For Faith Peavey of McDonough, honing her skills in American Sign Language enables her to reach young people for Jesus Christ.

“From a spiritual standpoint, I think it’s really important for deaf kids to get exposure to the Gospel in their own language,” said Peavey, 17. “I decided to pursue it as my major because it was something I was really passionate about and could see myself doing for the rest of my life.”

Beginning Saturday, Peavey will work through the summer at The Deaf Camp in Brentwood, Tenn. She will help to oversee camp activities for deaf and hard-of-hearing children and teenagers, and possibly children of deaf adults as well.
Peavey said the camp helps to broaden recreational opportunities for children with hearing impairments. Venues like The Deaf Camp, she said, help to offset a sense of isolation among deaf kids who often only associate with each other, and not with the outside world.

“They get access to a traditional camp experience, which some deaf kids might not have exposure to due to the language barrier,” said Peavey. “It helps them be able to participate in camp activities – science projects, cool field trips – while having staff that will sign with them.”

The seeds were planted for her interest in ASL when she was just a child. She was two years old when her sister, Hope – who was deaf – passed away at just six months old.

Peavey has five remaining younger sisters, in addition to Hope. She said the baby’s deafness led to her family learning more about ASL.

“My parents started, when I was little, teaching me baby sign language because they read somewhere – in some parenting magazine or book – that making your child sign will help them with their communication skills,” said Peavey. “We’ve been interested in the deaf world since my sister Hope was born.”

Peavey, who was home-schooled, recently completed her first year of college but will be a junior in the fall as a result of dual enrollment. She secured college credits through Truett McConnell University and Georgia Perimeter College, where she took classes in ASL.

Peavey is currently studying ASL at Gardner-Webb University in Boiling Springs, N.C. As she prepares to go to the camp, she is seeking sponsors to make one-time or monthly donations for her to use at school in the coming year.

“It’s an unpaid position,” said Peavey. “They’re paying for my living expenses and my food, but I won’t be able to earn any money for school,” said Peavey. “I have two more years of that left in my interpreter program.”

Peavey said the cost of a semester in her interpreter program, excluding scholarship funds, is approximately $5,000 per semester. The camp, she said, will enable her to interact with deaf children in hopes of sharing her Christian faith with them.

Peavey initially learned about the camp after viewing a website for the Laurent Clerc Deaf Education Center at Gallaudet University. There she found a list of camps for deaf kids in nearly every state in the country.

Peavey said one aspect of the camp which stands out to her came to light during the interview process for her position. It was then, she said, that she participated in a Zoom call in ASL with camp leaders.

During the call, she was asked to tell the camp director about Jesus.

“That was not a question that I had been preparing for – just proving that I am able to use my second language to share the gospel,” she said.

The National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders reports that more than 90 percent of deaf children have hearing parents.

As such, Peavey said, those parents may choose not to use sign language with their kids, and they are more limited in their ability to explain matters of faith to their kids.

Peavey said deaf people are sometimes overlooked in places of worship. She is hopeful that she can help to counteract this through her work at The Deaf Camp.

“Some larger churches will have an interpreter for their services,” said Peavey. “But as far as conferences, any type of Bible study, those types of things are severely lacking for deaf people.”

For more information about sponsorship opportunities, contact Faith Peavey on Facebook.