Have you ever sacrificed half of your life for a year? Not
many people would have the determination to do that. And
what if they did? There wouldn’t be much difference for
sacrificing only half a year, right? Wrong. The world
In general has a troubling history teaching deaf people,
Africa in particular because they are less developed then
the western civilizations. Now fast forward to the present
era and meet Andrew Foster. He did sacrifice half a
year, for every year of his life, to teaching deaf people in
Africa. Because of Andrew Foster, life for the Deaf in
Africa is better then it was before.
Before Andrew Foster arrived in Africa, life was
difficult for deaf people, to say the least. Unlike in the
west, deaf children do not have guidance. People in Africa
were uneducated about deaf people and often made fun of
them. Many deaf would simply give up hope of a better life.
Only a select few had good people around to help and guide
them through to universities and to greatness.
Andrew Foster tried to change all that. He was
made deaf by spinal meningitis when he was eleven.
Fortunately he was able to attend the
Alabama School for Colored
Deaf. He later made an impression by being the first African
American to graduate from the famous deaf college, Gallaudet
University. He lived in Detroit with his family and worked
in a military equipment factory. He had to study for school
in the night. He heard about a missionary to Jamaica who had
worked to teach deaf children and he became inspired.
Since that time he worked
unceasingly to learn as much as he could. He went from night
school to night school, learning as much as possible. He
received a Masters of Art in Education in 1954 and in 1956
he began the Christian Mission for Deaf Africans. He set up
his first school in Accra, Ghana. Before he began his work
Africa had only 12 schools for the deaf. Andrew Foster
worked hard to enlighten those not found and educated by
those schools. He sent out many letters. He took in children
and helped guide them in a responsible and positive
direction. After his first school he made 31 more. By the
time he was done there were a grand total of 74 schools for
the deaf in South, North, Central, and West Africa. He built
an equal amount of Sunday schools and churches that were
scattered even farther around then the school system that he
had started. Unfortunately he died in a plane crash over
Rhowanda in 1974.
In his absence the Deaf
Community in Africa has degraded to a shadow of its former
self. Many young deaf people claim that there is not enough
vision in their leaders for them to be greatly affected.
Many people have forgotten Andrew Foster and his memory is
fading, along with the school and church system he worked so
hard to create. Two of his schools even had to shut down
because of civil unrest in the country. The attitude of deaf
people can be seen in an email sent by a deaf woman. ”
“Our
spiritual life is very poor. Truly I felt bad that the deaf
world is left out of the Pentecostal movement. The prayer
and preaching and devotions in Church are boring and
uninteresting. And people are not blessed. Something is
lacking in Deaf Church---FIRE, yes, FIRE. You see, spiritual
life is life of fire---receiving Jesus. Without fire and
continuous burning of it, it is useless and frustrating.
Though it costs
me a lot [in terms of transportation] to attend my Church,
still I cannot play with attendance. The benefit far
outweighs the cost. I just can’t imagine my life without
that church. What pains me is that deafness does not allow
me to attend churches as I would have loved to attend their
programs freely.
“Deaf people need
revival. They really love and have respect for God if you
judge by the way they come to church despite the cost. So
let us pray.
“The hearing
world is so blessed with anointed pastors and leaders.
Really anointing matters. But the deaf lack these. We need
to start to pray and fast about this … I know God will
reveal things to pray about as we wait on Him”
-
Miss Folashade Olusegun
This e-mail
greatly signifies the work that Andrew Foster was able to
accomplish (the great faith that this woman has is clearly
from the churches that Andrew Foster dedicated his life to
creating) and it also shows the current disrepair that the
deaf community in Africa has fallen into in the Absence of
this great man, Andrew Foster.
Andrew Foster… he was a great man. He began with humble and
in some ways difficult beginnings. But despite that he
worked hard to get through school and be the best he could
be. After, his need to spread education and knowledge of god
fueled his life mission to start deaf schools and churches
in Africa. His death was a great tragedy for the deaf
community, Africa, and the world
