Directly in the Middle of Awful and Beloved

As I have mentioned before, my job consists of the highest highs and the lowest lows with a few boring hours thrown in the mix.

Just for your reference, here is an example of boring:

Interpreting surveys so that a client can get a "free gift" of a t-shirt with a puppy on it...not life altering!

This is another post that will fall right in the middle of awful and beloved. In January I interpreted for a United Methodist, youth conference, in Ocean City. This conference hosts christian artists and has around 6,000 attendees. Needless to say it is kinda' fun to be on stage! (brag brag brag)

I went to this conference my first year in Baltimore and the worship leader was a man named Reggie Dabbs. He brought with him a group called "Masters Commission". Reggie is hilarious and MC preforms live music videos that are inspiring and blunt. I remember thinking as I watched that first year that the skits were motivating but more serious than necessary for a group of youth. I never experienced drug and alcohol abuse as a member of Warren First UMC's youth group.

This year on the other hand I had some experience under my belt. As I interpreted the closing service, Reggie asked all the adults to "hug their babies". Hug your babies! Show love to those youth who need it so desperately in their lives. It could have been the powerful music that moved me or the literally thousands of youth that were standing, saying "I have been hurt by this life!" It could have been both. It could have been the stories that ran through my head as I interpreted, the Deaf boy I know who grew up with no one to communicate with and experienced abuse at home and rape at school. It could have been the Deaf boy I know who held another boy down during a sexual assault. It could have been the girl at church I see every Sunday who has so much potential and a family that has taught her that she needs to hit and punch to get attention. Whatever the reason was, I no longer felt that the message was too harsh. I felt it was just right! I was moved by the message of love for those who need it and forgiveness for those who have done terrible things. I was moved by the youth leaders that got out of their seats and hugged their babies for what could have been a half an hour. I was moved to tears, crying like a baby up in front of 6,000 people.

That evening was beautiful, the experiences were not. This is the world that some youth live in. Some are like me and they play bite the onion with friends on a Friday night, and some have experiences that call us to "hug your babies!" This evening was life altering. Now, go hug some babies! Peace.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cyheJ480LYA

Avoiding the Exploitation of Those I Love

I haven't updated my blog in a long time. The reason is only partly due to the fact that there are ten thousand other things to do in life like... get married, be there for my mom who has cancer, and work. Other than those factors I have mostly stopped updating my missionary blog because I linked it to Facebook. Before I could write entries about my experiences as a Church and Community Worker missionary and I was fairly sure that few would read it. Once I linked my blog to Facebook I not only became aware of the public(ness) of it, but I also began to think about the individuals I write about. I thought about what they would think if they saw their story being told. I struggles with how to tell the stories, the funny, exciting, heartbreaking stories of the Deaf and Deaf-Blind individuals I know, with respect. How would I share their experiences so that others can learn about the struggles and joys that face Deaf individuals while at the same time not exploiting those I love. I came to the conclusion, with the help of my new pastor and friend, that from here on out:

I will not use real names

I will tell true facts but...

I will combine many different stories in order to hide identities.

I will continue to post pictures of individuals who have given me permission but the pictures might not be of those mentioned in the post.



Here's to moving forward! Peace!

Conversations with Strangers

Yesterday I picked up a Deaf man from Damascus, Maryland and drove him into Baltimore City. The hour long drive from the man’s house to our final destination was filled with pleasant conversation about marriage and children, Deaf services and American Sign Language skills. He was not a client of the Deaf Shalom Zone except for the fact that we were asked by his Social Worker to provide transportation so that he could get into the city to pick up his four year old Deaf-Blind son from the hospital. We were told that his son was dying and he needed to be with him. I didn’t know this man and didn’t want to pry into his life so I left him at the front doors to the hospital knowing very little about his son’s illness or even his name. While we chatted in the car he seemed distant at first and then slowly began to ask me questions about my life. “How many children do you have?” “Is your finance Deaf?” “I like your driving.” I would like to say that the easy conversation was helpful for him during such a hard time but he might have just wanted to fill the empty space between the seats of two strangers. His name was James and I might not ever see him again but he and his family will be in my prayers. It is easy to feel at times like all we do at the Zone is transport people around and in this case that is literally all I did, but I hope that is was more James and his son. I hope throughout the rest of my ministry that I get the opportunity to transport more strangers, preferably for cheerier reasons, and share with them pleasant conversation. I also hope that I continue to meet different people from all walks of life in any moment in their life. I want to drive strangers to the hospital, the job interview, and the laundry mat, to their homes and to church and I look forward to the Christ that we will share with one another.

Tips for selling drugs at church...

#1 Don't.  Don't sell drugs period.  That probably seems easy enough but unfortunately I have to say that.

#2 If you are going to sell drugs at church don't put them in an envelope and write "to___ from___" on it.  This tends to be a dead giveaway as to who sold it to whom.  

#3 If you put the drugs in said envelope, don't put a note in the envelope that says "$125 Buy this drug please, not tell no one ok!"  

#4 and probably the most important... If you happen to ignore steps 1-3, it is best not to drop the drugs on the floor of the sanctuary while walking up to the alter to be prayed over for your birthday, this tends to defeat the purpose of selling/buying the drugs in the first place and ends up getting you in a lot of trouble.

Crazy things like this don't happen at my church because it is a deaf church. Things like this happen at my church because everyone is welcome.  Today we sereved communion and everyone walked towards the front of the church to taste the body and blood of christ and to know that they are all a part of that body.  The drug dealer, the ex-con, the immigrant, the social worker, the lay leader, the preacher, all are welcome.  Lets be very clear, we do not condone selling drugs, buying drugs, or any such self destructive behavior by any means, but we also do not turn anyone away from the body of christ and we hope that by coming to church and feeling excepted and loved that they can kick the bad behavior and drop more of their envelopes on the floor on the way to communion and leave them there for good!  Peace.

Deaf TV

I walked into my office the other day and one of the youth from church was watching a video on-line.  I asked him about it and he told me that it was from something called www.deaftv.com.  I wish I would have known about this during my first few years of learning ASL.  It is a great resource for anyone who is looking to advance their receptive ASL skills.  It is also great for all my Deaf friends as a source of media completely focused on the Deaf community.  Take some time and check it out!  Also, if you are looking to practice ASL try searching for Deaf Vlogs on Youtube.com this is a place where you can practice skills and learn what Deaf community memebers are going thinking about important issues.  I appologize to those Sign Language imparied friends of mine but most of the vlogs videos on deaftv are not captioned!   Peace!

Wordle

 

GBGM article

The Deaf Shalom Zone was featured on the General Board of Global Ministries website. Please enjoy the article below. To read the article on the GBGM wesbsite please visit http://gbgm-umc.org/global_news/pr.cfm?articleid=5118

Peace.

Deaf Ministries Have a Heart

New York, NY, August 21, 2008--In American Sign Language, the sign for Methodist is the same as the sign for enthusiasm. This is historically appropriate, and many United Methodists today are excited about deaf ministries and communicating through sign language. One place of such enthusiasm is the General Board of Global Ministries.
Ministry with the deaf on a church-wide basis was launched by the 2000 United Methodist General Conference, the denomination's quadrennial legislature, and was assigned to Global Ministries. It continues as a creative, innovative, and global emphasis.
Bishop Rev. Peggy Johnson was a consultant with Global Ministries' deaf ministries at the time of its inception and was pastor of Christ Church, a congregation for the deaf at the time of her election to the episcopacy in July 2008. She is the author of Deaf Ministry: Make a Joyful Silence, which makes it clear that ministry of any kind, and especially with the deaf, is a matter of the heart.
The scope of ministries with people with hearing challenges has expanded into international and policy-making arenas.
"This international emphasis is empowering in many ways; in many places, deaf people are stigmatized," says Dr. Cherian Thomas of the Health and Welfare unit of Global Ministries, which provides staff services to the United Methodist Committee on Ministries with Deaf, Late-Deafened, Hard of Hearing, and Deaf-Blind People. The marginalization, unfortunately, also takes place within the Methodist family.
At the 2008 General Conference, one of the sign-language interpreters, William Suggs, was both deaf and blind, the first time a person with both conditions was invited. A participant in the Deaf Shalom Zone at Christ Church United Methodist Church for the Deaf in Baltimore, Maryland, Mr. Suggs passionately translated into sign language for the 900 international delegates.
"He is an amazing musician, visually beautiful at signing," says Mary Gladstone, a Church and Community Worker and a colleague of Suggs at Christ Church. "Whenever we lead a group he says, 'My name is William Suggs and I am a famous signer.'"
According to Ms. Gladstone, deaf people prefer to see deafness as a language difference than as a disability.
Building Bridges of Understanding
In recent years, there has been an increase in the number of mission trips for and with individuals who have hearing challenges. Groups have met, communicated, and empowered one another across national boundaries.
Significantly, the July 2009 meeting of the United Methodist Congress of the Deaf will be held in Seoul, Korea. The congress celebrates and promotes Christian leadership and discipleship within the deaf community.
Rev. Joo Hai Kang, campus pastor atGallaudet University, Washington, DC, the leading center of higher education for the deaf in the United States, is deeply involved in planning the Seoul event. According to Rev. Kang, international exchanges are valuable for sharing information on deaf ministries and in encouraging evangelistic and social outreach to the deaf.
"We can get stronger and stronger by the global cooperation among Methodist churches for the deaf in the world," he says.
Sensitizing people to hear the challenges of the deaf and emphasizing their common humanity is an important part of the committee's work. One program for achieving that goal among young people is through the Hands On mission week at the Deaf Shalom Zone in Baltimore.
This year, 30 teens spent a week learning sign language, renovating houses for deaf or deaf-blind individuals, and creating friendships across language barriers. Gladstone considers Hands On a great success. "We've had praise from the participants," she says.
Several congregations across the United States have significant ministries with the deaf, and the need for sensitivity to this community is growing. Local churches with defined health ministries are the most likely to grasp the opportunity deaf persons represent.
Patricia Magyar, RN, a Global Ministries health and welfare staff member, is enthusiastic about the positive role parish nurses can play in building bridges across the spectrum of hearing abilities. Increasing numbers of congregations have health ministries and full- or part-time parish nurses.
Magyar also encourages congregations to set up committees on ministries with the deaf, late-deafened, hard of hearing, and deaf-blind people, using the model of the general church committee.
The denominational committee is made up of pastors and laypeople who themselves have various levels of experience with hearing and deafness. Throughout the last few years, committee members have made presentations at 13 United Methodist seminaries, funded work in 14 countries, trained new leaders, and funded listening devices for churches.
A renewed attention to deaf ministries coincides with the United Methodist commitment to global health.
More Information and Support of Deaf Ministries:
The United Methodist Committee on Ministries with the Deaf, Late-Deafened, Hard of Hearing, and Deaf-Blind: http://www.umcsignsofsolidarity.org/
*Mary Beth Coudal is a staff writer for the General Board of Global Ministries.

Deaf Shalom Zone Promo

Check out the new DSZ promotional video and the newly updated website www.deafshalomzone.org!

Deaf Shalom Zone fundraiser

Hey everyone! The DSZ recently enrolled in a fundraiser with Verizon. If you are thinking about signing up for Cable, internet, or phone services please give some thought to using Verizon and calling in our tracking number. This is a way for us to raise funds that does not cost the zone or it's friends any more money than they were already plannign on spending anyway. Please see the flyer for more information. Thanks for your continued support of the Zone! If just 100 people sign up for the Triple freedom package the Zone will receive $6,500. That would be a fantastic way to support the life changing services that are offered by the Zone. Thanks again everyone! Please spread the word! Oh and read the information carefully because there is a certain number you need to call in order for verizon to recognize that you want the donation to be made to the Zone.

If you would like me to send you the flyer so you can post it up at your church I would be more then happy to do that!

Here's what you need to do:Order a new Verizon product from the list below to help us earn donations.For example:

Order new Verizon FiOS® Triple Freedom with TV, Internet, Phone and Long Distance, we earn $65.

If you are an existing Verizon FiOS Internet customer and you order new FiOS TV service, we earn $20.You must place your new Verizon order by calling 1.888.695.5299, the specialVelocity sales number. (Call Monday through Friday between 8:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. EST.)

You must provide our 5-digit tracking code at the time you order: 12583.

Place a new order* for one or more of these qualifying Verizon products and earn the following donations:Verizon

Verizon FiOS® Internet - $25.00

Verizon High Speed Internet 3.0 Mbps - $25.00

DIRECTV® Service - $20.00

Verizon FiOS® TV - $20.00

Verizon Freedom Calling Plans - $10.00

Verizon Long Distance - $10.00

Additional Line - $10.00

Peace.

Hands On Wednesday and Thursday

Bradley Showed off his interpreting skills by opening the evening devotions during a bible drama put on by MYE.

Thursday Night, Hands On participants had the opportunity to experience what it would be like to be Deaf Blind. They used masks and ear plugs and then took turns leading each other around to different crafts and games. Alexa and Kalena tried to practice tactile signing while Colin helped Craig draw.

Brian's mask was the funniest although all the masks had their own flavor.

During the work day Bo Jangles hung out on the couch while the green group finished up the living room they were working on.

Kathleen and others used their creativity to add decorative embellishments to the walls.

The Pink team smiled for the camera on their lunch break. DeAndre, on of the youth from Christ UMC of the Deaf, worked with the group all week.

The pink team poses for the camera.

The yellow team spent the day trimming bamboo. Before they came home they decided to make walking sticks, out of the bamboo, for all the participants.

Carl, Heidi and Parker enjoy their lemonade while using their bamboo straws.

Hands On Tuesday

Tuesday Night the group played "The Game Of Life" Envelopes, consisting of a name tag and fake money, were handed out to each player and they were told to "succeed". The game simulated the daily struggles of people from differing socio-economic, gender, and race backgrounds.

Players lined up at different instituions trying to obtain jobs, money, material goods, and educations.

Craig was lucky, while everyone else was struggling to succeed money seemed to fall on him out of the sky.

During the day Brian decided to draw a representation of Carl's rabbit riding habbit. I thought it was great!

Hands On participants have the opportunity to leave daily reflections on the cork board upstairs.

The Green team continued to work on a Deaf Woman's home and in keeping with the youth tradition, they too were covered in paint!

When Brian isn't drawing on paper he spends his time painting on walls! The Blue team worked very hard to prepare the walls in their home for paneling. They spent more time preparing and cleaning then it will probably take to apply the paneling. They are really making a difference for the Deaf man who lives there. Tom cut the paneling while John and Brian helped.It seems as though the participants and the Deaf community are all having a great time!

Hands On 2008 Sunday and Monday

Hands On 2008 started on Sunday July 6, with 30 participants from 3 different churches and church groups. This year we are proud to have Birmingham UMC, Metro Youth Encounter, and Sandusky UMC. Sandusky UMC participated last year for our first Hands On year and the other two groups are brand new. After attending the noon service at Christ UMC of the Deaf the group checked into their dorms at UMBC and headed off to Patapsco State Park. After burgers and hotdogs the group got together and played the elephant game with members of the Christ UMC's Deaf youth group. After dinner everyone headed back to the vans to relax at UMBC before a long hard day of work and Sign Language classes.

Monday morning began with ASL class with Carol Stevens; during the class participants were given their own sign name while learning the ASL alphabet. After class everyone broke into the Pink, Yellow, Blue, Green, and Purple groups and left UMBC for their work day.

The Purple group spent the day working on the Sanctuary at Christ UMC of the Deaf. They brought supplies down from a recent roofing job, hung drywall, and moved furniture. During lunch the group took time to pratice their Sign Language skills by playing the name game with their new sign names.

The Yellow group traveled the furthest and spend the day painting the home of a Deaf couple. As with most Youth group missin trips, it was not really clear if more paint ended up on the walls or the youth.

During lunch Carl took the opportunity to pretend like he was riding a rabbit while doing his name sign. It has been great spending time with my brother Baltimore.

Just like last year the groups spent one of the first nights watching the PBS special "Through Deaf Eyes". At the end of the night Christ UMC's intern led evening devotions and then the group headed back to UMBC for games and some much needed sleep.

Please pray for the participants of Hands On and keep them in your thoughts this week!

Stay tuned...more to come

Things I have learned about being disabled, since I had knee surgery...

1. Just because your handicap bathroom has support bars DOES NOT MEAN IT IS HANDICAP ACCESSIBLE! If you can't fit a wheelchair in the stall...IT IS NOT HANDICAP!

2. Crutches are fun for about 3 min... then they are not fun ever ever again.

3. If your resturant has an elevator but it is filled with garbage and you wont let people use it... YOUR RESTURANT IS NOT HANDICAP ACCESSIBLE!

4. Everyone has the best of intentions... but no! I do not need your help in the bathroom stall!

5. Carrying things is not easy! Thank you Anna for teaching me the hip bump move!

6. Hershy park has motorized wheelchairs you can rent. (I learned this after Andrew pushed me around for the whole day... Sorry Andrew!)

7. Spiral stairs are not easy when you only have one leg to use.

8. Everyone is super nice and wants to hold doors for you or help you carry thing outside. (YEA! HUMANITY!)

9. Doors are HEAVY! It is VERY hard to open doors when you are on crutches!!!

10. The threat of fires is much more scary! I have no idea how I would get out of my house if there were a fire.

that is it for now! I will update this more as I think of more things to add! Peace.

Deaf Shalom Zone receives Volunteer service award from the Governor

The Governor's Office of Deaf and Hard of Hearing nominated the Deaf Shalom Zone, Inc. for the Governor's Volunteer Service Award and out of 300 applicants the DSZ was picked! This was a great honor for the DSZ! About 50 of the 300 were chosen to receive this prestigious award. The Volunteer Service Award ceremony was held on earth day. Lt. Governor Anthony G. Brown stated that earth day was a very appropriate day to honor Maryland's volunteers because volunteers help to better our earth in everyway. Thank you to everyone who attended the awards ceremony to show support to the Deaf Shalom Zone and a special thanks to the Governor's Office of Deaf and Hard of Hearing for thinking that the DSZ was worth nominating! The DSZ exists through great volunteers and friends like yourselves! peace.

*Disclaimer* Jesus fish tattoos are cool too!

A few months ago I covered up my jesus fish tattoo with a tattoo of a sankofa bird. I did not do this becuase I wanted to cover up jesus-which would not have worked anyways since you can still see the jesus fish underneath the sankofa bird tattoo but that is a different image for a different post- but instead, because in an act of vanity I did not want to have the same tattoo as many of my friends.

Now when people see the tattoo on my foot instead of saying "Oh, a jesus fish huh?" they say "why do you have a chicken tattoo on your foot?" This second question sparks conversation and that is something I cherish. After this question I would fly through the Wikipedia definition of a sankofa bird.

"The concept of SANKOFA is derived from King Adinkera of the Akan people of West Afrika. SANKOFA is expressed in the Akan language as "se wo were fi na wosan kofa a yenki."
Literally translated it means "it is not taboo to go back and fetch what you forgot".
"Sankofa" teaches us that we must go back to our roots in order to move forward. That is, we should reach back and gather the best of what our past has to teach us, so that we can achieve our full potential as we move forward. Whatever we have lost, forgotten, forgone or been stripped of, can be reclaimed, revived, preserved and perpetuated.
Visually and symbolically "Sankofa" is expressed as a mythic bird that flies forward while looking backward with an egg (symbolizing the future) in its mouth."

Then I would finish with "See! It is NOT a chicken!"

Recently an important person in my life introduced me to a great Ben Harper song called "How many miles must we march" As I was listening to the song this morning I realized that it describes the exact reasoning for my tattoo. From now on I am going to keep copies of the song in my purse so that when people ask me about my chicken tattoo I can hand them the song.

What a blessing it is to be able to view Christianity in so many ways! peace.

Ben Harper - How Many Miles Must We March Lyrics

Exactly how much will have to burn

before we will look to the past to learn.

We walk along this endless path which has led us in a circle.

So here we are right back we can't let the future become our past.

If we are to change the world,

won't you tell me, tell me please,

how many miles must we march?

How many miles must we march?

When I was a baby,

I was not prejudiced,

hey how about you?

This was something that I learned in school,

something they taught us to do.

We can't let the future become our past.

If we are to change the world,

won't you tell me, tell me please,

how many miles must we march?

How many miles must we march?

There must come a day

when a box is not somebody's home.

The unfinished work of our heroes must truly be our own.

We can't let the future become our past.

If we are to change the world,

won't you tell me, tell me please,

how many miles must we march?

How many miles must we march?

How many miles must we march?

How many miles must we march?

How many miles must we march?

How many miles must we march?

Live B.I.G

Last year in December I wrote an entry about our Christmas pagent at church. The group that came to video tape our production was Live B.I.G. Live B.I.G is a United Methodist Curriculum and can be purchased at cokesbury. We are obviously featured in this time of advent as we prepare for christmas. For more information you can go to http://ilivebig.com/

Merry Christmas!
Mary

Pay... Pay AT...PAY ATTEN... PAY ATTENTION!... what was I saying?

This semester I have been working with my pastor Rev. Peggy Johnson at Maryland School for the Deaf. Every tuesday afternoon we drive to Columbia and teach religious education to those Deaf kids whose parents give them permission to participate. The class consists of around twenty five kids ranging from age 4-15 years old. Peggy teaches the older kids and I agreed to teach the two 4 year olds.

Peggy and the other volunteers tried to include the two youngest with the older kids the first week but it didn't prove successful. I joined the seecond week when Peg said she needed help and in the back of my head I thought "OH, cute little 4 year old Deaf hands signing things like God, and Jesus, and The wonderful love of my blessed redeemer way down in the depths of my heart!"

What is wrong with me?? I have counseled for two years now at Deaf Kids camp what planet was I living on?

The first week I felt successful just keeping them from pulling out the cords in Peggy's computer. The second week I took them outside and we played on the swings. I told myself that it was still Christian education because I was showing them Christ's love. The third week I felt guilty so I tried to teach them that God had created the World. I brought little toy earth balls to give them and the lesson went like this:

First I chased them around for ten minutes to get them to sit down, then I gave them the earth balls (Bad idea), then while they (of course) were staring at the toys I had just given them I tried to get their attention. Just for those of you who have never tried to get the attention of a Deaf four year old, it is basically like trying to get the attention of a hyperactive fly.

I signed:

"pay!"...then they would look away.."pay At!"...then they would look away..."PAY ATTEN!"...then they would look away..."PAY ATTENTION!"... by this point I was not signing pay attention anymore I was instead doing that Robert Deniro thing from Meet the Parents where you hold up two fingers, glare at them and point at your eyes and then their eyes.

Then once I had ten seconds of continuous attention I signed "God made the world." and I pointed at the toy while they looked at me confused and I realized they didn't know the sign for God or who God was so to them it look like I had given them a toy, made them not look at it, and then signed "Blwasek(insert any made up word here) made toy."

By the end of the semester we had worked with their mom to implement a behavior management plan that worked (HALELUIAH!) and the two Deaf hyperactive four year old angels knew that God made the world, Jesus was God's son, Christmas was Jesus's birthday, and that God was more important than food, fish, cars, toys, etc..

God was present in the whole process, teaching me to teach more effectively using videos and games and rewards. God was in the glue that they would use to make a ridiculously awful mess while watching the videos because they needed to be doing something in order to concentrate and God was in my hands and theirs. Thanks be to God!

I am still amazed everyday at how God Can communicate without langauge in so many ways. The class is over now until after Christmas break. We start teaching again in January. If anyone has any good ideas that are simple and use little verbal or signed communication to express christian ideals I would greatly appreciate the help! Merry Christmas All!

Bread and Justice

O God, just as the disciples heard Christ's words of promise and began to eat the bread and drink the wine in the suffering of a long remembrance and in the joy of a hope, grant that we may hear your words spoken in each thing of everyday affairs:
Coffee, on our table in the morning;
the simple gesture of opening a door to go out, free;
the shouts of children in the parks;
a fimilar song, sung ny an unfimiliar face;
a friendly tree that has not yet been cut down.
May simple things speak to us of your mercy, and tell us that life can be good.
And may these sacrmental gifts make us remember those who do not recieve them:
Who have their lives cut every day, in the bread absent from the table;
in the door of the hospital, the prison, the welfare homethat does not open;
in sad children, feet without shoes, eyes without hope;
in war hymns that glorify death;
in deserts where once there was life.
Christ was also sacrificed; and may we learn that we participate in the saving sacrifice of Christ when we participate in the suffering of his little ones. Amen.

Rubem Alves, Brazil, 20th cent.
the United Methodist Hymnal pg. 639

A silent Shout out about HIV/AIDS

This is an article currently on the Global Ministries website about my friend Harry. Some of you have heard me talk about how devastating HIV/AIDS is to the Deaf community. enjoy!

Over the past 26 years much has been reported about the rising cases of HIV/AIDS in the US and abroad. However, there’s little known about an extraordinary group of survivors that gather a few times a year at the Quality of Life retreat in Baltimore Md.—the community of the Deaf. Raising awareness with a hand sign and openly discussing their personal journeys of living with HIV/AIDS, this program offers encouragement and hope.
The Quality of Life retreat is a special project of the Baltimore-Washington Annual Conference, and the General Board of Global Ministries’ Health and Welfare unit provides additional support. The retreat, open to everyone hearing and Deaf, empowers participants with life strategies that help them live with HIV/AIDS. The program is facilitated by The Deaf Shalom Zone Inc., Christ United Methodist Church of the Deaf, Baltimore, Md."My experience at the Quality of Life retreat was so great. It helped me to find myself, my inner place, my spiritual home, my peace, my purpose in life,” so signed Rev. Harry Woosley, Jr., the leader of the Deaf AIDS community in Baltimore. “I want to help others to find life like I have,” he continued.Harry was sponsored and provided with interpreters to attend the retreat and is educating three high risk groups about AIDS— Deaf-blind people, a group of Deaf inner-city young people, and Deaf people living in group homes.
A Safe Place
The retreat offers a safe, loving environment in which participants can be themselves, free of fears and inhibitions and can openly discuss their deepest concerns and challenges about living with HIV/AIDS. The retreat offers an opportunity for participants to get away, interact with other HIV-positive individuals and learn effective techniques and attitudes for long-term survival.
Currently, there are an estimated 24,000 culturally Deaf individuals in Baltimore and 300 are reported Deaf AIDS cases. “HIV/AIDS cases are four times higher in the Deaf community than in the hearing community,” according to Carol Stevens, coordinator of The Deaf Shalom Zone. This fact alone demands society’s attention to this often overlooked community.
Case Managers at Work
Agencies that provide services to hearing individuals are often inaccessible to the Deaf, therefore, The Deaf Shalom Zone includes case management services to help the complicated needs of Deaf people living with HIV/AIDS. Case managers help secure individuals who have contracted the disease but have no health insurance, medical care, medication or financial support. Case managers are often the shepherds through the process until individuals gain independence.
The Quality of Life retreats and case management services for Deaf people with HIV/AIDS are just another example of how UMC gifts go to work.

Hands On Closing celebration

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A46m4vxuv20