Signing Savvy, Your Sign Language Resource

This article is part of our "Living Loud" series, which highlights famous people who are deaf or hard of hearing and their impact in the world.

Allen Snare was born Deaf with his hearing twin sister Faye on April 14, 1947. Allen grew up in Huntingdon, Pennsylvania, with his three brothers and three sisters who were all hearing. He attended the Pennsylvania School for the Deaf in Philadelphia and he loved it! He had full access to communication at school. However, access at church was a different story.

Allen Snare during an interview. (Photo Credit: Jim Bracelin. Testimony of a Deaf Man.)

Allen grew up attending church with no interpreter. He was clueless of what was being said, until one day, in 1968, when he was invited to a church hosting a week-long revival conference. It just so happened they had an interpreter. That was the first time Allen was exposed to an interpreter. Bill Rice III was a visiting Pastor from the Bill Rice Ranch, a ministry with a goal of reaching the deaf through local revival meetings, regional events, and camps. Bill’s wife Mary interpreted while Bill preached that day. "When Bill Rice asked me if I was saved I told him 'I never heard of that before'; even though I grew up in church my whole life. Once Bill Rice explained who Jesus was and how he died on the cross to save us from our sins, so that we can go to heaven and not hell, I got saved..."³ Allen finally understood what being saved meant.

Allen was convinced to go to Bible college when he saw an ad for it in the Branding Iron, a newspaper for the deaf from the Bill Rice Ranch. Allen went in 1971, but he felt out of place with only eight other deaf people. In 1975, Allen graduated from Tennessee Temple in Chattanooga. Allen was debating between preaching and becoming a missionary; he felt God called him to be a preacher.

Allen pastored in many deaf churches in Texas, Colorado, Alabama, and Ohio. When Allen was living in Texas, he went to Colorado to host a camp revival for a week. While Allen was there, the interpreter introduced him to a nice deaf woman named Debbie. When Allen returned the following Fall, he asked the congregation after he finished preaching who would like to be saved and Debbie came forward. When Debbie got saved, Allen knew she was the one. He and Debbie started dating and they got married on July 22, 1978.

Allen teamed up with Bill Rice III again, the man who first introduced him to an interpreter and helped him to understand the meaning of being saved, when he played the lead role in the movie When Silence Speaks. The movie was produced by Bill Rice III and released by Bill Rice Films Production in 1994. It was a fictional Christian movie about a deaf man, Gordy, played by Allen, searching to understand the meaning of the cross. Allen’s son, John, also was in the movie in the role of a young Gordy.

Allen pastored in Pennsylvania for 12 years at Faith Baptist Church in Fairless Hills; he thought he would preach there until he died. However, God had other plans; he was let go from that position.

Allen reached out to Ted Camp, the founder of Silent Word Ministries and told him he was called to serve with him at Silent Word Ministries. At first Ted was hesitant, so they both prayed about it for a week. Allen contacted him a week later stating "God still wants me to join your ministry."³ Ted agreed and Allen and his wife moved to Georgia to start serving for Silent Word Ministries in 2000. Allen is still a full-time missionary with Silent Word Ministries. He travels wherever he is called. He’s been to ten different countries for missionaries and to preach at revival meetings.

Sadly, Debbie was diagnosed with colon cancer the year he started with Silent Deaf Ministries. She fought cancer for five years and in 2006, Debbie passed away. Together they raised a wonderful family. They had three children. Their daughter Joy is hearing, and their two sons, John and Justin, are deaf. Allen is now a grandfather of three. He has one deaf granddaughter and a hearing grandson and granddaughter. They all know sign language.

You can find Allen’s testimony as well as preaching videos on YouTube. He plans to serve the rest of his days as a deaf evangelist to honor his mission statement: "My Heart’s Desire Is To See More Deaf People Saved."

This article is part of our “Signing Children’s Books” series, which highlights children’s books and pairs them with pre-built Signing Savvy word lists to help you get started with learning and signing the vocabulary in the book. Reading and literacy is so important. By sharing these pre-built word lists, we hope to cut down on prep time for families that are just beginning to learn ASL and hope you can find more comfort in sharing literacy with our young deaf children.

Time For Bed is a classic book by Mem Fox, with beautiful illustrations by Jane Dyer. It is a great bedtime book. It explores it's way through different pairs of baby and adult animals, showing them all getting ready to sleep. It is a great language tool to teach the names for baby animals and begin discussions about how they rest at night, just like we do.

You can also find links on Pinterest to activities that discuss the importance of rest and how stretching can help foster relaxation and prepare you for bed. Here is an article that includes a free printable of animal-themed stretches to do at bedtime. And also links to Tips for Toddlers that Fight Bedtime. They are worth giving a try.  As parents, we know how difficult bedtime can be for some little ones.

I hope through the Time For Bed word list you will feel confident to share this story with your children. You can also bring up signs on the Signing Savvy Member App using the pre-built word list as you go through the book.

Word List for Time For Bed

Signing Savvy is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking signingsavvy.com to Amazon properties. That means Signing Savvy may contain affiliate links. If you make a purchase after clicking on an affiliate link, your cost will be exactly the same regardless, but Signing Savvy will automatically receive a small commission. Your support is greatly appreciated and helps us continue to improve Signing Savvy!

This article is part of our “Signing Children’s Books” series, which highlights children’s books and pairs them with pre-built Signing Savvy word lists to help you get started with learning and signing the vocabulary in the book. Reading and literacy is so important. By sharing these pre-built word lists, we hope to cut down on prep time for families that are just beginning to learn ASL and hope you can find more comfort in sharing literacy with our young deaf children.

My Animals by Xavier Deneux is a very simple animal book. The entire book is in black and white. Research shows that an infant’s ability to see colors is not fully developed at birth, but rather matures between five and six months of age. This book introduces images of some common animals many children’s books include, but minus the color. It’s simple to sign and fun to share with not only infants, but children of all ages.

For more information on how babies see color, check out this article on the development of color vision in infants. You can also learn more about how to use printables to help babies with eye development and find more black and white images for infants and black and white animal photography on Pinterest.

I hope through the My Animals word list you will feel confident to share this story with your children. You can also bring up signs on the Signing Savvy Member App using the pre-built word list as you go through the book.

Word List for My Animals

Signing Savvy is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking signingsavvy.com to Amazon properties. That means Signing Savvy may contain affiliate links. If you make a purchase after clicking on an affiliate link, your cost will be exactly the same regardless, but Signing Savvy will automatically receive a small commission. Your support is greatly appreciated and helps us continue to improve Signing Savvy!