California State University - Northridge

Now that we are beginning our 2nd year at CCCD, we are beginning to get repeat teams. This can be either good or bad, but mostly good. This week, we welcomed back California State University Northridge Deaf Studies group. We loved this team last year and we loved them again. About half of the team was deaf and they all signed. Not only did they all sign, but they approach sign differently than what we learned in Jamaica. Appropriately, the hearing team members will sign all of the time when in the presence of the deaf. Not only do they always sign, but they do not use their voice. Understandably, this creates a more respectful atmosphere for the deaf and it allows the signer to sign more "deaf" as they are less likely to use the common speaking word order. Anyway, suffice it to say that we did alot of signing this week. It feels weird to say that because we do alot of signing every week, we work with the deaf. But, this week takes it to a whole other level. It was great for our signing progress and we loved the interaction. The leaders of the team do a great job of planning and are very interested in the experience as well as the work. This type of attitude makes for a team that is much more flexible. The team did lots of extracurricular activities to expose themselves to more deaf on the island. We were blessed by there presence and their alternative perspective to deafness and deaf culture. Our limited knowledge regarding the deaf is clearly exposed by a group like this and we love to soak up the information and perspectives on different issues. Anyways, we thank CSUN for their efforts. We also pray for the group that they may take a piece of Jamaica back with them in their hearts and more importantly, for those who were not Christians, that they may have seen the gospel in Jamaica. We ultimately pray for the seeds that were planted to grow by His grace. Praise the Lord! You can see some pictures of the week HERE.