Why Alpha?

Wycliffe Today Winter Edition 2025

That question is easy to answer for Skip Smith, Church Engagement Lead with Alpha Australia. Skip explains that the Alpha translation into Auslan is a key evangelistic resource that is intended to help equip Deaf Christians to reach others with the good news of Christ. Skip has been working with Alpha for six years and has a heart for finding ways of providing support for Deaf Christians. He shares:

We all long for connection. Deaf people are no different. My wife and I were leading a church in Brisbane when one Deaf couple started attending. Other Deaf Christians heard how they were welcomed into the church and that number started growing. Soon we ended up with 50 people in the congregation who were Deaf. We started realising how desperately ill-equipped the Church was for meeting the needs of Auslan speakers. I really felt the Lord put it on my heart to make space for the Deaf community. So we dedicated space for them in church and had interpretation services available every week. Then I started learning conversational Auslan. I would learn to sign just by being with the Deaf community. I became passionate about helping them to access the Word of God – access that so many of us take for granted.

So how does Alpha come into the picture? Skip explains:

Alpha is ‘a series of interactive sessions that explore life, faith and meaning … a resource churches use to create a space and a culture where people are excited to invite their friends into a conversation about Jesus.’ A few weeks into my role, I began speaking with my Deaf friends and going ‘Hey, there’s this thing called Alpha. Have you heard of it? How could Alpha and Auslan work together?’ I have a friend who is the pastor of a Deaf church and she seemed interested, but the more I talked with her, I realised how many complexities there were in translating the content. I had a number of conversations but nothing got off the ground. So I said, ‘God, I leave this in your hands’.

A few years later, God started opening doors when Bible Society Australia (BSA) and Wycliffe Australia approached Skip to see how they could support Deaf Christians. Skip says they selected the top eight subjects ‘that would take someone on a journey of faith’, such as ‘Who is Jesus?’ ‘Why did Jesus die?’

There are still seven more Alpha videos to be translated into Auslan, yet Skip says that he sees the partnership between Alpha Australia, BSA and Wycliffe Australia continuing well into the future:

To have these three different mission organisations come together in this way was just absolutely beautiful. We’re working together with a generous, collaborative spirit. But the work isn’t finished yet! I see this as an ongoing partnership. I would love to see Deaf ministries really use these resources for evangelism. My dream is that every single Deaf person in Australia at least be presented with the gospel.

The official launch of the Alpha in Auslan course is planned for July 2025. Please pray with us as trial courses are held and the team prepares for the July launch in Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane.

Feedback from an early trial of Alpha in Auslan:

‘I went to a Deaf church once and I couldn’t understand anything they were signing. It was all jargon! I tried to read the Bible but it was in old language and I couldn’t understand much. But this? The [Auslan translation of Alpha] is easy to follow. THIS IS CLEAR! I can understand it and it’s so INTERESTING!’

‘How can we get more Deaf people to see this?’