I was fifteen years old on a school trip to an amusement park in Dallas, Texas, standing in line waiting an hour to ride a roller coaster that would last all but 2 minutes when I noticed another teenager ahead of me frantically waving his arms.  I looked to the left of me, then to the right to see whom he was trying to get the attention of.  I took a second harder look at him, thinking it maybe me he was waving to.  "Why is he was waving to me?"   I started to inadvertently lift my hand and wave back when I suddenly realized that this was a deaf teen talking to his friend.

I laughed at myself for not understanding sooner and nudged my riding buddy to watch the deaf kids.  We passed the time trying to "interpret" what they were saying to each other.  It wasn't hard, for most of their conversation was about the roller coaster, their hands mimicking the dips, turns, and loops.  It was easy to tell that the first was scared about this ride and that his friend was trying to sooth him.

It wasn't until three years ago when I again was introduced to the language of the deaf.  This time a missionary named Jon Barr came to West Coast Baptist Church to teach sign language and start a deaf ministry.  It was a two-week crash course in vocabulary, grammar, and culture.  I was once again interested in learning sign language so I enthusiastically signed up.  By the end of the first week we were interpreting songs.  I do not know if you are like me but I am terrified to stand before a crowd, so I made many excuses when it came my turn to interpret.  My enthusiasm dwindled, thus my skill was very poor and I learned very slowly.

After six months of dodging the deaf leader, I was finally caught and was asked to interpret the Sunday night preaching.  With all eyes on me, I stood behind the podium, scared senseless.

My hands wouldn't work right and I felt like I was mumbling and stuttering through the message.  My knees started shaking and soon became so noticeable that they were doing a better job interpreting the message than my hands were!

God has since given me the grace to overcome my fears and my knees don't shake as much as they used to.  I am now interpreting all of the messages and have been leading the deaf ministry for the past year now.  It helps to practice and fellowship with the deaf; they are the best teachers for sign language and I know that I have a long way to go.  I invite you to come and visit our church and see what wonderful and exciting things are taking place at West Coast Baptist.  I offer to you my interpreting skills free of charge, they are not the greatest skill but I try my hardest to help and be of a service to the deaf community.  What's the catch you may ask?  Friendship and the opportunity to learn from you are more than sufficient payment.  See our Calendar of Events for Deaf activities and Schedule of Interpreting for interpreting times. I look forward to meeting and talking to you.

Jeff is 27 years old and has been interpreting for 4 years now.  He has taken courses at Palomar College and has continued to study and practice his Sign Language to improve his skills.  For three years, he has been the Deaf Ministry leader at West Coast Baptist Church and is enthusiastic in his interpreting and teaching.  Jeff has been married for seven years to Tera and they have a three-year-old daughter named Katie and a baby named Heather; they reside in Vista, California.  A former Marine of five years, he now works for Raytheon Systems Company, an aerospace and defense company, as an engineer working on many high tech projects.  His hands may not always interpret correctly, but his knees will!