Learning how to spell

There have been a few times in my life when I really needed to know some sign language basics – both of those times were work related. It would have been useful to know how to at least spell in ASL.

My lack of sign language basics

After college I worked at McDonald’s for about 7-8 months.  We had two regular customers who were deaf.

The first time I took their orders there was a lot of frustration on their part.  We didn’t really have a good way to communicate.  Pointing didn’t really help as there are a lot of value meals to choose from.

Later on, as these two customers came in together, they wrote down their orders before coming in.  This made things a lot easier, but I wasn’t able to develop a friendship with them.

Writing things down helped us get their food orders, but it also hindered further communication.  At least I thought it did.

Learning sign language basics

As you know, I’ve been talking about how much more I am intentionally learning other language.  This being the case I searched for a good picture online that had ASL finger spelling.

I actually took the image off of the ASL University website and set it as my computer’s background image.  You can find the image for your own needs and learn sign language basics too.  Click here.

Lesson

Why do I feel so strongly about learning languages like sign language?  I’ve heard from so many ASL interpreters that the deaf community is one of the hardest people to reach for Christ.

This is probably due to the fact that people have ignored the deaf community in the past.  Although there is a growing interest in ASL, we need to be interested in building relationships with the deaf community as well.

I pray that learning how to communicate with the deaf community will open doors to more friendships, sharing the gospel, and building a community around your church.

Go ahead and download the image of finger spelling in ASL and learn some sign language basics.

How are you building relationships with the deaf community?

Is this important to do as a multicultural worship leader? Why or why not?

Share your story and your life…

Sincerely,
Peter Park
Blogger/Worship Leader/Speaker
peterpark@redemptionboulevard.com
(800) 453-3284

Blogs related to sign language basics:

Twin Cities Deaf Assembly of God Church, Part 1
Twin Cities Deaf Assembly of God Church, Part 2

© 2010, Peter Park. All rights reserved.

Related posts:

1. Sign Language: Another Language of Worship
2. A few lessons about the deaf community
3. Interpreters aren’t enough