Tag Archives: Luquillo School for the Deaf

December!?

December 11th, 2019

The pictures above are from NOVEMBER. What was happening that month that prevented us from updating you!?

Oh yea! we were preparing for a visiting work team from Arrowhead Bible Camp and then enjoying the team from Arrowhead Bible Camp. WORKERS they were! Our project was to paint and refresh our school chapel which is celebrating its 30th anniversary in 2020. While here the Arrowhead team did it ALL – finished the project, finished other projects, went to 3 different beaches, kayaked the biobay, had and early Thanksgiving dinner with the school kids, made Diego cry, zipped over Toro Verde in Orocovis, attended the Deaf church in Hato Rey, rode horses at Hacienda Carabali and enjoyed a private afternoon as Las Paylas. In a week.

If you cruise the site, you will see BEFORE photos of the chapel. here are the AFTER ones:

On the day the Arrowhead team left, our school principal received a phone call that Pam Eadie Mowbray had died. Pam was our principal from 1986 through 1996. Pam came to PR and began working at the school in January 1971. She culminated her teaching career here with us 2005(?). Betsy, our principal, has been helping Pam’s husband Alan with odds and ends to tasks. If anyone would like to send him a card or message: Alan Mowbray, Condo Playa Azul1, Apt 1304, Luquillo PR 00773

And now we are preparing for the end of this semester:

December 11, 2019NewsChristian School and Chapel for the Deaf, CSCD, Deaf education, Deaf Puerto Rico, deafness, Escuela para sordos, Luquillo School for the Deaf, Mission work team, Puerto Rico, Puerto Rico sordos, short term missions, World Mission to the DeafBetsy Hoke

September 2019!

September 11th, 2019

I have attempted several times to update this blog and every time, some internet monkey stops my progress. Hoping today will be different and hoping that you have been praying for the ministry in spite of our lack of updates.

Last Wednesday after lunch, the two older students decided to try volleyball while the two little boys were trying baseball. Carlos, our groundskeeper was trimming and three dogs played nicely together. Will wonders never cease!

Our days are HOT and we are so thankful for the tropical storms passing by out of our range. A small breeze would be welcome but let me tell you, I am happy to not have had the BIG storm here.

We are praying for the people in the Bahamas who are now experiencing WORSE conditions than we had in 2017. We cannot imagine having a storm sitting on us for 36 hours… incessantly pounding. WOW. The pictures we are seeing make all of us thankful here for the mountains that block winds and the cement structures which are most common. If you are interested in giving to someone who is already working for Kingdom Purposes in the Bahamas, I can recommend PRAYING PELICANS MINISTRY OR CHAMPS MISSIONS . Both of these ministries have connections already established with churches and people in the Bahamas. I know the Praying Pelican ministry and a friend recommends the Champs Mission group. You can look into those or other places if you have a heart to help that island nation.

Check out Mike and Glenda Coupe’s most recent newsletter to see what they are up to. Right now, (Wednesday at 4:30) , Glenda is working with Natalia – 3 year old deaf girl – on ASL/language development while Mike is in the States.

Pray for our new student JJ – he is 8 years old and works hard to keep us working harder! Pray for wisdom as we will have him only for a few weeks – his dad is military and deployed somewhere so he and his mom are visiting family here until dad is home to be helpful with that hard work I mentioned in the last sentence!

thanks for your many prayers

September 11, 2019NewsChristian School and Chapel for the Deaf, Christian School for the Deaf, Deaf education, Deaf Puerto Rico, Escuela para sordos, Evangelical School for the Deaf, Luquillo School for the Deaf, Puerto Rico sordosBetsy Hoke

August 2019

August 27th, 2019

Mizael came back to school

Check out the link above to read more about THAT topic.

Look who is hanging out at the school these days:

Gizmo the iguana!

Natalia – her broken arm has healed 100% without any apparent defect!

Zuleika who is learning and helping and growing in God’s amazing grace,

Diego who has an amazing smile and super-intelligent mind,

Mizael who is still having headaches (which are lessening in intensity) and he is pushing through them to have more time in school.

These are the regulars. We have 4 students – one full-time teacher and two full-time volunteers. Both of the volunteers help in the classroom as well as cooking and doing maintenance respectively. As school principal, Betsy is so thankful for the faithful helpers who work alongside her to allow the school to have continuity and dependability. Our students are all special needs and could be taught one on one all day if we had the resources. Without the resources, we do a lot of One Room Schoolhouse work. The benefits are so cool as the older ones see how the younger ones think and the younger ones are challenged by the older students’ thinking.

Continue to pray for the school, for the students, the workers, the weather… a storm is in the area this week and we are hopeful that we will not have any lasting effects from it. Keep an eye on the weather and remember to pray for us.

Thanks!

August 27, 2019classroom, NewsChristian School and Chapel for the Deaf, Christian School for the Deaf, CSCD, Deaf education, ESD, Evangelical School for the Deaf, Luquillo School for the Deaf, post Maria experiences, Puerto Rico, Sordo en Puerto Rico, Sordo PR, studentsBetsy Hoke

Summer Workshop 2019

August 7th, 2019

Last week, we held a week-long ASL workshop. We were pleased with the attendance and outcomes – more people signing with a little more confidence and new connections we have made with a pre-school were our little student Natalia will be attending!

Our school director, Betsy, was assisted by Valie Carrillo (our maintenance man) and Jennifer Woods (visiting ASL teacher from the States). With the occasional assist of Mike and Glenda Coupe, the class had plenty of models for great signing. We played lots of games to keep everyone’s attention – the morning sessions were 3 hours – and to keep everyone learning. What a great week!

We are already thinking and scheduling for the 2020 version of the workshop so if you are interested in learning ASL and wanted to join us, let me know!

August 7, 2019NewsASL, ASL PR, Christian School and Chapel for the Deaf, Christian School for the Deaf, Deaf education, Escuela para sordos, Interpreter training workshop, lenguaje se senas, Luquillo School for the Deaf, Puerto Rico sordos, school for the deaf, servant hearted, World Mission to the DeafBetsy Hoke

TALLERES en ASL

July 27th, 2019

We have the multi-purpose room ready for our summer workshop.

Estamos listos para los talleres de señas ASL.

Esperamos 12 personas a las 9 a.m. el lunes para el taller de maestros y/o personas aprendiendo ASL para sus professiones.

We are expecting 12 people at 9 a.m. on Monday for a workshop for teacher and/or people learning ASL for their jobs.

Por la tarde, tendremos un taller SILENCIOSO planificado para cualquier persona interesada en ampliar sus destrezas expresivas en señas.

In the evening, we will have a SILENT workshop for anyone interested in adding to their expressive skills in signing.

Si tiene interes, ven el lunes para juntarse con nosotros.

If you are interested, come on Monday to join us.

July 27, 2019NewsASL PR, ASL silent workshop, Christian School and Chapel for the Deaf, Christian School for the Deaf, CSCD, Deaf, Deaf education, deaf mission, Deaf Puerto Rico, deafness, Escuela para sordos, ESD, Evangelical School for the Deaf, Interpreter training workshop, lenguaje se senas, Luquillo School for the Deaf, school for the deaf, Sordo en Puerto Rico, Sordo PR, Sordos, VBS, World Mission to the DeafBetsy Hoke

40th annual World Mission to the Deaf Conference

April 18th, 2019

WMD Conference June 8 2019

Click above link for a printable flyer.

June 8, 2019. 3:30 p.m.

Bob Rumball Centre of Excellence for the Deaf

Toronto Ontario Canada

Speaker: Gilberto Martinez,

former student of the Evangelical School for the Deaf

April 18, 2019NewsASL, ASL PR, Christian School and Chapel for the Deaf, Christian School for the Deaf, CSCD, Deaf, Deaf education, deaf mission, Deaf Puerto Rico, Escuela para sordos, Evangelical School for the Deaf, Hispanic Heritage Month, Luquillo School for the Deaf, Mission work team, missionary, missions, missions trip, Sordo en Puerto Rico, Sordo PR, students, World Mission to the DeafBetsy Hoke

Mizael’s story

April 14th, 2019

Mizael has been diagnosed with a vestibular disorder that is associated with his deafness. Mizael has missed a great portion of the school year due to dizziness, nausea, medical appointments, motion sickness, and headaches.

With all of the analyses, the doctor suggests doing a cochlear implant so that his health will improve and his dizziness will lessen. Some of the medical costs and costs of therapy and recovery will not be covered by the insurance and we are praying for your cooperation to help us with this.

Please feel free to share with others for prayer support as well as possible financial support through GOFUNDME.Thanks!

April 14, 2019NewsChristian School and Chapel for the Deaf, Deaf education, deaf mission, deafness, Escuela para sordos, Luquillo School for the Deaf, Puerto Rico, Sordo en Puerto Rico, spring break, studentsBetsy Hoke

sick kids’ month

March 29th, 2019

This month, I have had more time on my hands to do office and school administration work. We have only 4 students! HOW can I have so much admin to do?!

School insurance needs to be kept up. The school license documents need to be prepared for our renewal of license. Reports need to be written. IEP (Individual Educational Profiles) need to be kept current. And then there is the accountant and his questions about accounts and payments. Tax season!

So the extra time has been good for the administrator (me) but the extra time has meant that the teacher (me) is not as content as she would normally like to be.

THIS GIRL above pictured has been in a hospital for 2+ weeks now. She was in hospital 1 for a week, released for 24 hours, returned to the emergency room and was ambulanced to hospital 2 which has better facilities to take care of the complications. She’s in the Pediatric ICU. I’ve been doing “relief” work so her mom can get home to take care of the other kids a little. The ICU has good nursing care too which makes it easier for her mom to feel secure in leaving her alone in the hospital for a few hours.

This one thing I KNOW:

The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases;
his mercies never come to an end;
they are new every morning;
great is your faithfulness.

Lamentations 3:22-23

So as I drive to hospital 2 (it’s an hour’s drive away) and as I stand in hospital corridors or sit in hospital chairs and listen to whomever is nearby or talk with Larimar (sometimes she just wants a story and I love to story-tell) this is in my head, in my heart pounding away – the steadfast love of the Lord never ceases… so even though the new results seem worse than the previous study’s results, we are trusting the heart of our ever loving Father in Heaven.

In addition to this saga, my boys are both not in school today due to medical appointments and/or health issues.

Well, Deaf children are often multiply-challenged and so are these. Part of this day and age of working with children is addressing their specific needs in individual ways. Working out how to get a boy who gets dizzy from lights to do online-work from home… maybe we need to resort to paper and pencil but he’s often too weak or dizzy to use his eyes… so I resort to prayer and seeking God’s peace for HIM (my student and his family) and me.

Pray for me as I walk alongside these families and their children with special SPECIAL needs. May I bring God’s peace and love to the situation. May “a merry heart do good like medicine” (Prov 17:22) and may my merriness not insult the gravity of the situations.

Yesterday I was kidding with Larimar and she started to cry! NO! Then her mom said, “What did you say?”

I had said, ” seriously, if you wanted to avoid a book report, we could have made a different plan”

Her mom said, “Don’t lie! What did you say to upset her?

Larimar said, “She’s telling the truth! (cry cry cry)”

So I found a new subject and we had some more smiles… I left her smiling last night!

Pray that she continues to smile today!

Betsy

March 29, 2019classroom, NewsLuquillo School for the Deaf, missionary, missions trip, Puerto Rico sordos, Sordo en Puerto Rico, students, World Mission to the DeafBetsy Hoke

February: visitors’ month

March 1st, 2019

February is often a month of guests and Feb 2019 was just that.

We started with 8 visitors from Pennsylvania (we enjoyed an afternoon with them at the beach and lots of fun times in the dining room)

followed by our principal’s mother (above photo far right, lady in the center in the white sweatshirt) and sister who also came to visit (purple shirt person). While they were staying at the school, our friends Tim (center photo adult red shirt) and Pam also came to the island (they rented a place off of the school grounds) and while they were hanging out with us, we had our own Bible Challenge Week with Brother Dan Knickerbocker and his lovely wife Anne Marie.

Brother Dan spoke with us the last four afternoons of February – challenging us to think wisely, speak Biblically, and to share our faith effectively. We enjoyed having Dan and AnneMarie for lunches during the week and some time to chat with them. Dan and AnneMarie have been ministering to churches on the island having been invited to Maranatha Baptist Church for a weekend of special services.

God’s goodness to us is amazing over and over again. We are SO THANKFUL for the ways He provides and protects our ministry here. Continue to pray for workers – teachers, a cook, people to work along with us as we develop outreach programs with our Deaf adult friends and for teens in need of tutoring and discipleship. The work is great and the laborers are few and aging! We are trusting God to send younger workers who will carry the ministry forward as our older workers begin to think about lightening their workload.

Meanwhile, we are praising God for the strength He gives our bones and our muscles!

thanks for visiting today!

March 1, 2019missions trip, NewsASL PR, Christian School and Chapel for the Deaf, CSCD, Deaf education, deaf mission, Deaf Puerto Rico, Evangelical School for the Deaf, Luquillo School for the Deaf, missionary, missions trip, Puerto Rico sordos, school for the deaf, short term missions, spring break, World Mission to the DeafBetsy Hoke

THAT was a fast month!

January 30th, 2019

The first Friday of every month, we have OPEN HOUSE and invite ANYONE in to play games with us in the school multi-purpose building. WHAT FUN it is to catch up with our friends in the area!

Our games night in January was led by Mike and Glenda Coupe – our new Outreach and Chapel Program Director. We had loads of fun games and plenty of conversation and snacks when the group games ended. Already we are looking at the next games night this coming Friday (February 1).

How did that happen? It seems we just had our first social night… time surely does fly.

“For a thousand years in thy sight are but as yesterday when it is past, and as a watch in the night.” (Psalm 90:4)

Thanks for praying for our school and our other ministry programs. We are seeing God at work as He answers prayers prayed since 1957 (or before) for the Deaf of the island to have churches that teach His Word in a way that is accessible for the Deaf. Pray for our students as they have opportunity to learn from the Bible and have opportunity to shine His light in their homes. Pray for our island as crime is increasing and many are still rebuilding their homes and lives 16 months post-hurricanes.

We take time to pray for our supporters – if you have a request, please send it along (by e-mail or snail mail) so that we may pray for YOU.

January 30, 2019NewsASL, ASL PR, Christian School and Chapel for the Deaf, CSCD, Deaf education, deaf mission, Deaf Puerto Rico, Escuela para sordos, lenguaje se senas, Luquillo School for the Deaf, post Maria experiences, post-hurricane, Puerto Rico, Puerto Rico sordos, Sordo en Puerto Rico, Sordo PR, SordosBetsy Hoke