“Your Missions Offerings at Work in Iowa District East!”
Quad Cities Lutheran Deaf Ministry
Hands that Actively Serve our Risen Lord
Dear Friends in Christ,
From Dubuque to Burlington, across the Quad Cities and into Illinois, your Lutheran Deaf Ministry has been proclaiming God's Word in American Sign Language (ASL) since July 1999. Rev. Tim Eckert has served as a Missionary-at-Large for 7 years spreading the Good News of salvation through Christ to the Deaf. In worship and Bible study, he communicates God’s Word in both sign and voice. All worship and study materials must be converted into ASL and simple English, while maintaining Biblical accuracy, allowing the Deaf to more easily and clearly understand God’s Word.
In addition to worship, Bible study, confirmation classes, member and non-member visits, a senior citizens group and an after-school program, the QC Lutheran Deaf Ministry hosts several Deaf events each year (including an All-Eastern IA Deaf worship/picnic) to create opportunities for witnessing and to encourage the Deaf community in Christ. Movie nights have become a popular venue, where appropriate films of interest are followed by Christ-centered discussions. Typically 40 - 60 Deaf attend these events, the majority being non-members. A bi-monthly church newsletter serves as another witnessing tool and is sent to ~285 Deaf households. Plans that will soon become reality include new outreach Bible studies for unchurched Deaf, a monthly Junior High after-school program, a women’s group, and more training for deaf leaders using the Deaf Institute of Theology program through Concordia Seminary, St. Louis.
Quad Cities Lutheran Deaf Ministry
Hands that Actively Serve our Risen Lord
Dear Friends in Christ,
From Dubuque to Burlington, across the Quad Cities and into Illinois, your Lutheran Deaf Ministry has been proclaiming God's Word in American Sign Language (ASL) since July 1999. Rev. Tim Eckert has served as a Missionary-at-Large for 7 years spreading the Good News of salvation through Christ to the Deaf. In worship and Bible study, he communicates God’s Word in both sign and voice. All worship and study materials must be converted into ASL and simple English, while maintaining Biblical accuracy, allowing the Deaf to more easily and clearly understand God’s Word.
In addition to worship, Bible study, confirmation classes, member and non-member visits, a senior citizens group and an after-school program, the QC Lutheran Deaf Ministry hosts several Deaf events each year (including an All-Eastern IA Deaf worship/picnic) to create opportunities for witnessing and to encourage the Deaf community in Christ. Movie nights have become a popular venue, where appropriate films of interest are followed by Christ-centered discussions. Typically 40 - 60 Deaf attend these events, the majority being non-members. A bi-monthly church newsletter serves as another witnessing tool and is sent to ~285 Deaf households. Plans that will soon become reality include new outreach Bible studies for unchurched Deaf, a monthly Junior High after-school program, a women’s group, and more training for deaf leaders using the Deaf Institute of Theology program through Concordia Seminary, St. Louis.
The Deaf community is one of the most unreached groups in America. Only 3% of the Deaf attend church. A Deaf community split by differences in personalities, education and lifestyles makes individual Deaf difficult to find and a challenge to bring together. The need for Christ is great! Our mission is to share the Good News in ASL and unite the deaf community in Christ. We want to plant seeds, see them mature and have them bear much fruit, all to further God’s kingdom and for His glory!
God’s Hands at Work
God’s blessings are abundant and evident. Here are a few:
- Seeing the Deaf apply God's Word to their lives.
- The Deaf community noticing how members’ lives turn around and members sharing how they are witnessing.
- Deaf after-school kids truly pumped to come to church and learn Bible stories for the first time!
- A self-portrait of one of these precious children, hung in the hallway of a public school, the only one that included a cross (at the very top)!
- A young deaf man with a rare immune disorder, already well beyond his life expectancy, expressing confident faith at his confirmation 2 months before he died.
- The ever-increasing commitment of the Deaf to Christ and this ministry.
Hearts of Faith
We pray that God will bless the QC Lutheran Deaf Ministry with growth both in depth and number, and become an organized congregation. We pray every member would be enthusiastically involved in the life of the church, incessantly growing in Christ, and bearing much fruit. We pray that each member would be active in the Deaf community, sharing the Good News and continually bringing more Deaf to Christ, knowing that each Deaf person is precious in the eyes of God.
Quad Cities Lutheran Deaf Ministry
2550 E. 32nd St., Davenport, IA 52807
DeafLutheran@revealed.net (563) 359-7105 (V/TTY)
