month.

As with all interpreters, we are required to prepare for interpretation, to relay the most comprehensive and accurate representation of the message, speaker and atmosphere.

Doing so is incredibly difficult. But we study the material and prepare as we are able, submitting the process and outcome to God, trusting Him to speak into the hearts of the deaf and also ourselves.

4. Tell us about your journey into full-time ministry with MHI.

I was at a crossroads between pursuing a career relevant to my course of study, and my burden for supporting the deaf. Interestingly, a position full-time in the ministry opened up at that time.

In all honesty, I prayed little about it and took it as a sign that God had given me a year off to think about where I wanted to go in life.

Full-time ministry would simply be a place where I could continue to grow spiritually and earn my keep for just one year. So I joined the church staff.

But that same year, God convicted me of my ignorance at how much He had done for me.

His grace had picked me up from a stream of ignorant bliss and placed me on a rapid river of learning sign language and deaf culture.

I was humbled to realise that bringing a message of God to the deaf was a privilege, and saw that I needed to get serious about God’s work and equip myself in spiritual discipline and specific skillsets for the treacherous waters ahead.

His grace picked me up from a stream of ignorant bliss and placed me on a rapid river of learning sign language and deaf culture.

The next seven years of serving God in MHI were an uphill climb of learning to be rooted in God’s ways, to love and serve the people around me and to attend to corporate disciplines such as worship.

But I’ve been blessed with leaders and mentors in the ministry to help me grow in every way and to correct me in love when there was need.

Today, I have embarked on a new season of work to serve deaf children in a different capacity outside the church, and God continues to provide for me day by day.

5. What are some of the most memorable experiences serving in MHI?

In 2016, a team of us travelled to Cambodia to visit our local deaf partners in the field.

During one of the activity sessions, our team and the Cambodian deaf partners had to share about games and strategies we both used to teach communication skills and values to the deaf in Singapore and Cambodia.

As sign languages are unique to their countries throughout the world, we made sure to learn basic Cambodian signs before going on the trip. However, it was little help during the activity as we naturally forgot most of the signs that we had learned.

As such, we resorted to gestures and signs that were common to both countries and eventually began borrowing and using the signs for both countries to get our messages across.

It was very exciting as communication was being opened so quickly and effectively that when it was their turn to share, I found myself voice interpreting for the team in what was a surprisingly smooth process as we understood what they were saying and had no issues offering feedback and encouragement throughout.

During the debrief session that night, it was so clear to the team that the collective joy and oneness of mind we had experienced was the Holy Spirit working in us to understand each other and bring us together in spite of the language barrier.

I have experienced the most joy out of experiences like these. They have always left me thinking, “God, it could only be You in this.”

7. Why is such a ministry so important? What encouragement would you offer to someone who might be interested in serving this way?

MHI continues to be an avenue where anyone with hearing loss comes to learn about God in a community that they can identify with.

It is a place where the deaf come together to express themselves through sign language, something they would find difficult doing at home or at work.

Come as you are. A keen heart and open mind is enough to begin learning and serving.  

It is also a place for them to share in their struggles and support one another in love and practical ways.

We are also a ministry that brings together those who want to offer their support to the deaf community. I would encourage you to come as you are.

A keen heart and open mind to learn to communicate with the deaf without sign language is enough to begin learning and serving.  

Main photo: Abigail interpreting for one of the Celebration of Hope rallies in 2019. Photo courtesy of Yin Sze.