It’s a wonderful day for beginnings. We went to the church in the Sunday morning, and we recieved lots of messages from God. In the afternoon, we had some special things happened that we need to go with the host family by each groups. Branda and I were in the same group with one host family, but they just have two sisters in their family, called, Catherine and Naomi. I was surpised of her name was the same as mine. And both of them knew the Teacher Ruth and Joel. That’s cool, because we have more topics of conversation about them. We went to the artist market first. That was a little different from Taiwanese creative market, but it made me surprised too. Afterwards, she brought us to go to shopping. The mall were very different, before I thought that it would be like a department store. We were glad to go shopping with Catherine, who was so nice to accompany for us. At the end of our outing, they took us to a pizza restaurant. Both of us had were so full that I can’t walk more. They were kind and friendly sisters and I won’t forget them.

Naomi Su

Team 6

In the morning class sometimes, I really want to sleep. But I tell myself “don’t sleep, it’s expensive.” Dr. Bill taught me more about Authorities rules, which is useful in my life. It can help me clearly understand some rules I didn’t know. Joel’s story touched my heart very much because I did the same thing before I came to VOICE. It really hurt, but I learned that my God is bigger than human love and I have to obey my parents and my God. Because they can protect me and instruct me in the right way I need to go. I think in VOICE the morning class is the most important part because it teaches us the rules in the Bible.

I had so much fun at the Thanksgiving night. The mashed potatoes, turkey, pumpkin pie, and all the other food tasted very dilicious. And the decorations of the table and the wall looked beautiful. Every person at each table shared the three things they were thankful for, and then everyone made the pumpkins with papers which were filled with our thankfulness. I also learned many interesting customs and traditions about Thanksgiving. And the “apple game” brought much fun for everyone. After the wonderful dinner, everyone sang songs and thought about how great God is and how His grace brings so much blessing to us. It was a really thankful and happy day that I had.

Esther Chen

Team 5

I’m in team 6. Ruth is our team leader. The reason that I’m in VOICE is to get to know more about God. Ruth always has some questions for us to think about. Some of them were some questions that I have never thought of. I enjoyed the team devotions every morning, because it made me to learn more about God is, and what God means in our life. I like that team 6 always share stuff with each other. My heart always feel touched during team devotions, because we were not praying for ourselves, but also for other people we care about. Although VOICE just started a few days, but got to know God better. Being in team 6 is just like I am at home with my family. I can share anything with my teammates, I’m happy to be here. Thank you God for guiding me to VOICE.

Cindy Yen

Oklahoma is really hot, but I love here so much. Without VOICE, the best thing that I thank God for is my roommate, Lydia. She is a cute American, only 19 years old. At night, we can share deep things from our heart. Moreover, I taught her Chinese and she taught me English. I think after these two weeks, we will have a wonderful relationship. The second best thing is I have so many friends here. The friends that we can learn together, worship together, share things; moreover, because of them, we can know God more. This is my first time to come to America, I believe it will be awesome.

Uria Hsiung

Team 5

Hi everybody, Reuben Mitton here. Today we had an awesome time with the VOICE students doing a lot of really fun stuff. So I will give you a run-thru of how my day went. I got up around 6:30 and had my personal devotions, I was also able to finish some reading I needed to get done. At 9:30 all the TESOL guys had team devotions. After we finished, we joined the VOICE students for an awesome brunch. Next on the list was some free time for us TESOL students while the VOICE students took an English placement test. Then both VOICE and TESOL went to see the Oklahoma Capitol building. Many of the VOICE students described the Capitol building as “really really big.” Apparently Oklahoma’s Capitol building is relatively small in comparison to other State Capitols, but the VOICE students enjoyed the experience nonetheless.

After the Capitol we went to a restaurant/soda shop called “POPS” where you can choose from 500 different kinds of pop! Next, we all went SHOPPING!:) It was really fun because we had to buy a small gift for a White Elephant gift exchange, so everyone had a great time trying to find various odd items. After the outing we had dinner, then free time, team prayer, and then off to bed.

As I sat in my room on Thursday night, waiting until I went downstairs to greet the VOICE students, I wondered what it was going to be like for the next couple weeks. I had no idea what to really expect when I came for TESOL, so I had a very open mind.

The firstday was incredible. The level of enthusiasm of all the VOICE students was inspiring. To arrive at midnight, sleep for a few hours, and then start their day, and at the end of it still want to keep talking and interacting and learning, was impressive and showed the level of eagerness that they all have.
After breakfast the VOICE students had their first session, an orientation for the rest of their time here in Oklahoma. The TESOL students had class as well. Everybody got back together for lunch, and after lunch the VOICE students began the assessment tests. The tests consisted of a listening portion, a writing portion, and a speaking portion. These tests are very important so that each student can be placed in the proper level of English class.
After the testingwas over, auditions for the musical started! All of the students were divided into small groups, and practiced one of the scenes, and then performed in front of the directors of the play. It was a lot of fun to practice how to act out the different parts, and help the students learn the lines in English.

One of the most important meals of the day, dinner, was followed by a couple hours of “icebreaker” games. Simple games that helped everybody get to know each other, learn other students’ names, and be comfortable with each other.
Overall, the first day was very long and intense, but it was a lot of fun. I’m looking forward to the rest of my time here in Oklahoma City!

–Alexander Ganahl, TESOL

VOICE 2011 has officially begun! By early Friday morning each student arrived safely and by Friday night had a full day of orientation, introductions, sessions, food, and games.

Having signed on with Liana (Mary Chen), one of Hollywood’s big name agents, Diggory (Valen Copu) finds himself surrounded by people who think the first step to becoming a star is to change his name. (Other soloists: Kevin Kang, Anna Ke, and Hans Chen)

Diggory soon finds himself signing on with Gale (Lauryssa Milner) for his first movie, only to be thwarted by an actor’s strike. He uses his power of truth-speaking to persuade the studio to proceed with the film anyway. In the process, he meets his co-star Monica (Brianne Hogan), whom he has to persuade in a different way…

Meanwhile, Diggory’s father Godwin (Shaun Lin) finds himself not only struggling with the loss of his son but also on the brink of career disaster. Because his son Diggory used his share of the family company stocks to fund his new movie, a rival company seized those stocks in a hostile takeover of Godwin’s company. Here, at the conclusion of Act 1, we hear Godwin struggling with doubts over the decisions he has made as a father…

Visit VOICE’s YouTube channel for more videos! (And if anyone has one that’s not here, please let us know!)