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About Sonya

In 1990, when Sonya took a job as a direct care worker at a facility for the mentally retarded in Central Massachusetts, she had no way of knowing where it would lead her. As a result of choices she made and paths she chose in the ensuing years, Sonya now has a degree in American Sign Language and is the signing member of the Lighthouse Song & Sign Ministry. She also has completed a bachelor's degree in human services from Fitchburg State College in Fitchburg, MA and a master's in social work (MSW) degree from Salem State College and is working as a mental health therapist.

It was more than chance that brought Sonya to this point. After six years as a direct care worker with the mentally retarded, she needed a change. At that time, a position as recreational therapist opened up at the facility where she worked. She applied for it and got it.

At about the same time, the music department at the facility needed help and Sonya signed on as a conductor of the sign and bell choirs. Through that experience, and through some early experiences using very basic sign language with two or three deaf residents at the facility, she acquired a love for sign language and began studying it as a hobby.

In the fall of 1996, Sonya decided to go a step further and begin formal study of the language. She entered a sign language program at her local community college, hoping to eventually become an interpreter for the deaf or possibly a teacher of deaf children.

At about the same time, she and her husband, Mark, decided to form the Lighthouse Song & Sign Ministry. Mark is a songwriter and has written many songs of faith and devotion. They combined their interests and began performing Mark's songs in church, with Mark singing them and Sonya signing them so that both hearing and non-hearing parishioners would be able to "hear" God's message. Sonya also began signing hymns with her church choir as well as serving as a translator in her church and at other events in the community.

Sonya now teaches American Sign Language at her home and at several area churches. She and Mark are also co-founders of the deaf ministry program at their church, the Salvation Army of Fitchburg, Mass., along with Majors Ralph and Donna Hansen. Mark and Sonya have traveled throughout their region promoting deaf ministry and have toured as far away as Barbados and Nova Scotia, Canada to spread the message of God's love through their music and signing.