In VOICE, I am on team 3. Our team leader is Joel. He was a nice guy. He always takes care of us. In team 3, we do a lot of things together. Not only do we play games, but also we share a lot of things we have learned.

We have to do push-ups, because someone was late, and we do it for the punishment. If the total is more than fifty, we always share the punishment. I like my team. I’m glad to meet my team members.

Jerome Lin
Team 3

Team 4 is a very lovely team. I’m deeply in love with my team. Here are my team members: Pearl Lin, Elise, Tiffany, Zoe, Laura, Manda Zau, Mary, and our team leader, Faith!

Team 4 shares everything. In our group, there is no secret between each other. Team 4 brings me a feeling of home, I love to talk and share things with my teammates.

We cried and we laughed and we shouted together. Everything in team 4 is wonderful and great.

P.S. Team 4 rules:
-Member must know and do the “dead fish.”
-Every Team 4 member must share their things with everyone in Team 4.

Manda Zau
Team 4

I love all members in my team. We like to share our feelings with each other. If someone has any problem, we are willing to give them our advice or help. I’m really happy that I can join this team.

There are eight people in my team, including our leader, Rachel. I still remember that I couldn’t really understand what people said in the beginning, because my English is not good, but after a few days, I could finally understand. I really appreciate that our leader always translates for us.

I like team prayer very much, because each person will share their life story with us. Maybe we’ll be sad about what they say, but we know that God will comfort us, and give us much more strength to go through everything.

I love team five, and I love everyone in my team forever.

Tina Cheng
Team 5

Now, it’s the fourth day in the Northwoods. I love it here! We have a lot of forest, lake and bugs here. I don’t like bugs. They’re annoying.

The activity which I love most is boating! I’ve taken a lesson for boating in Taiwan, so I really enjoy boating here. I also love the night scenery here. It’s so awesome! So many stars! I wish I could live here.

On Saturday, we celebrated a festival Chinese people do. It is Chinese New Year! Yearly, this celebration usually takes place at the beginning of the year but since we’re not staying at VOICE this long, it took place in August.

Chinese New Year usually is a time where families gather and celebrate. So this time it’s different for me!

The day before, I helped Mrs. Chen with a few delicacies. It was such a fun time for me! Yet I was lucky too as it was the first time I cooked. No one got sick and people seemed okay with the food. I hope that this experience could motivate me to learn more cooking at home!

Alex Luk
Team 2

In Oklahoma I learned a lot. I try to speak with other people. I also try to learn another ball game. I meet foreigners. I try to act in a musical. It’s very funny. I learn some history about Oklahoma. I make a lot of friends. They are very kind! It’s very fun in Oklahoma.

Aron Fu
Team 1

My favorite evening activity we have yet had was Memorial Day. Having the privilege of making so many seasonal visits to the States, I did not ever recognize how Memorial Day is a holiday. So when this evening celebration arrived, I was confused and wondered why my family never celebrated this day the way we’d celebrate the holiday because it was a new idea to me. In fact, the beginning of this celebration was very close to breaking the record of my “worst holiday list.” It wasn’t until later that night which turned my perspective on this holiday.

When I heard a TESOL student explaining to a Taiwanese student what “memorial” means, I gasped at the very thought of people dressed like Native Americans, holding torches and dancing around a bonfire of dead people, burning to ashes. The very image sent shivers up my back. Obviously, I was being silly, and I was proved wrong for my preconception of this holiday during the dinner. Afterwards, we were brought to a cemetery and back to the Memorial Museum’s Reflecting Pool to reflect upon the holiday. On the car-ride back to the training center, my heart felt so heavy. My thoughts were unstable, and I was beginning to feel agitated with the idea of VOICE bringing us to such disturbing places. I did not want to go to sleep that night with the thought and images of a bunch of dead people. So I began singing gospel songs to myself to callous myself.

Arriving back at the training center, we were told to go back in the dining room for Prayer Meeting. I walked in grumpily, with a horrible attitude of whining to go back to my room as soon as possible.

But after sitting there, listening to Joel’s explanation of this holiday, my heart felt heavier and heavier, my breathing started turning into panting. This time, the stress is not out of disgust… it is out of guilt. The words “It was my sin that held Him there…those nail pierced hands…” from the song “How Deep the Father’s Love for Us,” won’t come out of my lips. I thought of how I was the soldier who used that hammer and banged the nail into Jesus Christ’s hands, I placed those thorns onto his head, I caused those scars and marks all over his forehead. I murdered Jesus, I murdered my friend, the Son of God, my teacher, my coach, my guide, my groom!

That night, it was very hard to fall asleep.

Tiffany Lam
Team 4

In this weekend we learned the football game. That is a very exciting sport. People who must touch them together are powerful. But I’m not interested a lot in football. We are not good at that, so sometimes we just stay and watch other people catch the ball and run. I prefer basketball over football.

Andy Liu
Team 1

“Queen of the Dark Chamber” is the first musical I have ever been in. I was really nervous when it was time for casting, but in the end my nerves calmed down and I was able to recite my part. I was cast as Sister 3, a member of the Tsai Family that lived in the Qing Dynasty. The musical is focused on the seventh daughter of the Tsai Family called Christiana Tsai, played by Tiffany Lam. Back then, many members of the Tsai family were very much into opium and gambling, and as a result they lost a huge amount of money.

As the musical goes on, the peaceful setting of China changes as the warlords come about rampaging the villages in search of valuables and the head of each family. Most of the Tsai family was Buddhist, and they were all in shock when their seventh daughter changed religions and believed in Jesus Christ. Through the different scenes, you are able to see how God protected them from many dangers.

This is a true story, and it is an honor to be able to perform it.

Jessica Loo
Team 5