Thus will I bless thee while I live: I will lift up my hands in thy name. 
Psalm 63:4

Save for the occasional soft whimpering and children humming, worship at Immanuel Church is a silent affair. No microphone, no guitar and just a single drum infrequently banged “boom”! It is one of the most compelling forms of worship you can ever experience. For attendants who do not understand sign language, it’s the beauty of the well-coordinated sign movement that gratifies.

Last Sunday a team from Christian Mission Aid experienced that unique form of worship when they visited the Immanuel Church for the Deaf in Kiambu district, about 30  miles away from down-town, Nairobi. Ikuni is a sleepy village with large tracts of coffee plantations, dotting hills and winding roads. It’s a breath-taking site! Here a bag of Mangoes (more than 200 pieces) goes for a dollar.

The  neatly dressed deaf members meet in a tiny, dimly lit shack with hanging ceiling and poor ventilation. Right next door meets the charismatic

jumpy, and drum banging members of the traditional Kikuyu religious group called the Akorinos. The contrast couldn’t have been greater!

Though deaf do not speak or hear, their excitement and exuberance was contagious when we arrived.

Christian Mission Aid works closely with the hearing impaired people, advocating and highlighting their needs, training people Sign Language by organizing classes for hearing people, this is to encourage the public to reach out to the hearing impaired community. CMA’s Joseph Ogolla, (Deaf since birth) has a passion for the hearing impaired people and seeks to improve their welfare.

An ardent missionary and a compassionate evangelist, Joseph planted the Immanuel Church and single-handedly mobilized the deaf community in the district. The church currently boasts of at least fifty members.

As in every church, there was time for singing. Puzzled by the fact that the deaf church has a choir, we all watched in utter amazement of how beautifully the songs were conducted. Accompanied with drum, the choir seems to feel the vibrations of the drum beats and move intricately and rhythmically to the beat of the song as they make hand gestures to words of the songs. God must be smiling in heaven, enjoying His children worshiping Him in this special way. The congregation in unison joined with the choir in worshipping God in hand motions, as well as clapping and dancing.

The hearing impaired in Kenya is a community on it is own that has been neglected by society. Communicating with hearing people has proven difficult. Buying food, visiting a doctor or even watching news is something they struggle daily to do. Depending on others to translate, they cannot communicate with hearing people. Other than using gestures that not so many hearing, understand sign language, forcing deaf people to write what they need to communicate.

Unfortunately, most of the hearing-impaired in Kenya come from extremely poor families. Some have no jobs because of their disabilities depending solely on their hearing relatives and friends to assist in communicating with others. The senior pastor ofIkanu Emanuel Church who is also hearing impaired knows this too well.

“We’re very grateful that you came and shared with us. We feel really honored”. Pastor Peter Mbugua.

A simple visit to the hearing-impaired community can go along way in touching lives. For this congregation, they feel loved and embraced by CMA for the simple visit and sharing of the Word.