My team ~ Team 6

Posted on July 26, 2012 by Administrator

I love my team and feel comfortable with them. At the beginning, our team was very quiet during team devotions, everyone seemed so passive. But now we’re all like sisters. Our first team leader Grace L. went home because of her sickness. She told us her story and encouraged us before she left for home. And Ada is our new team leader now. We still pray for Grace every night.

Ada printed some cards that said “ I’m grateful for…” and “I see God in….” Every night when we have team prayer we have to answer one special question and pick one of the cards and share them with everybody. Then we fold the card into the shape of a heart. It is very complex. We put all of our hearts into a box filled with grateful hearts for the end of the conference. Besides the routine, sometimes we take turns to translate for Andy, because there is only one American on our team. I think it is a good way to practice English too. Thanks, God for giving me such a great team.

Lingo Liu

Team 6

The morning class

Posted on July 25, 2012 by Administrator

We have a very important class in the morning everyday. I think the lessons are very important for me. The classes teach me about having a relationship with God. “The relationships with parents and family,” has been a big part of Mr. Gothard’s talk. I learned a lot of things from Mr. Gothard. This has helped me a lot.

After the class this morning, I leaned about four spirits. They are, a reverent spirit, a grateful spirit, a servant’s spirit, and the last one is a quiet spirit. I think the servant’s spirit is important for me. The Bible says, “If you want to be a leader, first you have to be a servant.” That is so important for me. And I think I need a quiet spirit, because I always worry about everything, and that makes me feel fear. But one thing I should know is, “God is omnipotent.” I shouldn’t worry about anything. Because God already prepared everything for me. God is real.

Job Wu

Team 4

Host Family

Posted on July 25, 2012 by Administrator

We visited an American family on Sunday afternoon. This family had six kids; four girls and two young boys. Their home was very big and beautiful. They were very kind and we had a good time. We played with their two young boys. They were so cute that we just couldn’t stop playing with them. We also had a wonderful dinner and perfect conversation with the family. Oh, thank you God. Everything was just so wonderful. I will remember that day forever. I hope I will have a chance to meet this family again in the future.

Alex Sui

Team 2

Thanksgiving

Posted on July 24, 2012 by Administrator

Thanksgiving is a festival celebrated throughout America every year. It originated when the Mayflower first arrived in America and the pilgrims were unable to grow any crops until Squanto, a native American, taught them how to grow crops. The first Thanksgiving happened when the first crops were harvested and the ravenous pilgrims feasted with their harvest. I could imagine the great joy they experienced and the overwhelming feeling of relief shining in bright smiles on their faces. Although I failed to express the same amount of joy yesterday at the feast, I was still very glad for the food. I liked how we got a background story on Thanksgiving and the buffet was quite good. All but the cake with white topping, and the cornbread muffin tasted delicious.

I was almost afraid my stomach would explode out of fullness. I really liked how we had to think of something we were thankful for before we ate the candy corn, and the flamboyant Thanksgiving tree with numerous leaves of thanks because many often celebrate Thanksgiving for the food and forget the meaning behind it. They forget that Thanksgiving is a time for each person to thank God for everything that He did for them, whether good or bad, and that they must remember the main focus of this festival is not on the delicacies, which includes the mouthwatering pumpkin pie and the juicy turkey dipped in chicken, but on the Lord. We often go on in our lives without stopping to thank God for everything we have for we view them as things God must give to us, when they really aren’t. Thanksgiving works as a great reminder to us to remember to praise and thank God for everything he has done for us. I’m looking forward to see how we celebrate the other festivities as it truly interests me how Americans celebrate their holidays!

Florence Lau

Team 7

Jerry’s story part 2

Posted on July 21, 2012 by Administrator

In Voice, Jerry is a fun, interesting person. I didn’t know he had a sad childhood until today. I cried when I heard his story because it was not only touching, but it also made me think about my past. When I was 4 years old, my parents divorced. At that time, my younger sister was just 2 years old. I remember crying every day in the first year that they divorced. I kept complaining and asking God “Why? Why did this happen to me? I don’t understand your plan.” But now, when I look at my past, I’m very thankful. Because of my different childhood, I’m more independent than other classmates. I believe that God has his own plan. He will use me just as he used Jerry.

Helen Wang
Team 5

Thanksgiving Day

Posted on July 21, 2012 by Administrator

Before yesterday, I was starving every meal. When I heard Valentino say that the Thanksgiving dinner would have turkey, I was very excited and looked forward to eating it. Before dinner, we had to chose our table by drawing a card. I got “Delight.” It means feelings of great pleasure.

On the table we got five pieces of candy and one wish card. We had to think about one thing before we eat each piece of candy so we wrote about 5 things we were grateful for. We wrote them on the wish card and put it on the tree. We took a lot of pictures during the night and had a lot of fun after dinner. We played games and listened to the story about “死光頭” (Squanto.)

I really like Thanksgiving.

Sean Liao
Team 1

Jerry’s story part 1

Posted on July 21, 2012 by Administrator

After hearing Jerry’s story, I felt my life has been very fortunate. Unlike Jerry’s life, my life has been a lot easier. I haven’t had any cigarettes, drugs, or any alcoholic things. His parents got divorced when he was young, buy my parents are still together. I go to church every Sunday, and I’ve never doubted that there is a God. Staying away from bad friends is what my parents told me to do, and he said so too. I am really satisfied with my family, because my parents let me make my own decisions.

After today, I will thank God for all the things that he created and all the things that he gives me. I must be more obedient in the future. I also learned about four different hearts of humility during the morning. I hope that I can learn more things in the future at VOICE.

Sean Lee
Team 2

My first weekend at VOICE

Posted on July 18, 2012 by Administrator

My first weekend at VOICE was one that was full of exciting events. Not only did I get to learn more about the ways of God, I was also able to meet many new friends. On Saturday, we went to a mall in Indianapolis and did some shopping. Unfortunately, I didn’t manage to find anything interesting to buy. However, I had a great time fooling around with friends and taking lots of pictures.

On Sunday, we visited a nearby church and listened to a very inspiring sermon. The pastor discussed the power of the tongue, and how it can cause a lot of harm (James 3:7.) A particularly interesting tale he shared was how a newspaper article four newspaper reporters wrote ended up being the catalyst of the Boxer Rebellion in China.

After attending the church service, the entire group of VOICE campers travelled to downtown Indianapolis to play a round of scavenger hunt. Not only did this activity help build closer relationships within my team, but it also left us feeling very hot and sweaty. Overall, this weekend has been a great opportunity for me to make new friends and learn more about God.

Serene Lam

Team 5

They’ve arrived!

Posted on July 14, 2012 by Administrator

You may not be able to tell, but Dr. Chen arrived with the final group of students– after 45 hours of travel. We are so glad they all arrived safely!

The students dove into English Placement testing this afternoon…

…followed by musical auditions.

This evening, Dr. McCray and the Verity faculty and student body hosted all 80+ VOICE conference participants at the McCray home for ice cream, volleyball, and games.

We had a great first day and are looking forward to Day 2!