A native of Jamaica and a naturalized U.S. citizen, Yvette Aarons first applied to the FMB for missions service in 1985. Her request for consideration was denied because she was “handicapped.” Two years later, the board voted to eliminate Deafness as a handicap that precluded people for foreign missions service. Yvette didn’t hesitate to reapply.

Yvette arrived in Trinidad in March 1990 as a special assignment worker with the FMB’s International Service Corps. She was the first Deaf person sent by the FMB.

After her ISC term, Yvette was appointed in 1993 as a church associate developer for the Deaf in Trinidad. Throughout the 1990s, Yvette served in Trinidad, St. Vincent, Grenada and St. Lucia. She transferred to Thailand in 2002, where she worked with Deaf across Southeast Asia, specifically among street vendors in Bangkok and with large Deaf populations in Djakarta, Indonesia.

At the time of her initial appointment to Trinidad in 1990, Yvette said, “Often I ask God: ‘What is so special about me? Why me?’ I am simply delighted to reach other people of like language and experiences. The Deaf world is a small world, and I already feel a bond with the Deaf people of Trinidad.

“Being Deaf is a great asset,” she continued. “The bridge is already built because of my Deafness. I just need to cross it and reach the Deaf people of Trinidad for Jesus.”

In 2008, the IMB recognized the uniqueness of Deaf peoples and formed the Deaf affinity, which coordinates the work of missionaries serving among Deaf around the globe. Yvette retired in January 2016, but her tireless efforts allowed her to cross many bridges in Jesus’s name. As a result of Yvette’s willingness to obey the call of God on her life, many Deaf people from all tribes, peoples and languages will one day join in worship before the throne.