Robert Faircourt has been deaf since childhood, and American sign language is his primary language.
While learning English at school, reading and understanding the Bible has always been a challenge for the 74-year-old man from West Valley City, who was baptized as one of Jehovah’s Witnesses in 1969. Over the years, he has longed for a deeper connection with teachings of the Bible.
Faircourt’s prayers were answered a year ago, when Jehovah’s Witnesses released what the church believes to be the first complete Bible in American sign language, a text-to-video translation project that took more than 15 years to complete.
Last year, Faircourt and other members of the Salt Lake area sign language congregation loved watching the ASL Bible on phones, tablets and computers. Not only has it enriched their personal Bible study, but they are happy to share it with others in the deaf community.
Now, with greater understanding, Faircourt prioritizes watching and learning something from the Bible every day.
“When I first saw the Book of Matthew at ASL, I was absorbed. I watched the whole thing, ”Faircourt told Deseret News through an interpreter. “I have been to deaf exhibitions over the years and have seen some attempts to translate parts of the Bible into sign language, but the quality of this translation into ASL … is much better than what I have seen in the past.”
Another member of the congregation, Stephanie Aitken, joined the religion almost a decade ago. The 66-year-old Spanish Fork woman was born deaf. Several years ago, she suffered a stroke and is now in a wheelchair in a nursing home. Before the pandemic, friends drove her for an hour to get to and from church.
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Her interpreter, Michael Jones, said it was difficult to put into words the expressions of joy and happiness he saw in his body language when she communicated her gratitude for the ASL Bible.
“I’m so happy! It’s cool. I love and cherish it. It touches my heart,” said Aitken in sign language. “The English Bible hasn’t touched my heart before, it did. It helped me learn about Jehovah and in my preaching work. ”
Robert Hendriks, spokesman for Jehovah’s Witnesses in the United States, based in Wallkill, New York, said the ASL Bible is free and available on a number of platforms, including the Apple, Google and Windows app store, as well as www .jw.org / ase.
The ASL Bible was one of 33 New World translations of the Holy Scriptures that the church completed in 2020. Jehovah’s Witnesses plan to launch an additional 36 translations (in whole or in part) in 2021, according to a press release sent by and -mail to Deseret News.
“The whole philosophy is that we need to translate and transmit the Bible in the language of a person’s heart,” said Hendriks. “This is our mandate in all languages because the Bible is more than just words.”
Jehovah’s Witnesses report that thousands of active users and millions have downloaded videos from the ASL Bible, which show men dressed in suits and ties using their hands and facial expressions to convey the biblical message of each verse. The response from ASL members was “emotional,” said the spokesman.
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“It’s like a gift, a love letter to them,” he said. “Their reaction was, ‘I can finally take control of my spirituality. I don’t depend on anyone. I can finally have a relationship with my creator. ‘… The Bible is now in its own language, reaching your hearts, affecting you in this powerful way. Suddenly, they feel closer to God. “
Most of these downloads are likely to come from people outside Jehovah’s Witnesses, according to Hendriks.
“Most people who use this Bible are probably not Jehovah’s Witnesses,” he said. “It is a modern miracle.”
Michael Overholt, a media presenter at the church in Salt Lake City, remembers seeing a Catholic woman moved to tears when he showed her the Our Father in American sign language.
Of his 8 million members worldwide (1.3 million in the United States), Hendriks estimated the number of deaf Jehovah’s Witnesses in the US to be about 2,100. Between 60 and 70 years old they regularly attend the congregation in Salt Lake City, which was established in 2007. (The congregation is not meeting in person at the moment due to the COVID-19 pandemic.)
Janet Burciaga, 38, lives in Logan and has been a Witness for 25 years. She lost her hearing as a child and depends on sign language to communicate. She remembers when the ASL Bible translation project started with the Book of Matthew in 2005. Up to that point, reading was a “negative experience,” she said.
“When I was a teenager, I read the Bible, but I had a hard time understanding it,” said Burciaga. “So in 2005, seeing the ASL translation begin, it touched my heart. Cry. I said: ‘Thank you, Jehovah, I needed this.’ “
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Denise Gutierrez, a 54-year-old woman who lives in West Valley City, lost her hearing as a child and started learning sign language at the age of 12. Like the others, the videos have dramatically increased her understanding of the Bible, and she is grateful.
“Especially at times like this, we all need encouragement. The best place to find it is in the word of God, the Bible, ”said Gutierrez. “Being able to understand the Bible helps me to apply it.”
Along with the excitement Faircourt feels from watching the videos, he likes to share them with other deaf people in Utah, who are often surprised, he said.
“They never saw anything like it,” said Faircourt. “God wants us to share the good news with people. Having the Bible in ASL makes it easier for me to do that. Now I can really help people. ”