Dear…..people
Well, it’s been QUITE a while since I have been on here huh? Probably most of you have left, that’s ok, hopefully the diehard fans are still here J. I have decided (since I have come to realization that I have NO free time) that I will try to at least update this per summit (and hopefully add in extra ones here and there.)
Our first summit was Rocky Mount, NC, but don’t let the name fool you. Mountains are nigh to be seen in Rocky Mount. Oh well, there’s always disappointments in life. We got to the church on Friday but the truck with all our supplies did not come in for about 2 hours later, so four of us (Trevor, Jason, Nathan, and myself ) got to sit and meet our host family Carol and Jess Harrington. Nice folks, and VERY generous hosts. I have loved getting to know them, and I know that the four boys who stayed at their house will miss them greatly. We started unloading the next day and went right to work, getting ready for the first summit of the year. The first Sunday went off without a hitch and by this time, we had gotten to meet our second host family, the Weeks. A family of 8 kids with a lot of energy, we got to know them as we went out to dinner and played games at their house for most of the nights.
During the mornings as the band members practiced, I would be in my Materials Office, sorting through boxes, trying to find what went where and where went what. It took me most of the summit, but I finally have everything where I want it, so we’ll see how that turns out in the long run. Singing has gone well, I have learned some songs in harmony and I am starting to “hear” it so hopefully by the end of this year, I’ll have it down. The main ministry I have had there is my signing during the songs. When I first arrived, I was on the verge of terror, wondering how my signing was going to be taken by the congregation. However, God has been gracious and no less than 20 people have come up to me to share that the signing has blessed them in some way, WOW!
The final night was probably the most memorable for me. We were having popcorn testimonies, and one gentlemen stood up, and started to share that over his life, he had been plagued with different illnesses, and because of one of them, it has left his cognitive abilities hurt so that he cannot speak as well as he used to. One night, we lead the congregation in a song “King of Glory” that was always done with sign language, and as he signed the song, he found that he was not having trouble with the words because he was “singing” with his hands, and his speech problem was not hindering him. Ever since that night, he signed with me whenever I did a song, praising his Lord with his hands. Wow, when he shared that, it’s like God said “Now you know why you are here.”
God has been good to me and the team. We’ve had great times, good laughs, and a whole lot of fun, and I can’t wait to see what God has in store for us in Illinois!
