Jagna Elementary School

Today we drove an hour and a half to Jagna Elementary. This is the team's first visit to a Deaf school. We arrived and it was blazing hot! We played dodge ball, various ball games, parachute and tug-o-war out in the sun.

We then headed undercover where we performed our dramas. We have four dramas this year. One of them is one we have done the past few years: The Redeemer. We have three new dramas: Jonah, Sticky Chair and Everything. Jonah was scripted by one of our team members and tells the basic story of Jonah disobeying God and then finally realizing his sin, once inside the whale. Sticky Chair is a Young Life script where there is a chair with a sign saying, "Do Not Touch." Many people touch the chair and get stuck to it. It isn't until they confess and repent of their sin (touching the chair) where they are able to let go of the chair. The final drama Everything is the most touching. It's hard to describe this drama or at least put it in perspective for you. If you feel led, you can watch it yourself at http://youtube.com/watch?v=U_M33GcJAmU I am still moved every time I watch it, and I've seen it many times. There are some hard things to watch, but when we perform this drama for the younger students, we adapt it for their level.

Our last activity with them were crafts. We have white stuffed bears in which they use markers to decorate. They receive a white, Styrofoam plane in which they also decorate. The last craft is making a beaded necklace or bracelet.

We said goodbye to the students are proceeded to eat lunch at one of the four Garden Cafes on the island. This is a restaurant run by the Deaf and funded by IDEA. The students are trained in high school and have the opportunity to get a job at these restaurants, following graduation. It's a great opportunity for these students. There is one friend that works at this particular restaurant, Francis. I met her the first two years I came here, when she was in high school. We made a connection then and now she's working at this restaurant. I'm always excited to see her.

From here we traveled home for a brief stop before going into the city to shop for supplies. One thing that surprised me and Josh, the leader, was he had asked the team if they had wanted to eat dinner at McDonald's, just around the corner. Not one person raised their hand. Instead, we chose Pizza Hut. We then headed to BDA, my future home, for Bible study.

Every Wednesday night, the Deaf pastor, Mart, leads a Bible study for about 50 Deaf students. We arrive plenty early and socialized while they ate dinner. That's when the monsoon hit. Most of us become sopping wet, including me. I don't remember even being chilly in the Philippines, except for this night. Because the monsoon lasted around two hours the roads were not safe, as the pastor rides a motorcycle. He didn't come, so they asked me if I would preach.... yikes! I came prepared with my glasses to interpret for the Deaf pastor, but now I needed to prepare something on the fly. I decided to have the team perform "Sticky Chair" and then I expanded on it for several minutes. The students were interacting and it just felt good to be up there again teaching about Jesus.

I also saw MANY students that we had prayed for last year. Two students specifically, I had really bonded with and had some deep conversations with, came. I was SO excited to see them and to see them still running after the Lord, after knowing they've had some pretty hard, physical abuse this year.