Bob Rhoads
Deaf Teen Quest/ Deaf Leadership Ministries
I was born Deaf and grew up in a Christian home. My dad told me and my sister bible stories at bedtime. I knew all about Jesus at an early age which was rare among little Deaf chrildren. At age 8, Dad had rheumatic fever and had an unsuccessful heart surgery. As a result of his death, I came to know Jesus as my personal Savior. As a Christain teenager, I struggled hanging on to my faith in God because I didn't have any friend who loved Jesus or anyone to help me grow. With Romans 8:28 as my lifeline, I kept my faith in God until College where I got involved with Campus Crusade for Christ. They helped me grow in my walk with the Lord. I grew strong and began praying for Gallaudet University, the world's only Deaf college. Little did I realize that God was sending me there as staff with Campus Crusade to launch the first Deaf campus ministry. After 13 years on staff, the Lord showed me that the Deaf campus ministry is not enough to make an impact in the Deaf world and that I need to get into the community to reach Deaf youth. Lately it is becoming harder to reach Deaf college students because many of them are not growing in their faith or have ever learned anything about God. After a time of praying, I thought I would volunteer to start a Deaf Teen Quest club at Maryland School for the Deaf. But the Lord had something better: a part-time position became available with Central Maryland Youth for Christ. This was an opportunity of a long time vision that God put on my heart to build a bridge between Deaf high school students and Deaf college students.
As of January 2011, I brought my "Deaf Leadership Ministries" under YFC-Central Maryland and became full time for better resources and benefits. In 2009, when I first started as part-time area coordinator for Deaf Teen Quest, the DTQ Club was started with a big kick-off event. 82 students came! By October, DTQ Club was launched to meet with students after school on MSD campus. This is just the beginning! We want those high school kids to know God personally and as the ministry grows, we pray it will expand to reach the Deaf in mainstreamed programs at public High Schools in Frederick, then other counties, then across the state.
For example, with the help of my DTQ committee, we started annual MADY (Mid-Atlantic Deaf Youth) winter retreats to draw deaf Christian students from residential and mainstreamed schools together for one weekend of fun, fellowship, friendship & faith. We are going into our fourth year.
I have a lovely wife of 20 years named Karen (also Deaf). We have 5 hearing children: Grace (18), Robert (16), Noah (13), Seth (10), and Hope (16 months). They know American Sign Language and love the Lord. We live in Burtonsville, MD.
My hobbies are running & cycling, body workouts, plants, coin & mug collections, golfing, and quiet times out in the sun or at the beach. Some of my favorite things are Shoo Fly Pie, candy corn, pretzel nuggets, the Left Behind series, Max Lucado & Chuck Swindoll & Bill Bright books, and Christian biographies. Oh yes, I am a hardcore Steelers fan!!!