Week 20

With the last of the American media team leaving for America or their country of designation, I am left to ponder over what transpired over the course of this week.  We got much good footage that can be used for the Father's glory.  I am glad I got to be a part of the documentary of the first Hands On Deaf student in order to draw in more workers to focus on the Deaf all over the world who do not know the name above all other names.

The American team arrived Sunday early morning.  We got them acquainted with the transportation, food and the guest house in which they were staying.  Not much else happened this day and we just learned more about each other.  The real work was to begin the next day.

Early Monday morning, I was interviewed by the American team about my time here.  I was asked questions about my story time, my students, my everyday life, etc.  These questions made me think about my five months here in my country of designation.  I've obtained many good memories here and learned many lessons of how to reach out to Deaf people.  Afterwards, I showed the American team the story time with my two students.  I would love to show people back home how story time works and that it is successful in drawing Deaf people in to the good news!  They also got footage of my humble abode, then the day was concluded.

Early Tuesday morning, we traveled to one of my students' house.  They interviewed his mother and himself about how I affected their lives and how JC affected their lives.  Evidently, since I've been teaching my student, he has been bringing home what he learned to his mother.  This changed his mother's view on the good news and learned that she does not need a religious official to teach her the ways of the good news.  If her son could learn on his own, so could she!  What an eye-opener for the family!  I am glad JC could use me to incite this change in the family.  Then, so concluded the day.

Early Wednesday morning, we traveled to my other students' house.  Again, they interviewed his mother and himself about how I affected their lives and how JC affected their lives.  My student started teaching more Deaf people about what he learned ever since I started teaching him the good news.  While I do not know what the mother said in her interview, I do know that there is a change that JC incited within the family of his mother, brother and sister.  Praise the Father!

Thursday morning was the interview day for my supervisors.  My supervisors and I also showed the story crafting process to the cameras.  It was also on this day that I showed the normalcy of my life here by shopping, traveling, bartering, etc.  The purpose of this was to show the Deaf back home that I could fare well on my own, though being on my own was out of the ordinary.  Usually workers are a pair.  This was to show that they had nothing to fear by being in a strange, alien country and being deaf.  I can survive with the help of JC and the Deaf will witness that!

Friday was the normal believers' gathering, but unfortunately the American team was barred from attending.  Understandably, the leader feared the disclosure of the private location where the Deaf believers could safely gather.  However, I also learned I would be missed.  The Deaf gave me a beautiful hand-stitched picture with a verse.  The leader also gave me a 'Merry Christmas' card both in English and the language here.  I said many good-byes to the Deaf I've come to know and love.  It was bittersweet, but I informed them if I should never come back, I would still see them when the kingdom comes!  Afterwards, we went to a Deaf association to get insider information on how the Deaf here get financial support and rights.  Then after the team went back to the guesthouse, I went back to my apartment for the final time to pack everything and give the final pay to my maid.  I said goodbye to the landlord and left the apartment.

The day is dawning closer and closer that I will leave this country and go back to India for debriefing.  As such, this is the final blog I will write in my country of designation.  The most final blog will be next week's, the 21st blog.  I've had a wild ride and I've learned so much while I was here.  I am glad I can continue to use this to proclaim JC's glory more efficiently to the Deaf back home.  This is Kevin, signing off for the final time from my country of designation.  I love... Bangladesh.

Week 19

Last week I had something to do everyday, which was a first.  I was so exhausted by the end of the week!  I don't remember specifics.  I taught my two deaf students, I shopped for Christmas gifts, and I went to the American club for a birthday party.  I had mentoring meetings as well.  I woke up at 7:30am nearly every morning, which I really only do for Friday's gathering (which I also attended last week).  So with that out of the way, below is a list of items I would love for you to petition the Father for.

1. Next week a camera crew is supposed to come and film a typical week in my life here.  There are a few problems, the biggest being the possibility of a rally next week.  If that is the case, the week will consist of staying at home and pretty much being uneventful.  Please petition the Father that He hold back the rallies until the week is finished.  This filming is important for the Deaf workers to bring in more recruits for the kingdom.  Also ask Him that the week go smoothly.

2. My time here is almost up.  Ask Him that wrap up goes smoothly.  Ask Him that I don't forget to say what needs to be said to Deaf people here.  Ask Him that I'll be ok with leaving (I love the Deaf here, and I'll miss them!).  Ask Him that my time in India my last few days will be worthy of His kingdom.  Ask Him that my flight back to the states will be well and void of problems.

That is all for my blog.  There will be 1 or 2 more of these and then homeward bound!  I'm excited to see all of you back in the states so I can tell you all about my adventures abroad!

Week 18

Yes, last week is the week to praise the Father!  We had two successful dunkings, plus a third who was hearing who got dunked by my supervisor.  This was a time of great joy!  But of course, nothing goes without hiccups.

Originally I was supposed to dunk six deaf people.  One just stopped showing up at the meetings to schedule a time and place for the dunking.  So now down to five.  Then two more were convinced to wait by another leader until December 25th.  They look up to the leader more since they knew her for years and received instruction from her all that time.  I have no quips with this since they will still get dunked in time.  So petition the Father for those two!  The last one to get cancelled was the one that burdened me most.  In a freak occurrence that happened to my friend, his true motives for accepting JC were revealed.  He wanted to go to America, he wanted money, he wanted the prestige of having relations with Americans, he wanted food.  He equated JC with comfort and success.  This was a sad revelation to me, and a heavy burden as well.  This one was different as he was not the one to cancel, but I was.  He proved himself to not be ready.  But I am still willing to teach him if he wants for the little time I have left here.  Please petition on his behalf that the true motive for accepting JC is JC Himself!  Now the remaining two I was to dunk have definitely shown me to be ready, and what a joyous occasion it was!

They got dunked Saturday at 4pm my time, 5am Eastern time.  These two were my first dunkings, so I was excited for a very good reason!  I had them say a little about what they were like before JC, then I petitioned the Father on his behalf.  Then I dunked him in the name of the Father, the Son and the Spirit.  Whoo hoo!  The second dunking had a little hiccup, in which his head hit the bathtub.  It wasn't a hard hit, but it prevented his head from going under!  So he moved forward a little and... successful dunk otherwise.  Whoo hoo!  Afterward we sang songs of praise.  This was a joyful day.

Again, please petition the Father for the two yet to be dunked, the one that just stopped showing up for some reason, and for the one that is not yet ready and hasn't properly received the good news.  And ask Him to make ready my heart to leave this place in a few weeks, knowing contentedly that I have finished the race here and did what the Father asked me to do.  The work here is incomplete, but I know I have fought the good fight here and did all the Father asked me to do.  Here's to the Father willing that my last few weeks be filled with His glory!

Week 17

Wow, another late blog.  That means, yep you guessed it, nothing eventful really happened.  So I'll do this one on petition requests just like last week!

Let's begin with last week Thursday.  We met with the three Deaf people to talk about dunking.  Thank you for your petitions for that!  We were surprised that day, because those three brought some friends with them.  It turns out they are also new brothers and in need of dunking too!  Which means the number of people getting dunked has gone up from three to six!  Whoo!  So we would appreciate your petitions for the next meeting Thursday to discuss the location and time of the dunking, which has already been determined.  We're excited!

As you may have heard from my mother, there are a lot of protests happening around this time of the year, with elections and all.  The protests here are violent and sometimes people get hurt.  So long as I stay inside during these protests, which are announced at least a week in advance, I shall continue being safe.  But please petition for my safety, the safety of my supervisors and the safety of my Deaf friends.

Regarding the petition request of the new brother that was kicked out on the street last week, he is now safe and staying under the care of one of the shepherds in the city.  But continue petitioning for him because my supervisors said it's common for this kind of thing to continue for at least six months.  He needs to be strong and firm in the Father during this time.

One last thing.  Read Matthew 9:37-38.  As of right now, the only people working towards the Deaf all over the world in the company I'm currently under total to a measly 45 people.  Please petition the Father to send more workers for the harvest all over the world!  Speaking of this, I'm also thinking of a career in this same company for the rest of my life as a harvester of the Deaf.  So please petition the Father to steer me towards this path if this is His will for me.  Thank you.

Week 16

Yes I know, this blog is late.  However, not much really happened last week.  I simply attended the usual gathering Friday and taught them a story.  So this post will be dedicated to petition requests.

Please lift up our new brother.  He is hearing and his family kicked him out of the house.  His dad broke his cell phone.  He has decided to live on the streets.  His friends are mocking him.  He needs comfort from the Father.  He needs to grow as a brother.  He needs a place to stay.  So please lift him up in all these regards!

Please lift three deaf people up.  They, too, became my new brothers.  They will be coming over Thursday (11/7) in order for me, a deaf brother and my supervisors to teach them the importance of getting dunked in water.  We will be teaching them of what to expect from what may come.  To our knowledge, their family does not share their sentiments.  So please lift me, my deaf brother and my supervisors up to teach the three new brothers the correct lessons.  And lift the three new brothers that they will be understanding and know what JC wants from them.

That's all for this blog post, so please be in constant petition for us.  Thank you!

Week 15

As I said last blog, I was visiting Thailand last week for a visa run.  Whoo, boy!  It sure was a fun visit!  I learned much for my job back in my designated country.  I met a few national Thai Deaf people and other workers from America at the same job as I am now.  I also got to sight-see a little of Thailand as well.  In all, last week sure was enjoyable!

On Sunday we flew there at 10pm, but landed there at 2am Monday.  We sure were tired, but that didn't stop us from waking up at 8am for breakfast!  I wanted to protest, but I did not.  After breakfast was done, we headed to the canal for a boat taxi.  Yep, a boat taxi!  The canal sure was wide and long.  I enjoyed feeling the air whipping in my face as we sped down the canal to our location.  The location was my designated country's embassy.  I filled out the paperwork and got confirmation from a bank about payment, and went on my merry way.  Oh wait, except the whole ordeal of finding the bank that is!  Thai people sure give weird directions.  We went the roundabout way, and walked.  We were very tired when we arrived at the bank.  On the way back, we found a shorter way!  That was quite a laugh when we found out we could have saved so much walking.  Anyways, we went back to the guest house to meet a Deaf worker and a couple that does the same work in northern Thailand.  We went out to eat for a very late lunch and that's about it for Monday!

The next day, breakfast at 8am again.  This time I made sure to have plenty of night rest unlike Monday!  After that, we went to the embassy around 10am via boat taxi again.  When we arrived there, we found out we could only pick up visas between 3pm to 5pm!  Can anyone say "wasted trip?"  Anyways, we went back to the guest house to rest just a little longer before heading out.  We headed out in the afternoon to go to a coffee shop run by workers just like me situated in Thailand.  We ate there, and we signed to each other.  It was quite a fun experience and I learned just a little more about what my work meant to Deaf people wherever the Father may place me.  We finished talking around late afternoon.  We all decided to go to the Deaf worker's place of residence.  This is when I got to ride the SKY TRAIN!  Of course, this is just a normal metro that Americans would see as well in our urban cities such as New York or Atlanta.  However, that did not stop my glee as I had a good view of Thailand as we sped across the sky!  I noticed Thailand has many malls and places to eat.  This is, of course, one of the popular tourist spots.  We were planning on hanging out with Deaf nationals that the Deaf worker knows, but we waited too late at the residence and they left.  Oh well.  We simply went back to the guest house and slept for the next day.

Wednesday, we had breakfast again at 8am (sensing a pattern yet?).  For the day, the Deaf workers and us decided to go sight-seeing.  We went to one of their favorite malls.  They had cars on the fourth floor!  And I do mean the WHOLE fourth floor was filled with cars.  That is a typical mall in Thailand, each floor focusing on one aspect of shopping.  One floor could be clothes, the other makeup, and another books, and so on.  However, each floor was HUGE!  Each floor took about 10 minutes to walk the length of it.  It was quite a sight, but my legs and feet hurt after that experience!  We took a break for lunch.  It was at this time that I continued learning about what my future could be in this line of work as well as my current work and how to do more effectively at it.  This was a great learning discussion for me and I'm grateful to the Deaf worker for imparting his knowledge to me.  Afterwards, we looked around the mall some more until it was close to 3pm.  We went back to the embassy and successfully picked up my visa with no hassle at all!  I honestly don't remember the rest of the day from this point, so on to Thursday!

Thursday, breakfast 8am.  Moving on!  This was the day the couple was going back to northern Thailand, so we hung out at their favorite mall.  They left around the afternoon after we had lunch.  I had Krispy Kreme for desert that lunch!  MMMM!  Anyways, we sorta shopped a little.  I didn't buy anything, but my supervisors did.  Not much to say about this day, except we did a lot of sight seeing in just one particular mall.  My legs and feet hurt a lot this day, so I was glad to get home.

Friday, the day we leave.  We shopped some more.  We had a Thai massage this day as well.  I didn't really like it as it hurt constantly, oh well.  Then we went back to our designated country for a well-deserved rest from the whole week.

Saturday, Sunday and today there's not much to tell since I'm stuck indoors due to some circumstances.  I hope this journal of my experiences last week prove to be entertaining!  Don't be afraid to ask me any questions if you can get in touch with me!  Love you all!

Week 14

I bet you're wondering why I'm posting my weekly blog a day early.  Well, read until the end to find out!  Anyways, the Colorado team left Friday, meaning my supervisors and I finally had a chance to relax after non-stop moving around the whole week.  We were very thankful for the help of the Colorado team the whole week in sharing with Deaf people.

Tuesday, we went to a Deaf person's city and shared with two houses.  The first house was my Deaf friend's family's house.  I'm sure I mentioned this same house in an earlier blog.  The family loved meeting the Colorado team.  They shared using pictures and the colored beads representing the good news.  The second house belonged to a family who was friends with my Deaf friend.  Two of the family members were Deaf.  We did not really share at this house, but we had fun socializing with them.

Wednesday was a Muslim holiday.  The team and I witnessed butchers slitting the neck of two cows and bleeding them out.  That was a sight I'd like to forget.  However, the following sight of them masterfully cutting up the meat and arranging it in third portions to give away to family, mosque and the poor people.  Overall, this was a good experience regardless of the beginning of the process.  After that, it was just more relaxing and I crafted one story.

Thursday was mostly quiet.  This day was the day before the team left to go back to the States.  So this day we shared what we learned the entire team's stay.  I also helped film their individual narratives of what they learned during their stay here.  Inclusive within the interviews were two of my Deaf friends and students, and also an interpreter who lives here.  We tried to go shopping, but the holidays were still mostly active, and so the majority of material shops were closed.  Only the food shops were open.  I and three other team members visited a house of someone they met on the plane here.  We ended up staying until nearly midnight.  We were exhausted that day!  It didn't help matters that they had to get up at 4am to go to the airport.

Friday, Saturday and Sunday (today) were mostly resting days.  So nothing really happened on these days.

Now for the finale of this blog, the very reason I am posting a day early.  I am going to... drumroll please... Thailand!  This is supposed to be for a visa run, but incidentally we will be staying there for a whole week as the embassy prepares my visa.  So this also doubles as a vacation!  Whoo!  However, I would also like to share with some Deaf people there as well.  So please ask Him for Deaf people that we can share with.  You all will be hearing of my adventures in Thailand when I return.  So look for that.  Bye y'all and see you on here when I get back!

Week 13

What a busy week and weekend!  A lot of this week was spent planning for a visiting team this weekend.  Right now, there is a team from Colorado staying with us to help us reach out to the Deaf community.  My supervisors and I couldn't be any happier!

Tuesday was spent planning for the weekend's events plus that of next week (this week).  My supervisors and I had the help of two Deaf friends, one of whose house we will visit tomorrow.  We already visited the town of the other friend.  We visited at a coffee shop, and boy we had some good coffee and a good chat!  We laid out a good plan for the Colorado team.

Wednesday was my normal mentoring time with my supervisors and I, so we went over what the Father had planned for us.  We also went over what will happen with the Colorado team.  A very brief meeting.

Thursday, the Colorado team came in the morning.  I met them at lunch time.  They're a good bunch, and I love them!  They've already shown they are really capable of reaching out to Deaf people.  We had orientation and devotional time at my supervisors' house.  That was fun.

Friday, the Colorado team, my supervisors and I went to the usual Friday Deaf believers gathering.  The Colorado team had a skit ready and a message as well.  An invitation was offered and I lead three Deaf men in petition to JC!  Praise the Father!  There were women as well, but I don't know the exact number.

Saturday, we went to the Deaf federation to meet their members and learn of what they do to help Deaf people.  We also visited the sewing training center that I visited just last week.  After that, we went to lunch and the same Deaf person with a message yesterday witnessed.  Once again, I was asked to lead in petition for three men to JC.  Wow, I see a trend going!  So that made a total of six people secured eternally!

Yesterday, Sunday, we went to one of my Deaf friend's house to see his family and another family with Deaf in it.  We made the story beads that are so popular worldwide to use, the one with the black, red, white, green, blue, green and yellow colored beads.

Today, Monday, I taught the Colorado team how to craft stories.  That is, how to draw stories from the Word in order to better sign them to the Deaf people.  We didn't finish a single story, but they had fun learning a new trade in the mission to reach out to Deaf people.  After that, I started my usual lesson with my two Deaf friends.  Both are doing pretty well in learning stories!  After that, all of us had a really long, fun conversation for three hours until we all had to go to our respective lodgings.  This week was really fun, and I can't wait to see what this week has in store for us!

Please lift us up that the rest of the week will go smoothly for the Colorado team.  And also please lift up the people that we are supposed to lead to eternal security.  These are exciting times!

Week 12

This week has been really busy!  There will be a team coming from Colorado here the 10th for a week, also doing what I've been doing for a few months now.  Last week I've been traveling a lot more than normal.  I've gone to a few different places and met new deaf people.  Exciting!  Today's Word lesson with my two deaf friends has also been successful.

Tuesday I had a spectacular mentoring time, talking about calling and how to recognize our calling from the Father.  I also videotaped yet another story I crafted from the Word.  If I haven't told you guys, I now know how to put the stories into mobile format and transfer them to Deaf peoples' phones so they can view it themselves whenever they want on their mobile devices.  Nifty!  Wednesday was unspectacular though due to protests keeping me inside.

Thursday I went to a different sector to buy a shirt that I custom ordered a week ago.  I love my new, blue, handmade shirt!  A Deaf person made it, by the way.  That Deaf person does not know sign language, so communicating with him was difficult.  But he enjoyed my presence as I observed him sewing a few clothing items for different customers.  He can sew like a pro!  You should have seen him on the machine: going really fast, snipping here and there, and all with no hesitation.  I can tell he's been doing this for years.

Friday, I went to the Deaf gathering as usual, but I did not lead story time.  The regular teacher taught about Abraham and Isaac.  I simply observed the lesson, and found myself understanding her better than before.  We had lunch there as well, and when I think about it, it was the same a month ago.  They must have lunch there the first Friday of every month.  Delicious, and spicy!

Saturday, my supervisors and I went to a different city to attend a Deaf meeting about funding.  I don't remember much about that meeting, because is there any funding meeting anywhere in the world that's memorable or fun?  Anyways after the meeting, the Deaf people led us to a training place where they train Deaf people to sew before sending them off to the factory to work a job.  There were A LOT of eyes on my supervisors and me, probably because we're foreigners.  I enjoyed chatting with the Deaf people there quite a bit.  Sunday was my Sabbath, so... that would be boring for you to read.  Moving on!

Today's Monday, and I taught my two deaf friends a new story yet again and put new videos on their mobile devices.  Once again, I had difficulty keeping the meeting focused on the story as my two deaf friends went off tangent multiple times.  I will learn how to better control the meeting eventually!  We also talked a little bit about the team from Colorado coming.  There are still a few details that need to be finalized before the team comes.

Please lift me up that I would better control the flow of Monday's meeting to focus on the Son, instead of our lives.  Also please lift me and my supervisors up as we plan for the days of the Colorado team.  There are still days that have nothing planned, and we need to fill them up.  Thank you!

Week 11

What a week!  Only two days really stand out in this post, Friday and today (Monday).  Friday was, of course, the Deaf believers gathering.  Monday was my usual Word study group with Deaf friends.  It's no surprise that my two favorite days involved me sharing stories from the Word.

Friday, the usual teacher has departed for the whole of October.  This means that I and my supervisors are now in charge of teaching the gathering for the whole month.  This is a great opportunity given to us by the Father!  I shared the story I crafted for that week.  I implemented techniques that I learned and had not yet put them into practice.  The first discussion is a recall of what happened in the story I just signed.  None of the people could really tell me what happened, so I employed the technique.  I had several people come up and put up a skit which I directed.  After witnessing the skit AND being in the skit, the people gained more of an understanding of what happened in the story.  It's a great technique to have in my arsenal in the quest for sharing the Word to the Deaf!  Then I proceeded to rest the rest of the weekend until Monday's (today's) lesson.

Today's lesson went really smoothly!  Today, I had two people show up.  I had the friend I taught for the longest teach the other friend stories under my supervision.  The friend did really well for his first time!  I hold high hopes for this friend to begin teaching the Word to his Deaf peers.  As for the other friend, I am excited to teach story-telling methods to a new person!  These two friends are what I had in mind for sharing the Word to the Deaf population.  I thank the Father for giving me these two friends to teach and disciple.  Please lift us up that the rest of the lessons will go according to His will.

Week 10

I will be publishing all future blogs on Monday until further notice due to having to prepare for Monday's lesson with a Deaf student and plus I want to include said lesson in the blogs while it is fresh in my mind!

Honestly, not much happened this week.  This is what I would consider a "normal" week.  I crafted stories in sign language, had mentoring time with my supervisors and hung out at home in my free time.  This week was only exceptional because of my second visa run that weekend.  I also used an eastern toilet for number two the first time as well.  Teaching my Deaf student how to teach stories and lead discussion today was exceptional as well!

During my visa run, I visited the same mall I did last time because it has an exhaustive variety of stores and has good food.  I had a South Asian donut for the first time ever!  Way sweeter than our donuts, which was great!  I visited a second mall which I have not visited last time.  This outdoor mall reminded me of street markets, except that it still had a roof over all the stores.  The layout was confusing and the maps hardly helped.  We still had a great time there though!  The next day we visited the place where Mother Theresa stayed and was buried, wow!  It was a humble abode and I was filled with awe at how simple her accommodations were.

Then I came back and had my Sabbath on Sunday.  Today, I taught Animash the story of 3000 converts in Acts.  It was a longer story this time and we did not have time to film it.  We went off tangent sometimes to talk about our lives and in what ways life here was similar to American life.  I had a small discussion of what would happen in the end times, which was interesting.  He is blooming into a good student and I cannot wait to see what a fine teacher he'll become!  That's it for this week, tune in next time for week 11!

Week 9

This week was interesting!  I waited until later to publish this because I had one last thing to do before writing this blog that I just had to include in this post.  Many firsts were done this week.  I traveled, I taught, I met new people, oh my!  If this is a taste of what is to come, I sure like it.

First, I went to the believers' gathering Friday as usual.  The reins were handed over to the usual teacher, but I did help portray the story through a short skit of it.  The Deaf loved the skit because it really showed what happened in the story.  After the gathering, I went back to my supervisors' house with a friend to eat lunch there.  After one hour, my friend and I left to go to a Deaf meeting in another city, WITHOUT my supervisors!  I finally went somewhere far away without my supervisors and only a Deaf guide.  It was a first for me, and I loved the adventure!  At the Deaf meeting, so many people asked me questions about America and how I liked and adjusted to my country of assignment.  When the official meeting started, I was asked to introduce myself, and they were impressed by me signing their language.  That was a fun night.  The Deaf friend took me home and saw my house for the first time ever.  He loves it, of course.

Saturday, I went to a birthday party at an American club.  The kid turned ten.  I swam, ate lunch and cake, and watched the birthday boy open his presents.  He got several cans of my favorite drink, root beer.  Boy, was I jealous.  My favorite part of this day was playing with a younger child in the pool.  He's so cute!  I previously played Wii with him.  Sunday, I just rested because that's my self-appointed Sabbath each week.

Today, Monday, I finally got into teaching one of my Deaf friends my method of storytelling and discussion.  He holds much promise and I cannot wait to see the end product of his training!  I taught him for five hours straight, which will probably become a normal thing every Monday.  In two weeks I'll have another Deaf person joining us.  I'm really excited to have Deaf people, who actually live here, to start teaching their own people.  That is why I came here!

Lift up the people I am teaching and will teach.  They need to be able to understand the most effective story-telling methods and be able to teach their friends the good news!  Oh and by the way, this post is written from my own house!  I finally have internet where I live, praise the Father!  What did I tell you, many firsts!

Week 8

Customer service here is quite different from America.  Here it seems like the companies will do anything to keep your money and go through so many steps to try to avoid refunds.  It's quite frustrating and a hassle to deal with, especially since I'm deaf.  I have my supervisors call the companies.  As a result, I still do not have internet at my place and I'm trying to move over to a different internet company for my apartment.  So please lift me up for that to be resolved.  Thank you.

Now onto pleasant and better things!  I've successfully crafted my first story solo.  It is the story of the watchman in Zach.  I'm supposed to video myself signing this story and then teach at least one deaf person this story.  Last Friday I did not get to go to the Deaf believers gathering because I'm trying to start my own group and I do not want to keep interfering in Friday's group.  They already have a teacher there and I'm only a guest teaching the group.  I have three cities in mind to go and start my group in as well as two people in mind for me to disciple.  Please petition the Father to show me one of the three cities to start my group in and for me to disciple the two Deaf people well.

Saturday I got to meet one of my Deaf friend's family in their city about one hour away by auto-rickshaw.  His mother, father and brother are all really nice.  The teacher of Friday's gathering and her friend also came to visit.  They taught the mother some things pertaining to the book.  I did likewise with my Deaf friend.  He has a number of videos of JC, and I was able to show him which of those videos were true and which were false by discernment.  I have the Father to thank for teaching me so well to discern between what is true and what is a lie.  My friend is as excited as ever to learn the Father's stories from me, and he is also one of the two people I'm going to disciple.  Keep lifting us up!

Week 7

Seventh week, lucky number seven!  This week was more fun in my country than ever before.  Last weekend is what I'm especially talking about.  There have been some difficulties though throughout the week.  No matter what the difficulties or what good comes my way, still I will love my Father.

Friday's deaf believer gathering was just as successful as last week's!  This time I did the body (1 Cor. 12:12-27).  It was even harder than the true vine story.  It was also longer, so it was more difficult for the deaf people to retain the story in their heads.  However, I learned that more visuals helped.  The teacher of the deaf believers just happened to have a picture of a body and flashcards of various body types.  They got a good laugh as I made the eye fight with the hand, but they did get just how foolish that is, just like it's foolish for the body of believers to fight each other.  The simple, humorous illustration of body parts fighting each other had a profound effect on their understanding on what it means to be a part of the body of JC.  Thanks to the Comforter for giving them understanding of the story and for the privilege and honor of sharing His stories with the deaf people here.  I can't wait for next Friday's gathering!

Saturday, I had a chance to go to the zoo.  Man was the zoo huge!  They had various types of animals, tigers, bears, lions, oh my!  They also had zebras, hippos, ostriches, horses, rhinos, various birds, and monkeys.  They had countless types of monkeys at the zoo, so they sure do mean monkey business.  I really sweated bullets at the zoo, but I asked the Father numerous ties before I visited to not let it get to me.  He sure fulfilled that promise as He provided cloud cover numerous times where there were no trees.  Praise Him!  I went with my supervisors and three other deaf locals, also my friends.  I took quite a number of pictures as you probably saw.  I rode the bus to and from the zoo, which is new for me as that's more times than I usually ride the bus.  I quite enjoyed it.

Now on to the petition requests.  The internet company that I picked is still dodging actually checking out my internet problem because I suspect they're reluctant to give me my money back.  Please lift up the company to actually do their job and give me back my money so I can move on to another, better company for internet, which is critically important for my job here.  Another issue is that the building manager for my supervisors' residence has banned locals from visiting the residence, which means only foreigners would be allowed to visit.  As a result, this means that deaf people will no longer be able to visit my supervisors to learn the Father's stories.  My supervisors are displeased with this new ban.  So please lift up the manager and landlord to reverse this ban.  Also please lift me up, because as a result of this ban, until further notice deaf people could be coming to my house instead.  This puts pressure on me to be a good host to them.  I don't quite know how to do that just yet, so please do lift me up in this regard and so that I can effectively share stories with them when they visit.  Thank you all and bless you!

Week 6

Well, it's now week 6 of my trip.  Now I am comfortable going to and from my apartment on my own.  Though I don't have the know-how of my supervisors when it comes to traversing my city, YET.  Last weekend I went on a visa run out of my country for two days in order to renew it.

My visa run was also considered a nice two day vacation.  I went to two malls and saw a movie.  Movie experience was interesting, because there was an intermission.  During the intermission, workers came with popcorn and drinks to sell.  The customer service of movie theaters in south Asia is better than America's!  I found and bought a portable Othello game.  I went to an award winning scary house which scared my pants off.  South Asians sure know how to scare people!  This trip wasn't the best part of my weekend though!  Friday was.

Last Friday I had the honor and privilege of teaching the gathering of Deaf brothers and sisters the story of JC as the true vine (Jn. 15:1-9).  The response was amazing!  Petition really does work beforehand as I fervently petitioned Father for the Deaf brothers and sisters to have their hearts and minds opened to receive that story.  I went through five questions and did the story before and between each question.  The story sure stuck in their mind by the fifth time.  I asked each one to come and perform the story.  Those that performed the story remembered most of the details!  The method of teaching Deaf people that was taught to me is a success here!  I get to teach again next Friday, so lift me up that the story will pierce their hearts and understanding just as this story did!  Father is really doing amazing things during my time here.

Week 5

This week was by far the most interesting for me!  This week I got to visit my deaf neighbor's family and I moved into my apartment!  Now I wish I was posting this week's blog in my apartment, but internet difficulties prevented me from doing that.  So this week's blog is still from my supervisor's house.  Please lift me up that the internet will work out because most of my work is dependent on the internet.  I'm having a guy look at it.  Anyways on to the deaf neighbor visit.

Thursday, I visited my deaf neighbor's family at his wife's house.  Just like my visit to my deaf neighbor's house, they fed me way more than I could actually hold.  I was well fed!  Again, they are Muslim and so is the wife's family.  I shared JC with my deaf neighbor and his wife.  My neighbor didn't seem receptive of it and actually tried to "correct" my teaching with his own.  However, the wife seemed more receptive and curious.  It's too bad that my neighbor actually shut off his wife's curiosity by telling her not to ask questions.  I did leave a classic drawing of JC being the bridge between us and the Father.  I left it up to the Spirit to touch the family's hearts with that drawing.  Please lift the family up that they will come to believe in JC as the only path to the Father.

One more interesting tidbit.  On the way to the family, I had to play frogger in heavy traffic.  At one point I was stuck between 2 buses going at least 15 mph and there was another coming towards the gap.  It was scary!  Also the taxi driver was going incredibly fast, weaving between pedestrians, rickshaws, auto-rickshaws and cars.  It was an interesting experience for all of us.  The Father really protected us as we went to and from the family's house!  I can't wait to see what this week will bring me, lessons from the Father and all.  Continue to lift me up!

Week 4

As always, this previous week was chock-full of new experiences!  I rode some buses and met some new deaf people.  I'll start off with my bus experience.

I rode the bus Friday.  It was the most uncomfortable experience of my stay so far.  We had a guide lead us to our city of designation, which was an hour and a half away.  Unfortunately, due to the holiday season it was hard to find a fairly priced bus.  So as a result, we stood for most of the time in the sun waiting for a decent bus to come.  It was incredibly hot, like over 80 degrees.  And we also did not take just one bus, but four different buses.  The last bus was the most uncomfortable.  I had to stand for what seemed like an hour, on a bumpy road, with nothing to hold on to, and mashed against the wall with so many people on the bus.  It was an experience that I would like not to repeat and in those moments I disliked the day.  However, after the events, I realized I was lucky to go through such an uncomfortable ordeal because it was the Father's way of placing me outside my comfort zone to experience new things and to live like a south Asian.  So overall, I'm grateful for the new, uncomfortable experience.  Lift me up that the Father may continue to place me outside my comfort zone whether I like it or not!

Then yesterday (Sunday), my deaf neighbors surprised us by visiting us.  Their stay lasted seven hours, and it tired me out so much.  However, it was such a good opportunity to share the Father's story with them.  I do not know if they understood, so please lift them up to understand the stories I will be teaching them in the upcoming weeks and months.  And also lift me up to share them in an accurate way faithfully.  I also met two new deaf people, one a believer and another a Muslim.  I don't know much about them yet, so just lift them up so they may understand His stories, and me for signing them accurately.  Such an exciting week and more to come, I'm sure!  Thank you for reading!

Week 3

This week's post is a little late, I know.  I actually forgot about it in all the excitement that happened that day!  Anyways, this week was just as exciting as last week's!  I finally got to meet my Deaf neighbors that will be living a couple of floors above me.  The man and his wife are both deaf.  They are Muslim, and were very excited to get to meet me.  They served me food, after food, after food, after food.  It's a cultural tradition to offer guests of their house insanely huge amounts of food.  Obviously no one could possibly finish all of this food, except for maybe world eating champions.  Seeing as I am not a world eating champion, I did not finish all the food.  It's definitely a new experience culturally for me.  People here are huge on hospitality.  After that night, I hope I'll be seeing more of them!  Lift them up so that they can know the Father.  And Lift me up as well so that the Father can use my hands to show my Deaf neighbors His story.

Next on the week's list, I also got to lead story discussion at our Deaf believers' gathering.  That was another first for me!  Since I was new, it was awkward for me to lead and hard for me to keep the group on track during story time and the discussion questions.  However, the Comforter and Helper lead me to abandon the story for now and focus on everyone getting to the Kingdom.  They previously thought they could not get to the Kingdom because they were deaf!  They thought that due to that, the Father could not hear their sign language and they could not hear Him.  As a result, they believed that an alternate was acceptable, namely good works.  My supervisors, who are hearing, tried many times to get them to understand they could go to the Kingdom.  They simply did not get it, probably because they were hearing and could not identify with them.  Now the Father inserted me into that situation.  Once they heard that I know I am going to the Kingdom in the end, their preconceived knowledge was shattered!  They finally had hope they could get to the Kingdom, since I also revealed good works were not enough and relying on the Son was the only way to get there!  Praise the Father!  Lift us up that more false preconceptions will be shattered and the truth will be made known to them.  Lift me up so that I will be more sensitive to the Comforter and Helper to guide me in sharing His truth to them.

Finally, I started moving stuff into my apartment and paid my first month's rent.  I now have fans, A/C and furniture in my apartment.  I now have to just rearrange my furniture to my liking and it'll be home sweet home!  Lift up the electricians that are working on my apartment that they will configure my apartment correctly.  Lift me up that I would not become complacent in my apartment, and go out of it and actively seek people of peace to share the Father's story with.  Exciting weeks to come!

Week 2

So, I did not keep a journal this week as well.  However so many awesome things happened that it is still fresh in my mind!  So I suppose this will serve as my journal for the first two weeks and maybe more to come.  Anyways the first five days were spent in my orientation city and my last two days in my city of assignment.  I shall detail my adventures both these periods.

For the first five days, I've learned a lot from my deaf mentor.  I learned how to craft stories in sign language.  This is a long process spanning a few days (one hour each day) and involves a lot of pictures and coloring.  This was my favorite part of the last week in my orientation city.  I also met a deaf person and learned a few south asian signs!  Pretty cool.  I was commissioned before I left for my city of assignment by my mentor and a journey girl and a few other friends who know sign language.  I arrived in my city of assignment on Friday.

I finally met my supervisors when I landed in my city of assignment.  They were ecstatic to see me!  I didn't really do much this first day except settle in my supervisors' apartment.  The next day I got to meet some other workers at a farewell party of theirs.  I also got my first bills of my city's currency.  Yay, I'm rich!  I also visited a place where only Americans can visit.  An American club of sorts.  There I got to swim and eat American food finally!  A good day overall.

This next day, today, was the most interesting of all.  Today I got a SIM card for my phone to use here, resulting in me getting a south asian number of 11 digits.  Hmm, interesting.  And I found an apartment for me to live in, on the SECOND full day I've been here!  Father moves fast!  This was a cool and funny story that displays His grace and power.

We visited one sector, but I didn't feel pulled to this sector by Father at all.  So we went to another sector, and it was this one!  I felt Him telling me it was this area I was supposed to live in.  The first apartment I felt strong about, and yet it wasn't the right one.  So we went further along down the road to another apartment.  This one was cheaper and saved me a significant amount of money to use to furnish this apartment.  However, I was hesitant to accept this apartment because I wouldn't sign it until tomorrow and the landlord wanted a deposit to hold it and not show it to anyone.  If it wasn't the right one, I would have wasted money.  However I felt Father telling me to say yes to the apartment, so I said yes.  Soon after the fact, a man came into the apartment looking for his brother.  And it turned out that his brother is deaf!  And so is the brother's wife!  Meaning two deaf people live in the apartment I will move into!  Father is so good to me.  It's really amazing how fast His plan for me here is moving.

Please lift me up while I am here to reach out to those two deaf people and the four that are close to accepting JC as well.  Thank you all for keeping me in your thoughts and petitions.  Bless you all.

First Week

So, this first week I will not have much to say.  And for that, I apologize.  I did not keep a journal of my first week.  However, I will start keeping a journal of my weeks to come.  I'm planning on publishing one post a week.  We'll see how that goes!  Now on to my first week.

For security reasons, I will NEVER be able to tell you all where I am.  So don't ask.  Anyways, I landed in my training city and met my Hands On coordinator.  No fear, I am not alone.  I landed with 8 others.  I landed there at midnight, and my first night there was interesting.  The Hands On coordinator met us, then left us on our own with instructions on how to get to our hotel via taxi.  Very anxious time for me as I was left alone with two others who were as novice as I was in our new city.  We arrived at our hotel safely though.  There, we took a tour of the hotel and got a good night's rest.

Now, I won't bore you with the details, but the whole week we just trained for health, security and how to have an effective impact on the people we are responsible for in our city of assignment after this training session.  The training session is over now.  Each night we went exploring in our city.

The overabundance of idols and gods overwhelmed me.  I entered multiple temples over the course of the week.  It is a very dark place and many lost need the light.  So petition our Father for the lost to reach and know the light.  Alright, now that the business is over, on to the humor.  I've experienced culture shock and will describe each one.

Steering wheels are on the other side of the car.  Auto rickshaws. Rickshaws.  Electrical outlets have to be turned on.  Drive on the left side of the road.  Eastern style bathroom.  Spicy food.  Light switch goes up for off and down for on.  Elevator doors have to be opened manually and closed manually.  Shoes off when entering houses.  Crowded metro.  No lanes in roads.  Never touch anything with left hand.  Everything's finger food with right hand (even soupy, liquid stuff), A LOT of beggars.

I'm sure there's more, but again, I did not journal my first week so I've forgotten a lot.  So my request to you all is to petition the Father for a safe trip to my city of assignment.  I will be leaving the 26th.  Until then, this week I will be learning how to reach out to the Deaf more effectively.  Cheers to you all and may JC and the Father rain down blessings upon you all!