[what]S'up, Wednesday?

"[what]S'up, Wednesday?" is a place where I give weekly updates about how day to day life is going here in Wildwood, New Jersey. It will typically include something that has just happened, a "forecast of a schedule (always subject to change), and an update on my financial situation.. :)
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Happenings: We (Azael and I) have been back in Tulsa for 3 weeks now. Adjusting back to a "day job" has taken some time for me, as I get used to our "night shift" schedule that we work the second half of the summer. :(  
I am, however, in the midst of becoming part-time with Cru. A regional staff member and I have been talking about the position we are creating for the growing needs of Deaf students being involved in Summer Projects. Meaning (after I raise the monthly support) I'll start getting paid for what I've been doing on a volunteer basis for the last four years. I like when a passion turns into a paying job to put food on the table! :D

Schedule: When I become part-time staff, I'll start doing a monthly update instead of weekly updates. Beginning next week (in September), I will be changing the "[what]'Sup, Wednesday?" message to come out only the first Wednesday of every month. I'll be following up with all my supporters to see if you subscribe to the blog or would like to receive weekly emails. 
ALSO - for all of you (near and far) you're invited to the [Azael and I's] wedding! :) please go to jennazael.wix.com/sept29 and RSVP for the event, check out our wedding registry and see our fun pictures! :) 

Finances:  I am still a little over $3,000 short for this summer. Being in the middle of wedding plans, I've not had much time to follow up with the budget shortfall. I will be working to balance the account soon. Please see my previous "[what]S'up, Wednesday?" from July for the reason that my account is in a deficit. If you would like to make a monetary donation towards that number please do so here: https://give.cru.org/2870830
I appreciate your generosity. 

Soli Deo Gloria
:D

[what]S'up, Wednesday?

"[what]S'up, Wednesday?" is a place where I give weekly updates about how day to day life is going here in Wildwood, New Jersey. It will typically include something that has just happened, a "forecast of a schedule (always subject to change), and an update on my financial situation.. :)
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Happenings: After 5 days of travel, (staying with friends, and allowing the boys to see some of America = Philly, D.C. and St. Louis) we made it home on Monday! Project ended well. The students had mostly everything packed up before midnight last Wednesday, even when it decided to rain midway through the day as they were loading things into the U-haul. The Deaf students, Azael and myself with a Deaf couple from the community stayed till noon on Thursday and enjoyed one last brunch together of fellowship before we went our different ways. Now we're back in Oklahoma and Azael and I have 46 days until our wedding!  

Schedule: In addition to the month and some change until Azael and I's wedding, I am also continuing to raise funds for the shortfall of this summer, and will begin raising funds for myself to join Cru Staff part time this fall. Cru Summer Projects close their books on August 31st, and so I will be busy these next few weeks trying to find funding for the deficit. If you are interested in joining a monthly support team for either the Interpreting fund, or my own personal work, please let me know. :)

Finances:  I am still a little over $3,000 short for this summer. Please see my previous "[what]S'up, Wednesday?" from July for the reason that my account is in a deficit. If you would like to make a monetary donation towards that number please do so here: https://give.cru.org/2870830
I appreciate your generosity. 

Soli Deo Gloria
:D

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Deaf student Bio's and updates as of the end of Project: Five down, and one to go!

Azael Perry, Heidi Birchler, Joel Herrera, Dennis Alvarez, and Taby Benavides - are fully supported!  Thanks so much for your generosity

Jacob Walden - has $500 left. He is a Community College student in Oklahoma. Involved in the Deaf Bible Study for College Students. I'm so proud of Jacob in the ways he has grown this summer and look forward to how he will apply the tools he's gained here to life back in Oklahoma. You can help him reach his goal here: https://give.cru.org/0766419

[what]S'up, Wednesday?

"[what]S'up, Wednesday?" is a place where I give weekly updates about how day to day life is going here in Wildwood, New Jersey. It will typically include something that has just happened, a "forecast of a schedule (always subject to change), and an update on my financial situation.. :)
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Happenings: Today is the last official day of Project.. This morning the students will have a debrief about the summer, encouraging them to take all the things they learned here and apply them back on their campus. After lunch, it's time to load everything ..(and I mean EverYthInG).. into a storage unit for the summer. This is the first year that we've had to move everything out of the house, and it's a relatively last minute addition to the day's plans.. The goal is to finish the move out by 8pm-ish.. I think that is a lofty goal BUT many hands make light work.. so if you think of us today, please pray that the students would be diligent to complete the task at hand, as we won't be starting this endeavor until around 1pm. (I also need to pack up the van, and get some last minute things done.. so prayers for my sanity are appreciated as well) :D

Schedule: 
Today [Wednesday] Cara heads home in the afternoon.. and Lindsey and Cory leave in the weeee hours of "tomorrow" morning so Lindsey can catch her 6am flight to the mid-west.
Tomorrow [Thursday] we (Azael, myself and the 3 Deaf boys on project) head to Philly to see some of the sights and visit a couple that Azael and I met back in 2010. They are both interpreters. We're looking forward to fellowshiping with them as we start our cross country drive home..
Friday we'll be in the D.C. area..
Saturday it's on to Kentucky to see Azael's friend from college..
Sunday we'll make it back to Fulton, Missouri..
and our final drive home should be on Monday.. *whew* :)

Finances:  I am still about $3,000 short for this summer. Please see my previous "[what]S'up, Wednesday?" for the reason that my account is in a deficit. If you would like to make a monetary donation towards that number please do so here: https://give.cru.org/2870830
I appreciate your generosity. 

Soli Deo Gloria
:D

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Deaf student Bio's and updates as of yesterday:

Azael Perry, Heidi Birchler, Joel Herrera, and Taby Benavides - are fully supported!  Thanks so much for your generosity

Jacob Walden - has $500 left. He is a Community College student in Oklahoma. Involved in the Deaf Bible Study for College Students. I'm so proud of Jacob in the ways he has grown this summer and look forward to how he will apply the tools he's gained here to life back in Oklahoma. You can help him reach his goal here: https://give.cru.org/0766419

Dennis Alvarez - has right at half ($1,000) left. He flew from Honduras on May 31st. He is learning ASL since they use LESHO in Honduras. He has been learning and growing tremendously. Since he only has a 6 month visa from Honduras, he doesn't come from a large support base here in the States, thus he's had trouble knowing how to culturally navigate the support raising process :) You can help him reach his goal here: https://give.cru.org/0758657

[what]S'up, Wednesday?

"[what]S'up, Wednesday?" is a place where I give weekly updates about how day to day life is going here in Wildwood, New Jersey. It will typically include something that has just happened, a "forecast of a schedule (always subject to change), and an update on my financial situation.. :)
          ******************************************************************
Happenings: Update from last week's "happenings" - The Deaf BBQ was AMAZING.. I think we had over 50 people there by the time everyone showed up.. It was a blessed time of fellowship and meeting new like-minded friends. 

Half of the group from the BBQ - 11 Deaf from Wash. D.C., 5 local Deaf,
 15 Project students/Interpreters - eating out for lunch after Church.  

 Speaking of friends, one of my Deaf friends in the area was unable to come, but we have planned to get breakfast Friday morning to catch up; however, my other friend DID come, and enjoyed hanging out with all of us so much that she even joined us for Church the next day. It's my understanding that she is not a Christian, so please be praying that the Holy Spirit would continue to draw her to himself! I'll be running a 5k with her on the beach on Saturday morning. I'm hoping she will meet Jesus before the summer is over..
As far as Project happenings, the student schedule is winding down. Their last days of work are this week and then, next week, they will start packing up and saying goodbye to all their friends here as they head back to their respective home towns and then colleges.. Which will mean lonnnnng hours for us next week as they try to spend all the time they can with their friends before it's over.. 3am - here we come! :)

Schedule: Tomorrow night we'll be interpreting a local event called "A Closer Walk".. it's put on by Morey's Piers (the local boardwalk amusement park owners) for youth groups along the East Coast. The owners are Christians and bring in bands and guest speakers, allow the teens to camp on the beach, and host a 3 day weekend Christian conference at a pier near the ocean. We will be interpreting for Jefferson Bethke tomorrow night - he does a lot of spoken word poetry (which is super hard to interpret on the fly!). After that, our schedule winds down to mostly packing, cleaning and debrief meetings.. Next Wednesday I should have the schedule of our travels home.. some details are still in the works.. 

Finances:  You know that story "The Boy Who Cried Wolf"? Well, that is how I currently feel, except the opposite.. Every year I think I am doing so well with the finances (and my make shift budgets that I set up to help me understand Cru's accounting system), and every year, about this time, I find out there was something that I did not account for and am therefore in the red. I've been saying all summer, "We're good. The interpreting budget is fully funded!".. only to just find out, we're not :(  This year, I was so proud of myself for remembering to add in the 12% that Cru takes out for administrative purposes. Sadly, it turns out, that I forgot to deduct one of our housing costs. And there have been some unexpected interpreting needs (the main one being the Deaf guys team pairing up with a Hearing team for the second 1/2 of project causing us to have to bring in another guy interpreter), that I did not factor into my original budget. So I'm about $5,000 in the hole :(  This is very frustrating for me since I do try my best to be a good steward of the funds entrusted to me. I don't want to end every summer with a plea (like the little boy's cry) to help me get back into the black. 
                                    *hangs head in defeat* :( 
That being said.. If you fail, especially here on Project, it is expected that you get back up and try again.. So, if you are willing and able to help with my shortfall, please follow this link (https://give.cru.org/2870830). Thank you in advance for your generosity!

I appreciate your partnership with me on this journey!

Soli Deo Gloria
:D

[what]S'up, Wednesday?

"[what]S'up, Wednesday?" is a place where I give weekly updates about how day to day life is going here in Wildwood, New Jersey. It will typically include something that has just happened, a "forecast of a schedule (always subject to change), and an update on my financial situation.. :)
          ******************************************************************
Happenings: this weekend the Deaf Students are hosting a BBQ for the local Deaf community ->(Meaning: for as many Deaf individuals that we have contact information for in the Southern New Jersey area.) We also have 11 Deaf individuals from Washington D.C. coming down. I have invited 2 college age Deaf girls that I have personally befriend over the past 3 years that I've lived here in Wildwood. Please pray with me that they will *COME* (as they have a tendency, at the last moment, to not show up).. And that their work schedules would not be an excuse for them not to attend.  :) There should be about 30 to 40 people in all.

Schedule:  Tencia left today. All the interpreters took a short day trip to Philly to see her off. She will be missed. Ashley is picking up the pace of Project well, and Cara (one of the interpreters from last summer) will come down on Friday. Ashley leaves on Saturday, and then it will be Cara, Cory, Lindsey, Azael and myself until the end of Project on August 8th.

Finances:  I have been talking to some of the "higher-ups" in Cru, and it seems that in August I will begin the process of working with Cru part time to continue to develop this position that I have been volunteering in for the last four years.. If you would like information about how to join a monthly Support team for me, please comment below, or send me an email.

Thanks so much to any of you that have donated to Azael's/the students accounts! Below are update info about where they are in their support raising, one student is at full support. :) The students support raising goals are $2850 each.

THANKS so much for partnering with me on this journey!

Soli Deo Gloria
:D

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Deaf student Bio's:

Azael Perry - is fully supported! He has been working solely as a Deaf Interpreter for the past 3 weeks. Unlike the Hearing Interpreters he doesn't have a team, or get a break during the 3 hour meeting sessions. Thanks so much for helping him to make his support goal! We feel very blessed! :)

Heidi Birchler - is about $300 away from her support goal. She is a student at RIT. She is involved in Hands of Fire, will be on their student leadership team this coming fall and  attends Cru meetings on campus. https://give.cru.org/0746231
Taby Benavides - is fully supported!  She is also a student at RIT. She is also involved in Hands of Fire and Cru.
Jacob Walden - is about half way to his support goal. He is a Community College student in Oklahoma. Involved in the Deaf Bible Study for College Students. https://give.cru.org/0766419
Joel Herrera - is almost all the way to his support goal. He moved from Honduras last year, and is involved in the Deaf Bible Study for College Students as well. https://give.cru.org/0760206
Dennis Alvarez - is a little under half way to his support goal. He flew from Honduras on May 31st. He is learning ASL since they use LESHO in Honduras. Azael is interpreting for Dennis (and occasionally Joel, since he's been in the states less than a year) during the meeting that we have most nights of the week and for social times until he picks up more ASL :) https://give.cru.org/0758657

Slacker Saturday!

Sorry, I've been a slacker for the last 3 weeks.. My "[what]S'up, Wednesday?" post has been edged out by wedding planning (71 days away!), and sleep (catching up on 2am mornings.. silly college students that think sleep is optional!) So, today, I'm calling this post "Slacker Saturday" to catch you up on the last few weeks.. I'll keep the same format as "[what]S'up, Wednesday?".. a place where I give weekly updates about how day to day life is going here in Wildwood, New Jersey. It will typically include something that has just happened, a "forecast of a schedule (always subject to change), and an update on my financial situation..  
Thanks for your grace in my delay! :)
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Happenings: Today the students are hosting a BBQ for their coworkers and international friends, as well as the local community. Jacob - one of the Deaf students from Oklahoma - will be sharing his testimony this evening. I'm so proud of him as he takes this step of faith to tell others what God has been doing in his life! :)

Schedule: Tomorrow (Sunday) Ashley comes down to help interpret for a week. She and I graduated from the same Interpreting program. I'm excited to have her here! :) We'll have 5 interpreters again for 2 days (which will be wonderful!) as Tencia leaves on Wednesday (which will be sad!). When TJ left the first week of June, we went down to having 4 terps for 5 Deaf students. It's hard during social times, as they don't always join the same conversations. Going to Zone Defense after being Man-to-Man for a while takes some adjusting >.<   

Finances: Ticket to Seattle for my terp has been booked! Thanks to my wonderful flight donor and his patience with me switching flights! :)

Thanks so much to any of you that have donated to Azael's/the students accounts! Below are update info about where they are in their support raising, one student is at full support. :) The students support raising goals are $2850 each.

THANKS so much for partnering with me on this journey!

Soli Deo Gloria
:D

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Deaf student Bio's:

Azael Perry - is fully supported! He has been working solely as a Deaf Interpreter for the past 3 weeks. Unlike the Hearing Interpreters he doesn't have a team, or get a break during the 3 hour meeting sessions. Thanks so much for helping him to make his support goal! We feel very blessed! :)

Heidi Birchler - is about $400 away from her support goal. She is a student at RIT. She is involved in Hands of Fire, will be on their student leadership team this coming fall and  attends Cru meetings on campus. https://give.cru.org/0746231
Taby Benavides - is fully supported!  She is also a student at RIT. She is also involved in Hands of Fire and Cru.
Jacob Walden - is about half way to his support goal. He is a Community College student in Oklahoma. Involved in the Deaf Bible Study for College Students. https://give.cru.org/0766419
Joel Herrera - is a little over half way to his support goal. He moved from Honduras last year, and is involved in the Deaf Bible Study for College Students as well. https://give.cru.org/0760206
Dennis Alvarez - is a little under half way to his support goal. He flew from Honduras on May 31st. He is learning ASL since they use LESHO in Honduras. Azael is interpreting for Dennis (and occasionally Joel, since he's been in the states less than a year) during the meeting that we have most nights of the week and for social times until he picks up more ASL :) https://give.cru.org/0758657

FrienDay FriDay :D

FrienDay FriDay is where post a "new friend" that I meet, 

or something that is definitive of the Wildwood experience

 that I would text a picture of to a good friend..

Dennis (in the green jersey) is praying before the students go out on the boardwalk to initiate spiritual conversations, asking people what they believe, and sharing the gospel with them. Azael (in the purple shirt) is translating from LESHO to ASL (since Dennis just moved here from Honduras and uses LESHO), and Cory (in the gray shirt) is translating from ASL to English for Damien (in the white shirt), who is a fellow student, who paired up with Dennis. It seems like a long process, but because Azael and Cory are both skilled interpreters, most people that they approached marveled at the smoothness of the conversations..  Praise the Lord for His gift of languages and community! :D