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Reach the Egyptian Deaf

GACX // Finishing Fund Proposal

Finishing Fund Grant: Reaching the Egyptian Deaf

Executive Summary

We have an opportunity to finish the task of reaching the Egyptian Deaf—a community of 1.2 million people who remain 99.9% unreached due to severe linguistic and literacy barriers.

Over three years, Antioch Missions International (AMI) and Pioneers (Implementers) will partner with Waha (Accelerator) to launch a movement across 100+ communities (districts, neighborhoods, and villages) in the governorates of Cairo, Giza, Minya, Asyut, Aswan, and Sinai.

Our strategy combines a Digital strategy (targeted Sign Language ads) with a Ground Mobilization Campaign. We will identify isolated Deaf Persons of Peace and hearing Bridge Believers, bringing key leaders to Cairo for intensive training before deploying them back to plant healthy, multiplying house churches in their home districts. Working with the Egyptian Deaf requires intentionally delicate relationship building to develop trust in the community.

By integrating high-quality Egyptian Sign Language (ESL) video stories directly into the Waha App, we solve the primary barrier to entry: the lack of visual Scripture in their heart language. This tool allows ordinary Deaf believers to lead effective Discovery Bible Study (DBS) groups without needing hearing interpreters or physical buildings. We will plant 100+ churches among the Egyptian Deaf across Egypt.

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1. Project Overview

Problem

While 5 million Egyptians suffer from some form of hearing loss, our project targets the 1.2 million profoundly Deaf individuals who use Sign Language. These individuals are spiritually isolated because they:

Lack visual access: They cannot engage with text-based Bibles or traditional “hearing” church services.

Are geographically dispersed: While concentrated in Cairo, many are scattered across rural villages in Upper Egypt without a centralized pathway to find other believers.

Lack contextualized tools: Existing resources are often in American Sign Language or written Arabic, which do not translate to the Egyptian context.

Case Study

In a restricted-access MENA nation, a partner team used social media to find isolated, pre-existing believers. By intentionally filtering for those who demonstrated obedience and sharing through short digital lessons, they saw a network grow from one believer to 450 house churches and 6,000 participants in six months. This project applies these same principles but replaces text with ESL Video to remove the literacy barrier.

Our Collaborative Solution

Our goal is to identify and equip Deaf Persons of Peace who respond to and obey the visualized Scripture in their heart language. By 2029, we aim to plant 100 healthy, multiplying churches among the Egyptian Deaf.

We will:

Mobilize: Use targeted digital ads to identify hearing and Deaf “Persons of Peace.”

Equip: Invite them into Waha ESL Micro-lessons (Video-based).

Contextualize: Leverage existing Visual Vernacular videos or high-quality Waha ESL videos to bridge gaps for the illiterate Deaf.

Train: Transition obedient sharers to Pioneers and AMI for an intensive Cairo Training Hub, where they will be equipped in ESL and Disciple Making Movement Methodology (DMM) before returning to their regions.

Implementing Organizations:

Pioneers (Lead Implementer): Pioneers leverages a powerful "insider" advantage through its field leader, Stacy. As a member of the Deaf Community herself—navigating her own journey from hearing loss to profound deafness—Stacy bypasses the cultural suspicion often directed at outsiders. With over 27 years of Deaf Ministry experience and active service in Egypt since 2021, she arrives with immediate linguistic and cultural credibility. This allows her to skip the long "setup" phase of relationship building; she starts with a foundation already in place, rapidly "building a bridge of trust strong enough to handle the weight of The Truth."

Role: Local mobilization, ESL training, and in-person coaching for Deaf leaders.

Antioch Missions International (AMI): Antioch Ministries International (AMI) is the global missions arm of the Antioch International Movement of Churches, originating in Waco, Texas, in 1987. Established to train and send missionaries, AMI has grown into a network of hundreds of workers planting churches worldwide. Over three decades, AMI has launched disciple-making movements across nations like Russia, Mongolia, and Uzbekistan, driven by a vision of the local church as the primary vehicle for global spiritual transformation.Emily Amberg, missionary and coordinator for the Deaf will be representing AMI in this project.

Role: Local Disciple Making, Church Planting oversight, and project management.

Accelerator Organization:

Waha: Waha was created in 2020 to reach Middle East and North Africa (MENA) by two missionaries who simply wanted to reach regions that were 99.99% unreached with the message of Jesus. Waha has now been used in 172 nations across 44 different languages. We crossed 65,000 Discovery Bible Studies being facilitated through the app. This growth has largely been organic and grassroots— Leaders from Youversion, Biblica, Pioneers, Frontiers, and others have been amazing partners through the years. We are hearing stories of church planters in Malaysia, Dubai, Philippines and others see 5+ generations of multiplication by simply using and equipping their leaders to use Waha.

Role: Digital structure, ad strategy, and the hosting of 500+ topical DBS lessons in ESL video format.

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2. Strategy Outline

Target Geography:

We are targeting 100+ communities (districts, neighborhoods, and villages) across:

Cairo & Giza: (Hubs: El Marg, Matareya, Imbaba)

Minya: (Hub: Mallawi)

Asyut: (Hub: Manfalut)

Aswan: (Hub: Kom Ombo)

Sinai: (Hub: Arish)

Primary People Group: Egyptian Deaf Estimated Population: 1.2 Million (Target Group) Primary Languages: Egyptian Sign Language (ESL) Religious / Cultural Context: Primarily Sunni Muslim; high social isolation.

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3. Costs/Timeline

Project Duration: March 2026 – March 2029 (36 Months) Requested Grant Amount: $113,470 Total Project Budget: $113,470 Coordination Rhythm: Weekly prayer/planning calls (Months 1–3); Monthly reporting on Bridge Believer recruitment; Quarterly strategy reviews on ad spend.

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4. Phases of the Project

Phase 1: Survey & Development

Run ads to start the Micro-lesson filtration process to find both Deaf and hearing believers of peace.

Identify 100+ unreached villages near Cairo, Giza, Minya, Asyut, Aswan, and Sinai.

Waha to produce the ESL/VV Video Micro-lessons.

Commit to pray for these specific villages and recruits by name.

Translate Waha DBS lessons into ESL and add them to the app.

Phase 2: Church Planting & Multiplication

Identify key "Persons of Peace" and move them into a list-form for Pioneers/AMI to be trained in DMM + ESL.

Cast vision and recruit local church leaders/believers to be trained in DMM + communicating with ESL

Implementers train these leaders in DMM to plant churches in their neighborhoods and surrounding villages.

Leverage Waha’s dashboard to track the "Multiplication Tree" of new Deaf groups across Egypt.

Result:

To plant 100 healthy, local and multiplying churches in the villages around Egypt through local Deaf leaders.

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5. Sustainability

Infrastructure: By renting flats and training workers locally rather than paying expensive expat salaries, we are building a sustainable Egyptian infrastructure. The “Cairo Hub” model creates a repeatable pipeline for future leaders.

The Tool: The Waha app is a free tool that stays in the pocket of every new leader, providing:

Indigenous leadership development without the need for hearing “interpreters.”

Low-cost, reproducible models for house churches (no buildings needed).

Beyond Funding: The anticipation is that this funding will create momentum that turns into a movement. Once the ESL content is built and the first 100 churches are planted, the movement becomes self-sustaining as Deaf believers share the app peer-to-peer.

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6. Expected Outcomes & Impact (3-Year Targets)

Three-Year Targets:

Unchurched villages engaged: 100+

New churches planted: 100

Disciple-makers trained: 120

Leaders developed: 120

Multiplication Vision:

Movements embody a multiplying vision for Kingdom growth in which the gospel spreads through reproducing disciples, churches, and leaders. Rather than focusing on isolated conversions or centralized programs, this vision emphasizes ordinary believers obeying Jesus, making disciples who make disciples, and forming simple, reproducible churches within their relational networks. The IMB, Antioch Movement, Waha, and several other organizations aligned through GACX are unified around this shared church-planting methodology—prioritizing obedience, local leadership development, and rapid multiplication so that movements can take root and spread across families, communities, and regions.

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7. Budget Summary

Total 3-Year Budget: $113,470

This budget combines the Digital Structure (Ads/Tech) with the Ground Mobilization costs (Housing, Travel, Training) required to reach 100 geographically dispersed locations.

A. Regional Mobilization & Operations ($90,470)

(Implementation: Pioneers & AMI)

Worker Support & Housing ($58,835): Housing rental (2 training flats in Cairo), utilities, and stipends for 10 full-time Bridge Believers per year to receive intensive immersion training before deploying back to their home districts.

Travel & Vision Casting ($24,885):

Initial Recruitment: 5 strategic trips to Minya, Asyut, Aswan, Sinai ($9,900).

Ongoing Coaching: 3 years of site visits for orientation and mid-year check-ins ($14,985).

ESL Training ($3,800): 6 months of intensive Sign Language classes for hearing workers.

Local Filming ($2,950): Production of localized testimony and contextual footage.

B. Digital Ecosystem & Content ($23,000)

(Acceleration: Waha)

Digital Ad Strategy ($15,000): Recording ESL ads and targeted video campaigns on Meta (Facebook/Instagram) to identify Persons of Peace (~$415/month avg).

Technology & Content Build ($8,000): Integration of ESL Micro-lessons, CRM setup for leader tracking, and AI-assisted filtering maintenance.

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8. Conclusion

This collaborative proposal represents a focused, measurable, and achievable effort to finish the task among the 99.99% Unreached Egyptian Deaf. By leveraging the digital power of Waha and the local presence of Pioneers and AMI, we will ensure that 100+ Deaf churches are planted across Cairo, Giza, Minya, Asyut, Aswan, and Sinai by 2029.

Primary Contact Person: Name: Vince Kanagaraj Email: Vince@waha.app Organization: Waha / AMI / Pioneers Collaborative

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