For my second Deaf event, I went to the First Evangelical Free Church in McKeesport. This service had a Deaf Ministry along with a signed interpretation of the service. This experience was amazing, even though getting to this was quite a journey. Firstly, I was planning on going to BINGO with Emily McPeake, but when we arrived, we were told that we had the dates wrong, so we decided to go to church the following Saturday. This trip on Saturday went a little off plan, due to the fact that we went to the wrong church at first, and then we were late to the service at the right church. Once we finally got to the right church, I asked the front desk where the signed service was. She led us into the main service area and got the attention of one of the ushers. She let him know we wanted to see the signing, and during the first break in the service, he led us down to the Deaf Ministry. Once there, Emily and I …show more content…
After the service, Emily and I talked to the interpreters for a little. They were very kind, and they were very interested in our purpose for coming. Once we told them where we were from, they got excited and stated that both of them had MJ as their ASL teacher, and that they hope they signed up to her par. Later, since I had not met any Deaf people at the service, I contacted the church to see if I could learn more about the Deaf Ministry and how I could interact with them more. They offered to send me any new information that was available and said that I should return again. This experience really affected me, because I usually do not feel any connection during a religious service. I do not have any affiliation to a church, but this experience really intrigued me to return. I was amazed at the depth of signing provided by the interpreters and captivated by the religious signs that I had never seen beforehand. I am keen to return and hopefully meet more people who are a part of the Deaf