HH #600 Encounter: Finding My Place with Sammi Schouten

At 15 years old and after years of having difficulty hearing, Sammi woke up to realize her hearing was completely gone. Everything changed for Sammi in that moment. Needing to rely heavily on interpreters and a cochlear ear plant, Sammi was left feeling overwhelmed, lost, and forsaken. Sammi wondered if her life even mattered.  

Sammi Schouten is Deaf and communicates using American Sign Language. She is married to Kody who is also Deaf and they have a beautiful one year old KODA (Kid of Deaf Adult) named Donovan. Knowing first hand how hard it is to find community and belonging as a Deaf person in the church, Sammi is passionate about sharing the Gospel in American Sign Language through leading worship in asl for church services, doing translation work, teaching, and being involved in Deaf Millennial Project. 

The Deaf community is one of the largest unreached people groups in the world with less than 2% of the deaf community claiming to know Jesus. It wasn’t until 2020 that a completed Bible in ASL was available to the community. In today’s episode Sammi will share with us practical ways we can reach the deaf community with the love of Christ and how to better love our neighbor! If you haven’t checked us out on YouTube yet, this is the perfect episode to go watch! Thanks for sharing with a friend!

 

SHOW LINKS:

Sammi’s Instagram

Sammi’s Website

Happy Hour Book Club

CODA

Sound of Metal

IMDB Recommended Deaf Films

Open Hands Willing Heart by Vivian Mabuni

Deaf Millenial Project

Compassion Project 

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