The first Deaflympics where the IMB went all in.
50+ volunteers. 20+ U.S. churches. Trading pins, sign-language QR codes, Deaf workers on the ground in Tokyo. The model worked — and the numbers are real.
A moment from Tokyo
The line into one of the stadiums at Tokyo's Komazawa Olympic Park stretched out the door and down the street. The crowd waited patiently in the crisp fall air for a chance to watch the volleyball semifinals at the Deaflympics.
For Suncica, a Deaf believer from Serbia, the main event was not the volleyball competition. It was the gospel conversation she was having with the couple behind her in line.
A community often passed over
There are 80 million Deaf people worldwide — and translated gospel materials usually pass them by, because sign languages are not the same from country to country. Most Deaf communities are unreached or under-reached. The Deaflympics gathers them in one place, every four years.
Tokyo 2025 was the largest Deaflympics in history — over 3,000 athletes from 80+ nations across 21 sports, drawing roughly 280,000 spectators (nearly triple the original target). It was also the 100th anniversary of the Deaflympics. A window like this comes once a generation.
What it looked like on the ground
For the first time, IMB mobilized volunteers, church partners, and national partners at this scale at the Deaflympics. 50+ volunteers from 8 countries deployed alongside Deaf IMB workers — including 20+ U.S. churches partnering with the IMB to be in Tokyo.
- →Trading pins designed specifically to lead into a simple five-point gospel presentation.
- →QR codes that opened landing pages with short gospel presentations in multiple sign languages.
- →Digital resource cards linking to sign-language gospel content.
- →Deaf-fluent responders ready to continue conversations in sign or text.
Tokyo proved the model adapts
The same NFC-pin + digital-responder + missionary-handoff strategy that anchors the broader World Cup and Olympics outreach worked when re-tooled for the Deaf community. Tokyo isn't an experiment anymore. It's evidence.
Conversations from 30+ countries means a ripple far beyond Tokyo — gospel encounters now being followed up by IMB workers serving in the Deaf community worldwide.
What your gift funds for the next one
- →Pin production and ministry materials tooled for multiple sign languages.
- →Short-form gospel video production in international and regional sign languages.
- →Travel and lodging for Deaf workers and volunteer teams traveling to future events.
- →Targeted digital ad campaigns for Deaf audiences during and after the Games.
- →Long-term follow-up with people across the 30+ countries Tokyo reached.
Tokyo worked. Help us do it again — at scale.
Your gift funds the next Deaflympics. The next World Cup. The next Olympics. The strategy that proved itself in November.