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| "You are the first all-signing and majority Deaf team to come to our school...." Rev. Ray McDaniel, director of MCCS (Mexico Centros Cristianos Para Sordomudos/Mexico Christian Center for the Deaf). |
 For photo album, click here. |
| For five years, MCCS has received mission teams to build the campus and repair donated appliances, yet only a few were able to sign with the children. The team from Lovers Lane was the first where all interacted in sign language. |
| On June 24, seven people left Lovers Lane for Rio Bravo, Mexico. Our team members were Rev. Tom Hudspeth (hard of hearing), daughter, Lossie (9, hearing); Peggy Key (hearing), daughter, Nicole (17, Deaf); Nicole Moody (16, hearing, Tucson, Arizona Community Church); Joshua Rucker, (16, Deaf, New Life Deaf Fellowship, Fort Worth); and Trevor Swearingen, (15, Deaf, FUMC Rowlett). An eighth team member joined us in San Antonio, Janice Aronson (Deaf, Deaf Church Northern Hills UMC). We stayed the night at the Methodist Mission Home. |
| Sunday morning, we worshipped at Northern Hills UMC. The lay minister of their Deaf Church is Sam Carpenter (hearing), a detective for the San Antonio Police Department. At Sam's invitation, Rev. Tom preached a sermon in ASL, "Christ on the Border." Sam then led a blessing of the team, followed by a church lunch. |
| Five hours later we rendezvous with Ray at the McAllen airport parking lot. Our trailer had 14 school desks, bulletin boards and a white board donated by the Weekday School at Lovers Lane. We crossed the border in the MCCS van and trailer. |
| Three kilometers from the town of Rio Bravo sited on 27 acres of land, MCCS is bordered by irrigation ditches and small trees. There are five buildings, and a sixth unfinished building - a school to house up to 150 deaf students. Currently, there are 27 Deaf students, ranging from age 5 to 17. One student is 27 years old, who began to learn sign language three years ago. |
| In Mexico, a deaf child is not allowed to attend public school. Hearing children may attend school for free to the sixth grade. Children attend school in the morning and leave in the afternoon to work his/her family’s farm. |
| Yet, at MCCS, Deaf children go to school all day, studying to achieve a sixth grade education or better. Scholarships from churches pay for their education. |
| On Monday morning, we decorated the dining hall for Vacation Bible School, hanging "Fiesta!" banners and adobe village backdrops, which had been made by the Lovers Lane VBS and Children and Family Ministry Team. At 1pm, a faded yellow school bus, whose chipped black lettering identified its Arlington County, Virginia origins, arrived with the Deaf students. They smiled when they saw our Deaf teens introduce themselves, signing, "I'm Deaf". The students are learning both ASL and Mexican Sign Language, as well as Spanish and English. Some students have learning difficulties, yet, all were eager to memorize scripture verses and excited to converse with us. |
| The rest of the week we painted, mixed concrete, prepared and delivered VBS activities. As MCCS students signed "Jesus is our friend", we learned to write, "Jesus es nuestro amigo." Highlights were dramas for the daily Gospel story and making "Jesus te amo/ Jesus Loves Me" blankets. |
| We left on Friday, June 30. We spent the night at the Methodist Mission Home, reflecting on Rio Bravo. The next day we went tubing at Blanco State Park, and returned to Lovers Lane that evening. As storm clouds gathered above and large drops of rain fell, we closed with signing, "Praise God from Whom All Blessings Flow." |
| Please contact Rev. Tom Hudspeth at thudspeth@llumc.org about supporting MCCS through your prayers, financial gifts, and/or a future mission trip. |
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2006 Deaf Teen Mission to Rio Bravo, Mexico