Ephesians 5:20 says “Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

Beep, beep, beep…Smash! It’s 7 o’clock in the morning, and a new day of VOICE will begin. On July 16, 2008, I woke up at 7, smashed the alarm clock to let it stop ringing, then opened the curtains. it was a bright and beautiful morning and from the windows, I saw the boys coming back from PT. Then I picked out my clothes, changed in to them, washed my face…etc. And rushed to my group at 7:30. Our team read a chapter in John, and talked about the characters that Jesus showed.

After I ate breakfast, I listened to the Basic Seminar, and learned about the seven principles of life. That day, I learned about the principle of ownership. Before the lesson, I wanted to have control in my life, and I wanted to have a lot of rights to do stuff. But that lesson told me that I have to give everything to God and let Him be in control. And when I let Him be in control, I wouldn’t be angry when things didn’t go my way.

It was Christmas that day, so after lunch, English class (in which we talked about baseball because we will be going to a game on Saturday), and electives, we had our great Christmas dinner! But the best part was after dinner – ice skating!

I love to ice skate! The smooth, cold ice for us to leave our marks on it was so pretty. I got a pair of ice skates and hurriedly put them on so I could got on the ice as fast as I can. I love the feeling of skating across the ice, it really feels like flying! However, time flies fast when we’re having fun, so a moment later, time was up. As we went back, everyone was tired, but very happy. It was one of the most terrific days in VOICE.

Sunny Chiang
Team 6

Today we went to the Oklahoma CityNationalMemorialMuseum. This event was shocking to me, because it’s so cruel. When I saw many picture in front of my eyes I was so sad, because they all are people that died. The pictures are behind the objects, and there are many different things in there, such as lipstick, a car, a key, a ball, family’s picture, a pacifier and so on. I think they are something important or memoirs. When I saw the Chairs, Gates of Time and Reflecting Pool, my emotion was down, and I hope that incident would have never happened before. Though this even has occurred, but I believe God has his reason as like the sufferer forgiven the prisoner, this is the most thing that touched my heart. I want to learn the homework of forgiveness or ask someone to forgive me, I think this is most important in my life, because we all have crimes. If we can do this best, I think God will be joyful with us.

Ashley Wang
Team 6

It’s the weekend. The first week of VOICE is over and the weekend bliss has begun. It’s Sunday and we are just about to head out to Bricktown for a night of shopping and ice cream. Last night was an awesome night at the park. As we were about to load into the vans to make our way to the park, Wes made an announcement of what to do if it starting pouring rain. The sky was getting dark and everyone could hear the occasional thunder. We all cringed as we where on our way over to the park, crossing our fingers in hopes that the rain would hold over until after our fun was over. As we all gathered at the park to begin playing a hilarious game of “capture the ball”, Wes told the students that he thought we should just pray and ask that God would just hold back the storm so that we wouldn’t have to go back. So we as a group, bowed our heads and made a simple request asking God to interfere in a way only He could.

The games began. Whether It was kicking around a soccer ball in bare feet, swinging, football…everyone had loads of fun. We played and played, and still no storm. As we starting packing up to go back a couple hours later, it occurred to us that the storm passed right over us.. That’s just how amazing our God is. 🙂 It was an awesome display of His power and how much He cares about even the small things.

This past week, for me, has been a continual reminder of the power of our Heavenly Father. I can’t wait to see what God has for this week….

Oh and I wouldn’t recommend playing soccer without shoes. You might be in some pain the next day. 🙂

Priscilla Chapman
Tesol

Photo credits: It’s time for…FOOTBALL!! By voice.conference web album

“Yeah! I am finally here!” I said to myself as I am stepping out the airplane. Gregory, Jocelyn and I, three of us walked out of the plane to the baggage claim. The airport was so empty, that you could even hear some echo when you talk. The three of us walked through a lot of shops, but they were all closed. We stood in front of the “belt” and waited for our luggage. This airport is very empty compared to the one in Hong Kong. The Hong Kong airport is filled with people arriving and departing almost every minute. However, the airport here in Oklahoma City is very quiet. There are around five to six luggage claiming “belts”, but only two of them were moving. I’ve found my luggage and as did Gregory and Jocelyn. Unfortunately, we don’t see anyone here that is going to pick us up! It is quite scary to be at a place you’ve never been to and nobody is there to help you. Luckily, Rachel and Davina arrived before we wanted to go and look for them. We all get on the van and Wes drove us to the training center. It was already 9 in the evening. But it was still bright outside. I can clearly see all the houses and trees on the road. It is a very peaceful place!

Stephanie Chin
Team 5