Written by Shane Tanigawa

March 17-25, 2025, saw the fourth Kids Deaf Camp at First Baptist Church of Pearl City. The camp was conducted entirely in American Sign Language (ASL) with sixteen kids participating. Fifty-two volunteers helped, of which thirty-one were ASL signers. Besides Oahu, volunteers came from the Big Island, Florida, Illinois, New Jersey, South Carolina, and Tennessee.

What began as a three-day camp has matured into a full five-day camp.

This year’s partnering Tennessee churches were Brentwood Baptist Deaf Church (Pastor Aric Randolph) and Deaf Church Knoxville (Pastor Arthur Clayton). Partnering HPBC churches were First Baptist Church of Pearl City (Pastor Sterling Lee), University Avenue Baptist Church (Pastor Shane Tanigawa) and Nuʻuanu Baptist Church (Pastor Bob Gierhart).

The enduring cooperation and partnership between Hawaii Pacific and Tennessee Baptists continue to expand the reach of the gospel to the deaf community on Oahu. The Deaf look forward to 2026 in anticipation of not one but two deaf camps!