Week 1 of GA Camp…

Not all of my ministry opportunities are with the Deaf this summer…I have been given a chance to work 2 weeks of GA (Girls in Action) and Acteen Camp. This was new territory for me considering I’ve never been to GA camp before. I just got back “home” from camp and have some amazing stuff to share.

The overall theme for the week was “Finding My Place.” The girls talked all week about various women in the Bible that God used despite their circumstances. The group of Acteens that I helped lead studied the story of Joseph and his coat of many colors during our group devotion time. We talked a lot about God’s perfect timing and how He works all things together for the good…even when we don’t see it right away.

Out of about 40 girls, 10 prayed to receive Jesus Christ as their personal Lord and Savior! How cool is that?! On top of that, there were 2 Acteens (middle/high school) who shared that they felt God calling them to missions…one to Deaf ministry and the other to possibly South America. Please keep these young ladies in your prayers as they start their brand new journeys with Christ and as the older 2 begin to really seek out where God is leading them. I’ve talked to the girl feeling led to work with the Deaf…she can introduce herself right now and that’s about it. One thing that we talked about during our worship times was the relationship Paul had with Timothy. Paul was Timothy’s mentor, teacher, encourager….we were challenged to find those people in our lives in which we can serve as a “Paul” to a “Timothy”  and those who could serve as our “Paul.” When God called this girl to Deaf missions, He showed me that she’s my Timothy…at least for a season. I’m going to be working with her a little bit this summer to help her learn some basic signs and begin to find her place within the Deaf world. She has such a sweet spirit…please keep me in your prayers as I help her get her feet on the ground and pray for her as she begins to learn a whole new culture.

We had an incredible missionary family there with us this week…they were in on furlough from East Asia…they have 3 adorable children. The whole family just radiates Christ’s love and joy! They were such an inspiration and encouragement to me and many others there. Please pray for them as they spend about 7 more weeks on furlough before returning to the mission field. Pray that when they return, God will have opened more hearts to hearing the Gospel.

I will be working another week of camp July 7th-11th. Please begin praying now that the Holy Spirit  will begin stirring in the hearts of the girls who will be attending camp that week. Pray for all the women who will be serving as leaders, too.

Thanks so much for your prayers! I’ll keep you posted on things happening here! : )

Deaf Worship Experience…

This evening was my first Deaf worship experience here…it was AWESOME!!!!! I arrived a little after 4 pm to help get stuff set up for dinner and to practice with the signing choir. The bulk of the choir is made up of Deaf/Hard-of-Hearing individuals, but any hearing people who want to join are welcome. Phyllis (the Deaf minister) leads the choir from the middle of the sanctuary and we follow her as she signs to the music. Tonight we did “I Will Give You All My Worship” and “Amazing Grace (My Chains are Gone)”…both really cool songs. I have a video that I’ll email out of the signing choir. I tried to upload it on here, but I can’t get it to work. Next month, they are going to video the entire service for me so I can bring home a copy.

Also during the service, a Deaf man who just recently accepted Christ signed ”Cry Out to Jesus” (with Phyllis guiding him) and it was so powerful…he’s very expressive. It was just one of those “wow” moments. He was baptized at the end of the service…pray for him as he is beginning his new life in Christ. 

They asked me to share a little bit about how I ended up in Michigan for the summer and what all I’d be doing while I’m here. After that, I got to sign “Everything to Me” by Avalon. The Deaf were so encouraging after the service. They were very curious as to why I would bother coming all the way up here to spend time with them, why I wanted to work with the Deaf community, and about anything else they could talk out of me. They were all very friendly and I met so many new people…some drive up to an hour or hour and a half to come to this worship service once a month. I know I’ll remember most of their faces…names, however, are a different story. Pray for me as I continue building relationships here within the Deaf community.

Funny Story: So I arrive at church and there’s another girl there, about my age, and we started talking. She’s hearing…an interpreting major at a local school…we hit it off really well. We started having all these people come up to us and tell us that we looked a lot alike. By the end of the night we were really messing with people’s minds…we had on similar shirts, we have the same length dark hair, same build…it was crazy. The Deaf people kept saying we were twins. They stood us next to each other in the signing choir just so people could see how much we looked alike. We’ve decided to play off of this for next month. We’re going to coordinate our clothing and hairstyles and we’re going to work on a piece to do for worship…maybe something playing off a mirror-image type thing. Anyway, I thought it was really funny and to see the people’s faces was just hilarious. It was really messing with their program.  : )

God is really at work in the Deaf community here…you could totally feel His presence during the worship service and could see it in the people’s faces as we had a great time of fellowship. Pray for the Deaf community, in general, that they will see God and come to know Him. Pray for the Christian Deaf community, that they will have a fire in their hearts to reach the lost. Pray for the leaders of the Deaf ministry at the church…ministry can sometimes be stressful…pray that God provides the leaders with a peace and assurance that He’s sovereign in all situations. Pray for them as they go ahead and begin planning for Deaf upcoming Deaf socials and next month’s Deaf service.

On Monday, I leave with a group from church to go to GA (Girls in Action) camp about 3 hours north of here. I think there are about 10-12 girls going with the church and that many (or more) adults going to help as leaders. While I’m there, I’m co-teaching a mission track time where we’ll have the girls for 1 hour…we’ll teach them about our assigned missionary and their ministry…we’ll teach them basic sign language as well as signart to “Set the World on Fire” by Britt Nicole. When I’m not teaching mission track time, I’ll be helping wherever they need me…I may also be working with the Acteens a little bit. Be in prayer for the girls at the camp as well as the leadership. The girls will be learning about finding their place in the world. I know that Bible study times will include the story of Mary Magdalene and Hannah with a couple of others. Be praying for a powerful week of camp where God will touch the life of each young lady there.

Thanks so much for your prayers! They are definitely felt! I will update again when I get back from GA camp! : )

The First Service…

So this weekend I attended my first worship services there at the church. There was a really good sized congregation there on Sunday. This week, the orchestra played…for such a small stage, they have a rather large orchestra. I got to meet with the Deaf Sunday School class…there were about 9 Deaf people there. I introduced myself and got to know some of them. They were very welcoming and helpful if I didn’t know signs. Sunday night I actually got to interpret a little to give Linda a break. There were some praise choruses she wasn’t really familiar with so she let me sign those…I’d rather do those than try hymns…they tend to be a little more difficult. I also got to interpret the spoken transitions between songs. After the service was over, I asked the one Deaf guy that showed up if he could understand me ok. He said he could understand…he said my style was very different from the usual interpreters and that my signs were a little different.

We survived a tornado warning yesterday…the storm that blew through apparently did a lot more damage than I realized. We lost power at the house yesterday around 5:30 pm and, as of 2:45 today, we still have no power. We’ve heard a rumor that we won’t get power until tomorrow. Praise God for getting us through the storm safely!

My biggest struggle right now is learning how to speak and sign at the same time. During Sunday School and Deaf worship, everything is typed in captions on the screen for those who have vision problems or don’t know sign language…and yes, there are a few here that are completely Deaf and don’t know sign…they rely on lip-reading…that’s also taking some getting used to. Another obstacle I have to deal with is the fact that there is really only one person that attends the church who signs in ASL format…the rest either use a combination of ASL and English or they just sign straight English. For the past 2 years, I’ve been learning proper ASL, I’ve been taught not to mouth words when I sign, I’ve been taught to not revert back to English word order. Now, I have to undo some of that. From what I’ve been told since I got here, there are some Deaf people here who will have quite a bit of difficulty with the ASL word order if I sign that way. It’s going to be interesting for sure. I know God will teach me Michigan sign (He’s already working on that) and get me through difficult conversations.

Pray for the Deaf ministry there at the church…it’s a growing ministry and God’s really working in those lives right now. Pray for the church as a whole. The whole church has just pulled me right into their family and made me feel so at home. This church is a very mission-minded church and they are preparing to send 2 mission teams out very soon. Keep them in your prayers!!! Thanks for all your support and encouragement! I’ll give you another update after Deaf worship this coming weekend. : )

First Day…

Today is officially my first day here. I’m still getting used to the culture up here…it’s so different than home…but I like it here. The people I’m working with are great and lots of fun! We met today to discuss my calendar for the summer….it’s packed! I will have my downtime every now and then, but I’ll definitely be hopping the rest of the time. Two weeks of GA camp…VBS…backyard Bible club…Deaf socials…church office work…Deaf worship services…Deaf conference…lots of stuff!!! God’s really going to do some cool stuff this summer…I can feel it! I spent my afternoon typing lyrics to songs to create a folder that can be used when someone is typing captions for the signing choir. While typing, I’ve gotten to meet several church members who came through the sanctuary…everyone has been very welcoming. I also had my first person to say “Wow…you must be from the south…” I cracked up! I hadn’t gotten that yet, but then again, I haven’t met a ton of people either. I’ll be interested to see if I can hang onto the southern accent (what little I still have). We shall see! Anyway, that’s my day. I’m here…all is well…and I’m looking forward to serving here over the next 2 months.

Arriving…

Well, we just arrived this afternoon to my ministry site for the summer. I finally got to meet my supervisor face-to-face and I got a tour of the church. The church building is smaller than I expected, but it’s very obvious that God is using the people of this church for big things. They definitely have a heart and passion for missions. There’s a whole wall of updates and pictures from missionaries they’ve sent out from their church. In the area of Deaf ministry, she said that they have the biggest Sunday School class of all of them. They run about 16 in their class, which is a pretty good sized Deaf ministry…especially for a small church. I haven’t met the lady that I’m staying with yet…that will be tomorrow. I’ll also get my summer calendar tomorrow morning. I’m really excited about getting started! Please be praying that I’ll be able to easily adjust to life in Michigan…I can already see that it’s very different compared to home…and be praying for the hearts of the people here. Pray that God will be moving and working in each heart. I’ll update again soon!

Packing up…

So, I still have a week and a half before I leave, but I’m so excited about going that I’m already almost packed. I’ve been talking to my supervisor quite a bit lately getting some last minute information and, with each conversation, my enthusiasm and excitement builds. I know God has great things in store for the summer! I know that while I’m serving this summer, I’ll have the opportunity to go to the Southern Baptist Convention for the Deaf in Missouri, help in the planning process of Deaf worship services, and simply reach out and show the love of Christ to the Deaf community. Some other cool possibilities are in the works and I’m really excited about those chances as well. Please continue to pray for the people in the church, the people of the Deaf community, and the staff I’ll be working with. Pray that God will prepare each of us working to be flexible and constantly willing to pour every bit of ourselves out only to be filled with the Holy Spirit. Pray that the hearts of the Deaf community will be opened and responsive to God’s unconditional love and call. God’s really pulling everything together for this summer and I’m ecstatic! Thank you for your prayers and I’ll keep you updated!

The Deaf-Blind Experience

So, this weekend was incredibly hectic, but totally worth every minute. Friday, around lunch, I went with a group of Interpreting students and a couple of the teachers from EKU to a Deaf-Blind retreat out in the middle of nowhere…seriously. When we arrived, one of our teachers did an orientation time for us where she explained what would happen throughout the weekend and then gave us time to practice guiding our blindfolded classmates from place to place. I was a little worried about guiding people considering I ran one of my friends into a door frame on accident while guiding…she was fine…it just scared her a bit. She definitely didn’t walk as fast after that. Getting used to having double the body width would take some time.

After people arrived, they could request to have an SSP (Support Service Provider)…all the students that went were SSP’s. People could request either an SSP to voice things for them (more for those with varying degrees of blindness) or one who would sign for them (more for those with varying degrees of deafness). Each SSP would then be matched with a person to assist them at different times throughout the weekend. We helped them find their rooms, get their food during meal times, and basically just be there to help them out if they needed it.

I was nervous at first, but quickly became more at ease with the setting and people around me. It was very interesting and I’m really looking forward to working with the Deaf-Blind in Michigan this summer. I met some incredible people and have lots of fun stories that I don’t have time to type. Overall, this weekend really helped prepare me for this summer…I just wish I could have stayed longer than I did.

Entering the Deaf-Blind World…

I’m seeing more and more each day that God has blessed me with some incredible ASL teachers here at school. All of them have been so incredibly helpful since I received my ministry assignment at Christmas. When I learned that part of my ministry would be to a group of Deaf-Blind individuals, I freaked out a little bit. That’s completely unexplored territory for me. In talking to a couple of teachers here, God has given me the opportunity to get some experience before being thrown into it in June. I am going with several of the Interpreting students to volunteer as a guide at a Deaf-Blind retreat outside of Somerset this weekend. I won’t be doing any interpreting or anything super-involved like that. Basically, I’ll pair up with someone there who has some degree of deafness and some degree of visual difficulty and I will basically be their eyes. I will help them out with the menu at meal time and simply guide them from place to place. I’m really excited because this is something I’ve never done before! I know that this is one way God is equipping me to serve this summer. I’ll let you know how it goes!

Be in prayer…

Please be in prayer for the people of Sterling Heights, Michigan…especially the Deaf community there. That is where my focus will be this summer and I can’t wait to see how God is and will be working within the hearts and lives of these people. Pray that He will be preparing their hearts for the events of the upcoming summer. I still have more to learn before arriving there, so pray that God will fill my mind with all the language and culture information I will need. I know that there is no way I can possibly know everything I need to know by the first of June, but I know that God is faithful and He’ll provide. He wouldn’t be sending me there if He wasn’t planning on equipping me to go. As more prayer requests arise, I will post an update.

–Sarah