The ICC Blog

The day before yesterday we said goodbye to all of our friends at the International Community School. Looking at the changes in the students from the first day to the last, I was impressed by how much they absorbed and changed.

During my first activity with a group of sixth graders, one girl barely looked up from her desk. She hid her face behind her long black hair, and she had to be coaxed to give her short, memorized speech. Her friends told me that she never smiled; it hurt her cheeks. In one of the rare moments that she spoke, she told me with a sense of pride that she was the only one who never laughed when the class broke out in contagious laughter.

By the last day she not only smiled, but she even talked quite a bit. Her speeches were deep and thoughtful, and she understood the importance of communicating with other people.

She wasn’t an isolated case. The eighth graders, who didn’t seem thrilled to be in the conference right off the bat, approached their teacher after the last day. They ask if they could lead chapel for the younger students. We’ve been so encouraged to see such a tangible impact become visible so quickly.

~Avery

Tags: Mid-Conference Updates

This blog is from Gerald’s point of view…… : )

Friday, February 5, 2009

Gerald

My trip to Singapore has been a very interesting experience. I simply assumed that I would be going to Singapore due to the fact that I have been to all the conferences in the United States but , while we were at the Kays’ house, I heard Austin trying to decide whether to bring dress shoes or me.

My feelings were quite hurt that he would even ask such a question such but, of course, he chose to take me over the dress shoes, so life is good.

I was then packed into a suitcase and thrown into the belly of an airplane for a long, grueling 24 hour ride. I wound up talking to a girl gnome that was packed in the suit case that was next to mine. That was interesting, but…..of course, we went our separate ways as soon as we arrived in Singapore.

The rest of my trip in Singapore has been rather interesting. At ICS,  Austin stood me next to the banner, which was quite considerate of him considering the fact that lying on my nose back stage (as I did every night) became really depressing. It was incredible to watch the kids go from being unsure of themselves and unenthusiastic to being much more confident and even excited about communicating.

I think the highlight of my trip has been seeing how everyone responds to my adorableness, apparently it’s not very normal to see people carrying green garden gnomes though the streets of Singapore but so far everyone has fallen in love with me….

Monday we got to attend Focus on the Family in Singapore and I had a wonderful time seeing all the people there and getting my head patted. Once we left Focus on the Family, Kathryn held me up in the taxi and I was able to see out the window, which made me reach the conclusion that Singapore is a beautiful place. All in all, I have absolutely loved my trip and I’ve seen many amazing things though out this trip. I’m simply hoping Austin washes his clothes before he puts me in his suitcase for the return trip home.

Tags: Mid-Conference Updates

Wednesday evening, February 3, 2010

Young Life Singapore!

We had an amazing time with the Young Life group! We started off just talking to the people at the Bible study. They were very friendly, outgoing, and down to earth. We ended just talking and hanging out for thirty minutes before we realized how much time had gone by! Then we transitioned to an activity that stressed the art of persuasion and applying to one’s audience. Each presentation was fun, upbeat and engaging! The IMPACT Team had a lot of fun seeing what the Young Life youth had to present. We followed that up with a real life simulation. Some of the IMPACT team members role-played characters of typical non-Christians that one might meet. The youth that attended the Bible study had a few minutes to talk to each of the characters. The Young Life youth were spot-on in their approach to our characters! The youth engaged the characters in conversation, showed them compassion, and presented truth to them in a relevant and respectful approach. We very much enjoyed the evening. The people that we met were just as much of an encouragement to us as we hoped to be to them! We are looking forward to working with Young Life even more in the future!

Tags: Mid-Conference Updates

The Institute for Cultural Communicators is now in Singapore with their IMPACT 2010 project. Read all about the recent happenings below!

Tuesday, January 26, 2010

We are leaving for the airport! Everything is in the car and ready to go. The whole team is very excited. We had some time to prepare and get some presentations ready and everything looks great. We can’t wait until we get to Singapore.

Thursday, January 28, 2010

We are in Singapore! At 3:00 AM in the morning we arrived at the Vosburgs apartment. They have been so amazing! Our rooms were ready when we arrived and they even had some snack food laid out on a table for us. We were all able to call our families and tell them that we arrived safely.

Later that day and after we all got some rest, we were able to visit the International Christian School where we met the staff and got a tour of the facility. The school looks great and the staff has been very helpful. We are so excited to see all the great things that will be happening here next week.

Friday, January 29, 2010

It has been a busy day! This morning, we went to Victory Life Christian School where we met 180 students, whose ages ranged from 4 to 17. Everybody was so great! We saw lots of participation from students of all ages. It was so great to see the students really get into the activities and have fun as they learn to be better communicators for Christ.

Shortly after our time with Victory Life ended, we went over to ICS to prepare for our evening program there. At 6 o’clock, more than 100 people were sitting in their chairs, ready for an American team called ‘ICC’ to begin the program. And with some announcements (from John David and Seth), the program began. The program was so much fun! Everybody gave presentations ranging from a speech about thankfulness to an interpretation about Shakespeare. But my favorite part of the program had to be when the team came together to perform our interpretation of Shel Silverstein’s “The Giving Tree.” We were so glad were able to do this. Today has been a great day and we can’t wait to see what’s going to happen next.

Saturday, January 30, 2010

Today was our second day at Victory Life Christian. Although the younger students didn’t attend this time, we were busy all the same. The students learned all kinds of new things like bringing stories to life and communicating a message to specific audiences. It is so amazing how much all of these students have grown in their communication skills in such a short span of time. We can’t wait until we return next Saturday and see what God can do through this experience.

After Victory Life was over, we all went back to the Vosburgs to change and rest a bit. And at about 6 PM, we all went out to see Singapore. Our night out was so much fun! With George the taxi driver, we all went to Little India – one of the ethnic neighborhoods found in Singapore. There were all kinds of shops and restaurants, few of which we were able to see. We were all able to have some Indian food and some of us even got some coconuts. In all, the night was a lot of fun and we look forward to seeing more of Singapore.

Tags: Mid-Conference Updates