Statistics on People with Hearing Loss  350 million persons world-wide (Disabling Hearing Loss) WHO  80 million persons in Africa (10% of the population) 2-4% Deaf people is Christians

Impact of disability  Excluded from society  No education  No job opportunities ⁻ 70-80% unemployment  Sometimes accepted in the church

Challenges of the disabled  Physical disability – mobility  Blindness – autonomy  Deafness – communication All the other disabilities still have interaction with the typical world. The Deaf are excluded from ‘typical’ people, because they cannot communicate.

Deaf Christian Ministry Africa - 8 years of training deaf persons as pastors / ministers -

 Certificate IV in Biblical Ministry  Diploma in Biblical Ministry  Advanced Diploma in Biblical Ministry  Church year (DRC/ AFM/ URCSA / RCZ)  Graduate Diploma in Biblical Ministry Vocational Training

Continuous ministry experience Preaching Drama Experiential learning Counselling

Spiritual Formation - Prayer - Spiritual disciplines - Daily power hour Skills development - Critical Thinking skills - Entrepreneurial skills - Literacy - Social skills (SOCOMO) - Computer skills Developing the full potential of students Character development − Emotional Intelligence − 10 point Evaluation

Annual outreaches to Deaf communities throughout Southern Africa

Community development - HIV-  HIV awareness training for Deaf people  Train-the-trainer: Deaf leaders

 Training church leaders in the Bible  Training Deaf fac ilitators Community Development -Discipleship Training-

Making an impact

DCMA partners  Veritas College International  Dutch Reformed Church  Apostolic Faith Mission  Reformed Church of Zimbabwe  Reformed Church of Swaziland  Deaf Friendly  NetACT

Helen Keller