What future plans are there for this app?

One of our longstanding goals is to increase the interaction between parents and children, especially hearing parents and their Deaf children. We will be developing activity plans that are highly visual without relying on ASL fluency. We plan to deliver these with model videos and documented instructions with easily available tools. For example, with salt, pepper, water, oil, dish soap, alka-seltzer, food coloring, and a small balloon, you can show your children that science works because God set it up, and following instructions will lead to a reliable outcome. Our signers will present lessons or explanations in ASL with voice-overs and captions, but the activity and bonding will be between parent and child.

While watching videos is fun, it’s passive and lacks a feedback/confirmation element. We’ve been building games that present a fun challenge and increase learning. There are coloring pages, matching, memory, sequence, jigsaw and crossword puzzles, and hidden objects.

We still dream of going bigger. One idea is quizzes with questions presented in ASL and immediate feedback with an opportunity to review the information that holds the right answer. The question may be, “How many stones did David pick up?” If the answer returned is incorrect, that part of the story will be repeated in a short video. Another idea is a first-person adventure through the scriptures, where kids can wander through the garden of Eden, help Noah build the ark, march around Jericho, and help Rahab’s family when the walls fall down. That will take a lot more work, but wouldn’t it be great to see?? God’s faithfulness is big in these stories, and He’s still faithful to those who trust and follow Him today. That’s a lesson worth learning in every manner we can teach it.

Most children learn their culture, heritage, and hero stories from their families. Deaf culture is unique, in that it is generally learned from people outside the child’s family, and often not until they are adults. There’s a loss of connectedness to a greater body because they’re surrounded by people who communicate differently and rarely encounter adults who see and interact with the world as they do. We want to point out some of the basics of Deaf culture, like social interaction and poetic expression. Our goal is to demystify the Deaf community for the hearing and introduce it to its younger members.

Deaf children in hearing churches get some interesting ideas about who God must be and how He interacts with His people. The most heartbreaking is the idea that He doesn’t understand their language and He must not love them, having created them without hearing. The truth is, He does know their language, does use visual communication (like the birds and flowers He cares for), and does love them. God’s kingdom citizens are called to follow Him closely and trust Him completely. We want to show specifics, like the moment Lisa remembers she’s not supposed to be in Doc’s office — it illustrates how the Spirit will help us get away from tempting situations, as He promised.

Video clips from the Dr. Wonder’s Workshop episodes are available in collections that present or support the same message. For example, our song on friendship also addresses diversity, or seeing the good in someone different from yourself. The list of themes presented includes patience, wisdom, responsibility, thankfulness, and honesty. Imagine having three songs, two object lessons and a Bible story at your fingertips the next time you want to discuss patience with your child. Yeah, we’re smiling too.

Personal stories remind us we’re not alone in our situation, and they offer insight that would take years to learn personally. We want to present these stories, some to encourage and inform parents, and some to share what Jesus can do with a life given to Him.

Those of us in Deaf ministry know that God is on the move among the Deaf. Still, parents of newly diagnosed Deaf and hard-of-hearing children are in for a discouraging search for ways to teach their little ones about Jesus. We want to close that gap by introducing people to ministry partners who are bringing God’s love to children, teens, and adults in visually oriented ways with scriptural integrity. The search isn’t as discouraging these days as it was even half a generation ago, but we want to make it easier still.

As you might suppose, this will take a lot of time and resources. To be honest, we are limited on both. We decided not to ask for funding through the app too soon in the process. But the truth is, we will need to ask, and we may install a convenient way to donate through the app. We’re trying to make certain that children don’t get too generous with parents’ accounts. For the moment, any who wish to donate toward the app can do so through Silent Blessings dot org. Be sure to mention God Loves Deaf Kids in the comments section, and we’ll put your gift in that budget category for only this app.