DEAF VBS 2012 "Put on the Armor of God"

 

¹¹ Put on the full armor of God so that you can fight against the devil's evil tricks.¹⁴ So stand strong, with the belt of truth tied around your waist and the protection of right living on your chest.¹⁵ On your feet wear the Good News of peace to help you stand strong.¹⁶ And also use the shield of faith with which you can stop all the burning arrows of the Evil One.¹⁷ Accept God's salvation as your helmet, and take the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. Ephesians 6:11, 14-17

We had Deaf VBS at my house July 30 - August 3 and used this Armor of God theme.  The children memorized these verses, made crafts, played lots of games, ate lunch and went swimming in the afternoon.  The week was fun and full of smiles. 

The "belt of Truth"

Jaheed and Raheem modeling the "Breastplate" which was our VBS T-shirt.

The shield of Faith

The helmet of "right living".

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This was a fun Bible memory game.  One of the verses was cut up into small phrases.  Each phrase was put inside a balloon and then the balloon was blown up. The teams had to pop all of their balloons by sitting on them and then gather allt he phrases and glue them together in the right order without looking at the model.

Here's another Bible memory aid for the shoes of the Gospel of Peace.

Mid-morning we took a break, had popsicles, (called "paletas") and then played games in the building adjacent to my house.

 

This game was a race to see who could chew their bubble gum and make a bubble first.

 

Water balloon volleyball....catch the balloon in a towel with a partner and send it back to the other side of the line.

We were blessed with 5 sunny days.  It rained the entire week before VBS and the week after!  I had a movie as a back up plan but we never used it.  Everyday we swam at a different place.

One of the places we swam had a waterslide.

This is Jaheed swimming straight for the wall because in the beginning he did not know how to swim.

Here Jaheed is again on Day 4.  This pool is about 4 inches over his head when he is standing on his tippy-toes...He practiced and practiced until he had it figured out.  We were so proud of him.

While some of the kids cleaned up from lunch the rest watched the Olympics.  Swimming was on.  When Misael and Raheem got to the pool they had Olympic fever and tried to dive in and race with different strokes just like they had seen on TV.  They saw this picture and they said, "That's us doing the Olympics!"

Sulmi wants to learn to snorkel so she can go diving at the Coral Reef.

The kids were thrilled to find that one of the pools had a trampoline. It was the first time on a tramp for all of them.

Our First CODA VBS. So much fun!

 This was the first time I did a VBS for Hearing children  who have Deaf parents.  I included the two 4-year old deaf children that i teach and their sibs.  We had lots of help:  Kristel came to help with the babies. Angelica came to help in many ways but especially as a signing model for the hearing brothers and sisters. I asked all of the mothers to participate because I wanted the Deaf Moms to practice signing with their children...(they tend not to) and I wanted the Hearing moms of the two deaf children to learn some signs.  So we were a big mix of hearing and deaf learning about God and learning ASL at the same time.  I praise God for all the ideas and the way all the helpers made it run so smoothly.

 This adorable guy is Glenford.  He's 4.

 We began with a very short singing/worship time and an introduction to the theme for the day. 

The themes were Who is God? (He made the world.)  God made you.  God loves you.  God wants us to love each other.

 God made the world and all of the animals.  Here I am teaching Glenford's older sister the sign for tiger.

 Every day we played games.

 This is Selena's littlest (Jenay) playing with Joshue.

 Everyday we made a craft related to the theme.

Kristel was invaluable as baby holder.  Here she is with Alva's 8 month old Joshue.

 And because they are little we had a "free play time".  It was a good time to try and teach them a few signs while they played.  This is Glenford and his little brother Rennick.

 Lejandro, hearing neighbor of Selena (Deaf Mom).  He was an angel and so quick at picking up sign vocabulary.

 Morine (in pink) and her sister Adriena.  Morine is one of the 4 year old Deaf preschoolers that I teach.  Both are so cooperative and so smart.

 This is Glenford's mom reading to her daughter.  She can sign many words and was SOOOOO helpful. 

 Whenever we did anything (craft, game, worship, play) Angelica jumped in and taught ASL vocab. Here she is signing "flower".

Here Angelica is teaching Selena's oldest (named Selena) the sign for ambulance while they play with the transportation blocks for threading.

Girl's Night is Grooooowing!

      We have a Bible study and  evening meal for Deaf women every Friday night. We are currently using a study called A One-Year Guide to Growing in Christ-like Character.   The study is from CORE Discipleship, an online resource.

      Ours is a mixed group in many ways ...not only do we range in age from 56 (Martha) to 8 months (Joshue), at least 4 of the 10 people in our group never went to school, can't read, and use only "body language". Simple signs like "woman" or "man" aren't understood, so we have to try to experiment with gestures until the meaning of the verse or thought is conveyed. It's tough, but we are all getting better at it. 

 Yaniry is preggers with her second child.  She is 34.   I am praying the baby is healthy. Her baby is due Sept. 8.  It looks like August is going to be a long month for her.

 

After the Bible study and meal we always end up standing in a circle and just gabbing.   Often Alva is the center of the conversation.  Watching how groups work is interesting...but I think the reason Alva is usually the center is not only the power her persona commands, but also she is soooooo verbal.   She likes words...likes writing and reading... while many of the others find it hard to communicate their thoughts and ideas.

It's wonderful to see how God is encouraging this small group of believers.  They are trying to walk the narrow way and help each other.  I wonder sometimes where they would be if we did not have a Girl's Night. Maybe they would be alone at home and trying to walk the way of Jesus on their own.  It's good to have sisters on the journey.

Just OK?

 

This Chinese restaurant is in Orange Walk. It has been here about 7 years.  I always think it is kind of funny that they named it "OK Restaurant".  I mean, who wants to eat at an "ok" Chinese restaurant?

But honestly I think I understand...Living in Japan for a little while I learned that "OK" is sort of a submissive "at your service" kind of word.  "Ok, I will do it for you, no problem". Maybe that is what they were intending. ???

 Evidently some other Chinese family here decided to move in next to their competition.   What did they name their restaurant?

 Excellent Restaurant!

Ha!  It makes me laugh every time I pass it.  When I showed Sulmi the pictures she said, "Yeah, funny, but the "OK Restaurant" has better food."    True!  (smile)

How to Catch a Mango

 

My mango tree produces the most preferred kind of mango.  It's huge, and full of yellow/orange pulp.  Even though it really matures in August or even September while the other mangoes mature in May and June, people come to my gate in May, when they see them large and green, hanging from the tree.   They shout "Miss, Miss, can I pleaaaasssse have some mango?"  If I come out to the gate and say, "Oh really, they are quite hard.  It is better to wait until they are more ripe", the SAME children or men will be at my gate tomorrow saying "Miss, Miss, can I pleaaaasssse have some mango?"

For the first couple of years here in Belize I tried hard to say firmly "We will wait."  But that takes so much energy.  At least 8 times a day a different group of children or adults will repeat the same refrain. At which point my dog runs our to the gate and barks at them (thinking he is "defending the fort").   I can't allow him to  frighten children, so more than 8 times a day I go out to the gate and say "Not today."

And then what is worse is while I am in bed at about 11:00 at night my dog (who sleeps inside because he gets covered with mosquito bites outside) often goes into a frenzy because some boys or neighbors or young men have jumped my fence and are knocking down the mangoes and stealing them.

So now after 6 years of mango protection and trying to wait to let them get even larger and ripen, I gave up this year.  I figured that I would be in Maine in July for 10 days and during that time surely some boys or men would jump my fence and strip the tree.  So this morning, when a fruit seller came to my gate with his wife, granddaughter and son saying, "Miss, Miss, can I pleaaaasssse have some mango? "  I said, "Take as many as you want."

While the Dad took a long stick to hook the mango by the stem, the son and wife "caught the mango" to keep them from hitting the ground and breaking.  They will get between $1 and $2 in the market for each one.  Some of the mangoes will be sold as a snack.  They will peal the skin off, and cut them up into small strips.  The "green mango" which is really a light orange in color, will be sold in "dolla" bags with chile-sal and lime on them.

It feels somewhat of a relief to have them all down, but I will sure miss them in August. 

Just an Update

1st Row: Josue,, Raheem, Jahhed, Sulmi, Elizanie, Manuel, Misael, Alma.  2nd Row: Martha, Angelica, Yelitza, Alva, Kristel.   3rd Row: Yaniry, Edgar, Prudencio, Sherwin

 "I thank God for all of you because your faith is growing more and more.  The love you have for each other is increasing." (2Thes 1:3)

This Sunday we talked about what it means to grow in faith, and what it takes to grow.   I am seeing so much growth and want the whole gang to be open to letting God encourage them to mature in faith even more.

Edgar continues to resist the temptation to go drinking with another Deaf young man who tempted him last Friday.  (It was payday.)  He also has invited a homeless, orphaned, deaf young man (Prudencio, age 21) into his home.  They had met at Deaf Camp at CDI last summer. Edgar and Manuel are both sharing clothes and food with Prudencio, giving freely and generously.

Edgar's mother helped Prudencio sign up at the Town Council office to get a job cleaning the drainage ditches.  I thank God there was one available.  She said that Prudencio can continue to live at her house and pay a weekly sum from his earnings.  It looks like through the grace of God, Edgar and his mom, that Prudencio has found a "home".

Sherwin again confessed during church that he wants to walk the straight and narrow.  I think his confessions are honest, it's just very hard for him to re-make himself.  Jesus can help if Sherwin will let him.  But it is hard for Sherwin to let go of his "bad boy" attitude and behaviors. I am praying that he has the courage to listen to the Spirit of God.  I also remind him that God loves him even more than I do.  He's not beyond forgiveness.  It's good to see him come to church and "say the right things"...

Elizanie and Sulmi are praying at lunch in the school cafeteria.  They are the only ones who bow their heads and silently say a blessing before they eat. I asked them if the other people look at them and think they are weird or showing off.  Sulmi says she doesn't care what they think and tries to not draw attention to herself...she just pauses and closes her eyes for a few minutes.

At Girl's Night we had 10 women plus two babies! (A houseful!) We continue to study the Characteristics of God, so that we can learn specifically how to be like Him. This past week's focus was "Thankfulness".  The way it works is we pray, sing some songs, and then launch into the study. We close by praying for each person.  When the Bible study is over, we have a meal with beans as the mainstay (such as nachos).  After eating I start to clean up and  usually two or three of the women will help while the others try "not to help".  Hmmmm.  I usually give people jobs but they tend to feel "put upon".  I keep praying God will work this out and they will take responsibility without my telling them to.   SO.....this past Friday we were eating the nachos and most were finished when Alva handed her baby to Martha, got up and said "I'm doing dishes!"  In the 6 years that I have been leading Girl's Night, Alva has never helped without being asked.  A-maz-ing! 

So...all this growth is a good thing.  It gives me goosebumps to see how God is so present with us, but I'm also reminded that we ALL (me included)  have a long way to go.  Thanks for your continued prayers that we grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord.