Sunday, day 1 - day off!!
- I went to The Lighthouse Church, which will be my church for this month. Upon my arrival there, several good memories were brought back to my mind. It was the place where I met deaf elders, where my root of faith in Christ grew stronger, where I felt God's presence, and where God used me to turn some Christians' world upside.
- Jenna, who is my interpreter, and I asked deaf people whether or not they want to meet before the church service just to hang out. Unfortunately, I will only attend to this church three times before leaving for Florida, and I cannot make to their Deaf Bible Study on Wednesday nights. So, I offered to serve them breakfast just to sit down and talk. It is my desire to build relationship with them and encourage them to keep focusing on Jesus Christ.
- Later in the afternoon, some of staff and I went to beach to play soccer. An Egyptian guy and his New Jersey friend just came to us and joined us. I saw how soccer drew international students, especially that soccer is everywhere around the world. God is amazing because Wildwood Summer Project has been here since 1974, and Wildwood is filled with students from Malaysia, Ukraine, Russia, China, Egypt, and several other countries.
- So, it was perfect opportunity for college students to learn how to share the Gospel with these international students. I said it was perfect because these students may have never heard of the Good News. If they are interested or put their faith in Jesus Christ, they will be able to bring the message of reconciliation to their home countries! It's like Acts in the Bible!
- I ended my day by jumping into the ocean! ^.^
Monday, day 2 - Memorial Day
- Boaz and Colin, who were my roommates from last summer, and I went to the project house to pray as we walked through rooms.
- Boaz, Colin, and I prayed especially for male students to experience intimate relationships with other males, to learn how to give and receive truth and grace within the community, to become the leaders for the future in God's Kingdom, to treasure Jesus more and more
- All of us prayed that those students to experience 10 times better than what we experienced last summer ^.^
- We then returned to an apartment for staff meeting, and we had a guest speaker
- Pastor Jeff was our guest speaker, and I found myself learning more and more about grace and truth.
- I learned the importance of grace and truth last summer, but I didn't actually apply to my life. I still need to learn how to apply to my live because Jesus was capable of giving truth and grace at the same time.
- From the message of the pastor Jeff, Psalm 27, rock, we fail, we finite, but God is infinite...and rock is God...so we won't fall or be blown away...
- It was time for sharing, and I learned that there is a new tool that we can use to share the Good News, which is called Perspective cards
- I became excited when seeing the cards because it may be useful tool to use in any Deaf community, especially that it's visual. Check it out for more details by clicking the link above.
- Some of you guys may know that I'm gonna be in Florida for a while after the project. I will be doing an internship there for 10 weeks, and then I may be able to find a permanent job there.So, I believe that Deaf community is pretty unique there because Deaf community grew large all of a sudden. You see, there is a headquarter, which is run by and for Deaf people, and many Deaf employees are hired to work there. Besides, don't you think God allowed the Deaf community to grow and now have me an internship nearby the community at such time?
Tuesday, day 3
- We, staff, met to do spring cleaning once again because we had little makeover inside home the other day. Now, we focused on cleaning outside of the project house. This was the opportunity to show our love to the students by preparing the place for them to enjoy summer weather in the backyard and driveway (there are four outdoor showers!). Here are the proof of our spring cleaning:
John and Mina washed trash cans and then they clear dirty off the driveway.
- I also want to show you that Campus Crusade of Christ values family by encouraging married couple to minister together, hence the kids on the summer project!
Wednesday, day 4 - students' arrival!
- The day before, I decided to sign up for registration table for two main reasons:
- it seemed to be easy task
- it was probably a great way to meet students
- I happened to sit next to my roommate Tyler Pickett, who was also a student of WWSP last summer, at the registration table, and he gave me the brilliant idea!
- His brilliant idea: forced students to learn signs before signing out with keys, shirts, bags, and parking pass
- So, I figured that if I teach every student the phrase "how do you sign..." in ASL, and most of them will be able to pick up some signs by the end of this month! I also decided to teach them a random sign (e.g., Jesus, summer, ice cream)
- I enjoyed interacting with them, as they had never met a deaf person, and I received mixed responses from them. Some of them were quite nervous, some of them were amiable, some of them showed off some of their sign ability, and some of them were shy.
- By the end of the day, not only the students arrived with excitement for the plan God has stored for them, but also was probably dumbfounded at interaction with me and a deaf student named Kinna.
- Kinna is a female student who is currently a student at Galladuet University, the only deaf university in the world in Washington D.C.
- All of us, staff and students, went to Robin's backyard, who knew the director of WWSP, because she allowed us to enjoy her amazing backyard! She has beach at the lake! She also has volleyball, sail boat, three hammocks, outdoor bathroom, basketball, etc!!!
- Well, I saw Kinna attempted to interact with other hearing students, and all of a sudden, the thought popped, "Wow...Kinna is crazy for coming to this project as the only deaf student! Why would she even want to come when she knew she would be the only deaf student??"
- I was like wait a minute...I was in her shoes only last summer! I finally understood why hearing students and staffs were often amazed at my courage to come to the project last summer. They were inspired by my faith because I desire to obey God.
- Alas, I was amazed by faith Kinna has to come to the project! ^.^
Friday, day 6
- Colin, who was my roommate last summer and is now staff, and I decided to cook delicious breakfast (pancakes, turkey bacon, and scrambled eggs) for our team.
- Brief information about the students in the team:
- Brad: he attends a university in Indiana just like Colin, he's 21, and he hope to be a doctor.
- Joe: he attends Boston University, he's 23, he's in ROTC, and he hope to be a lawyer.
- Jeff: he's a younger brother of Joe, attends University of Massachusetts, he is an athletic.
- I was quite nervous about whether or not the students will be comfortable with me being a deaf leader and like me as a person. It turned out that I actually enjoyed hanging out with these students!
- In fact, Jeff approached me and told me he wants to learn signs. Jeff is a tall, muscular guy, and he totally has a big heart. He also like to play with kids, which is awesome!
- Joe is a funny and smart guy, and he is outspoken. He's a natural leader as well.
- Brad is quiet yet a thinker. He is diligent in learning signs and holds himself high to God's moral standard.
- I will try to get a picture of my team in the next two post haha
- All of us, male staff and students, went to a park, and that's when I realized that I will participate in sports. I began to freak out a bit and turn to God for the strength.
- I know I am not the best player, and it is not something that I devoted to my ability in the field during my childhood. However, I saw men's time as the opportunity to be affirmed for my sense of manhood by these men and to become dependent on Jesus.
- In the end, I enjoyed playing in the game without fear of failure because I know Jesus was proud of me, as I learned how to play basketball and ultimate frisbee ^.^
