Visual Word Ministry in BSL
My name is Neil Robinson, a profoundly deaf BSL( British Sign Language) user with cerebral palsy. I have worked full-time as Chaplain to the Deaf Community within the diocese of Salisbury since October 2019. In fact, I happen to be an ordained Church of England priest.
I am so privileged to be able to express my love for Jesus through my natural language, BSL. Many people in my hearing parish church came to me saying how much they loved watching me, as a priest, leading the Holy Communion in my language. I have spent time reflecting on the word‘ image’ for a while now. The word‘ visual’ jumped at me like a tiger because I visualised this word linked to the term‘ image’.
I have led Visual Word Ministry( VWM) for a good number of years now. The aim of this ministry is to make Jesus known among the deaf community across the UK and to equip deaf Christians for ministry in their local communities.
Since God called me to serve the deaf community, I started to upload my vlogs( video blogs) to YouTube(@ neilrobinson4202), sharing God’ s Word in BSL. Communicating the truth of God’ s Word through BSL provides visual access to the deaf community, which is important.
BSL has its own grammatical structure and syntax; as a language it is not dependent on – nor is it strongly related to – spoken English. It helps me understand that BSL is very much a part of who I am. I am proud to be part of the cultural-linguistic group that identifies as Deaf( deaf with capital D describes someone who is culturally deaf). BSL is my heart language which allows me to worship God freely. To me, BSL is like a fragrance being lifted up to the Lord.
It is very interesting to think about a couple of verses from Psalm 139. They inspired me in a way that I had not thought of before.
Psalm 139:13-14 reads:
“ You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body and knit me together in my mother’ s womb. Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex! Your workmanship is marvellous – how well I know it.”( New Living Translation)
Looking back, I realised that God has created me in His own image which includes a visual gift to express my love for Christ through British Sign Language( BSL).
If you are inspired by this beautiful language, why not apply to join BSL classes? Perhaps this is for you and may be part of God’ s will for your life.
Neil with his wife Helen who also uses BSL.