Life in Eureka

Is there any way to understand the role of a Christian Leadership in the church, group and training college?

Ann (nom de plume) came across one video by the Deaf woman of Hamilton, hoping to establish a Deaf Christain camp and a team in 2022. In the video, she signed about Christain Leadership and signed about studying the course through Christain College. Mm, Ann thought, how can any Deaf person understand and lead the excellent leadership role to their Deaf parishioners in the church? It is a big challenge to become a good leadership role to all interest by the Deaf Christain persons. 

Can any Deaf Christain people move away from the ‘toxic’ area from the Deaf community? We do not have the answer, let alone and pray, if they realise and understand what was going on out there?  

When a person creates an idea to lead the group, it must work together as a team, not be pushed around or ordering someone to do the work for anyone. The other tool is to find someone to mentor the person and the team to become a good leader. One person must remember to limit the highly speaking and creating the idea, or problem solving because that person will become too enthusiastic and forget about any Deaf Christain people’s chance or choice to speak up. This person is the result of too inferior leadership role at the table or in the church. 

Irrespective of how anyone defines a leader, he or she can prove to be a difference-maker between success and failure. A good leader has a futuristic vision and knows how to turn his ideas into real-world success stories. It is essential for anyone as ‘a leaders know the way, goes the way and shows the way.”  

Let us see the excellent leadership role, qualities and principles, examples of teaching, and leading other church or youth groups that separate good leaders from bad ones. 

Let see what the principles of becoming or gain the learning to improve are. 

1. Love
2. Modesty
3. Self-development
4. Motivation
5. Correction
6. Integrity
7. Follower of God’s Will

https://churchleaders.com/outreach-missions/outreach-missions-articles/324807-the-5-marks-of-a-great-christian-leader.html/2

https://online.campbellsville.edu/ministry/christian-leadership-principles/

Here are ten characteristics to consider.

1. A Leader Must Have a Profound Sense of God’s Call
2. A Leader Must Grow in Their Relationship with God
3. A Leader Must Be Compassionate 
4. A Leader Must Be Passionate 
5. A Leader Must Be Visionary 
6. A Leader Must Become Entrepreneurial
7. A Leader Must Be Contextual 
8. A Leader Must Be a Planner 
9. A Leader Must Be a Lifelong Learner 
10. A Leader Must Be a Delegator and Empowerer of Others

Peter walk toward Jesus on a stormy sea forecast the dilemma of Christians in future centuries. Stormy change often leaves believers seasick as the gospel shrugs off the shackles of one historical period after another on its journey to the outer limits of recorded time and beyond.

Today’s Christian leaders face upheaval as time roars into the 21st century. They must walk with Him and obey Him on a raging sea of social, economic, moral, cultural, and technological change unprecedented in human history. Like Peter, they must decide which is more vital—their faith in God or their fear of the future. Simon Peter climbed out of the boat, believing he could follow Jesus’ command to walk on water. However, anchored by his limited view of the possible, his faith faltered, and he sank. Church leaders on a mission today must also step out in faith from their anchored past to answer Jesus’ command to communicate His unchanging message in a mighty roaring sea of change.” 

Here is another example of making an outstanding leadership by a different author. 

1. Great leaders lead
2. Great leaders model
3. Great leaders pray
4. Great leaders learn
5. Great leaders love

5 Marks of a Great Christian Leadership

https://ezinearticles.com/?8-Steps-to-Effective-Christian-Leadership&id=162418

Ann began wondering how the other churches can learn more from the Deaf Christain people and other disabled people in their churches. She realised it is different to lead the churches by the disabled, even Deaf people, for example, communicate in sign language, braille Bibles. Today, many new technologies make disabled people and Deaf people’s lives better than before as there were so many barriers that restricted Deaf people/disabled people. There are more tools to develop a better course for any Deaf people or Deaf with disabilities people to study “The leadership role”. Yes, there is one problem: financial to provide excellent tools like computer, laptop, literacy resources plus in NZSL versions, Bible study in NZSL and Easy to Read versions. Many Christain people seek funding, receive bequests donations, fundraising to help disabled Christain people, even to Deaf Christain people. 

Here are other simple tools for leadership qualities are: –

1. Honesty and integrity
2. Confidence
3. Inspire Others
4. Commitment and Passion
5. Good Communicator
6. Decision-Making Capabilities
7. Accountability
8. Delegation and Empowerment
9. Creativity and Innovation
10. Empathy
11. Resilience
12. Emotional Intelligence
13. Humility
14. Transparency
15. Vision and Purpose

https://blog.taskque.com/characteristics-good-leaders/

There are plenty more ideas for becoming a good leadership person than a bad one. 

Great Stewardship

In Christian organisations, God calls us to be good stewards of all our resources, especially the people we have entrusted. Leadership is about enabling those people to achieve their full potential, not only to achieve but exceed their goals in God’s Kingdom service. Developing leadership excellence leads to the fulfilment of individual and organisational potential.

Growing Christ-centred leaders is an investment in excellent stewardship.

Great Outcomes

People who have expertise and skill in an organisation’s technical and operational aspects natural rise to leadership positions. Nevertheless, leadership is about much more, requiring an additional, new and different skill set.

Authentic leadership, modelled on Christ, is not about position, it is about the role, and it emerges from a Christ-like servant heart that understands how to enable others to be the best they can be in God’s service. This leadership skill set is the critical factor that allows leaders, the people they lead and their organisation to achieve excellent outcomes.

Growing Christ-centred leaders is an investment in achieving excellent outcomes.

Great Reputation

Alas, it is sadly all too easy to come across Christian organisations with a reputation for not reflecting the character of Christ as they ought. The culture of any organisation built on the character and style of its leaders. Leaders become nurtured and grown to lead in a way modelled on Jesus create a vital and vigorous organisation that enjoys a reputation for being Christ-like.

A good reputation is essential; not only does it honour God, but it correlates with effectiveness, high productivity, easy recruitment and low staff churn.

Growing Christ-centred leaders is an investment in the witness of an excellent, God honouring reputation.

A Christ-focused organisation

The quality and character of its leaders define the quality and character of an organisation. There are two possibilities as to the source of this character: the world or Christ.

Leadership styles based on secular models, which is the default unless specific steps take, will lead to an organisation with a worldly character. Leadership styles that emerge from obedience to Christ’s teaching and reflect his nature will be distinctly Christ-like. As with every aspect of the Christian walk developing Christ-likeness takes prayerful effort. If becoming more Christ-like alone is not enough, such a character will significantly enhance an organisation’s reputation amongst its peers.

A highly committed and engaged staff

Study upon study shows that the best performing organisations enjoy the highest levels of staff commitment, the lowest levels of toxic attitudes, and very high staff satisfaction levels. They show that this results only from the highest leadership quality focused on enabling others to achieve their best. Leadership born from a character-centred on Christ’s Servant heart is a leadership style of the highest quality.

Creativity and vigour

Organisations with the highest quality of leadership and a staff who delight in achieving their best are vibrant and vigorous. They are creative and innovative, as they find better and more effective ways of working and using their resources. They excel in resolving complex issues and challenges which would otherwise limit achievement.

Growing high-quality people

Christ-centred servant leaders are concerned with enabling those they lead to achieve their full potential in Kingdom service. Consequently, they invest in the quality of their people by growing their skills, experience, confidence, and wisdom. Studies show that high-quality people with high levels of staff satisfaction lead directly to the highest quality outcomes for the organisation.

Extending organisational capacity

The high levels of commitment, job satisfaction, vigour, creativity, and quality that emerge under exemplary leadership enable organisations to work smarter and more efficiently, finding more effective ways of using often limited money and resources. As a result, they will increase their organisation’s capacity because they can achieve more with the limited resources available.

Highly effective performance

As a direct result of exemplary Servant leadership, exhibiting a character-centred on Christ’s Servant heart, an organisation will not only reflect Christ’s character more brightly, but it will be highly effective and able to achieve more. Studies show that similar organisations massively outperform their peers on key staff, operational, and financial measures.

Growing the Servant Heart

Growing the Servant Heart is a leadership development curriculum designed to help anyone do just that. Rooted in the Bible and practical experience, it seeks to draw out and apply the leadership principles taught and modelled by Jesus.

http://christian-leadership.org/christian-leadership-skills-9-reasons-why-they-are-worth-the-effort/

Hūtia te rito o te harakeke, kei hea te kōmako e ko?

Kī mai ki au, He aha te mea nui?

Māku e kī atu. He tangata, he tangata, he tangata.

Take the heart from the flax bush and where would the bellbird sing?

Ask what is the greatest thing?

I will tell you. It is people, people, people.

People are everyone – children, babies, adults, teenagers, disabled people and children and D/deaf people and children as one whole universal people.

What people who are deaf with a disability or multi disabilities, people with mental illness, elderly persons?
This group of people/children with multi disabilities, along with D/deaf are human like us.

Mm, what I am trying to work out by putting a piece of advice or details about us to you – readers? Do you realise there are more than 1 billion disabled people in the world? This result came from the WHO (World Health Organisation), and yes, it is an updated result. Perhaps you did not see anyone with disability/disabilities in your area, street, park even anywhere you did not see anyone with disability/disabilities in your area, street, park even anywhere you work in the building.

If you do not know much about us – disabled people, even D/deaf people well, or a little bit of understanding-you may have a family member who has a disability.
Please consider learning from us; otherwise, you will be fantastic to see or realise we do have the skill, ability to do in a different way of communicating, activity and the ability to understand you.
Yes, I know that people are often afraid, unsure how to communicate, or unsure how to get involved with us. But, the worst of all, we disabled people, D/deaf people and D/deaf people with disabilities, are often left out or forgot that we are there in the same room without chatting or include us in your meeting.

In New Zealand, we – disabled people, D/deaf people and deaf with other disabilities people facing many house crisis, shortage of financial income, bleak of finding a job and no friendly accessible everywhere. We are not the only human facing huge problems; everyone else looking for a place with a roof over the head faces a shortage of houses. We – disabled people, are at the bottom of the list than anyone else able to gain a home with a roof, find a job, or earn a little income for their children.

Stop thinking of the planning design, infrastructure first and start listening to us on what we need with a friendly, accessible environment and homes with a roof over our head. I could challenge high profile players like property developers, property investors, architects, Maori Trustees of the Boards, Rental management Brokers/investments, and other people like the MPs, Council Staff. A tool called ‘Universal Design” logged and implemented into the Building Act Law in Ireland. The device called the “Rethinking” project because they may not know about us, instead of bickering over the high-cost infrastructure to install in the ground, even inside the house. The rethinking tool is ideal for making everyone change their attitudes, learning about us, their behaviours, and perhaps overall, challenge implementing the law through the Government. Check out this website http://universaldesign.ie.

We are human like you, and we have the gift of wisdom, leadership, teaching and experience from birth/after accidents to pass on to the next generation as we learnt from the previous generations.

The year 1997, between August and early October, was the highlight for me as I was travelling from one country to other several countries. So why am I writing this blog about 1997? First, I read the NZ Herald and came across the article about the Royal Family that caused my eye. The article was about the opening of Princess Diana’s Memorial Garden and to mark the 60th Years of her age.

I decided to have another holiday break back in 1996, made the plan, contacted several cousins and friends in the UK, Europe, and Canada, and checked the airfare and accommodation prices in Ireland. I booked the date and month from August to early October 1997 and paid everything in advance plus my work leave. Everything was okay leading up to the 29th of August; my mother heard the tragedy over the radio while my youngest brother saw the breaking news on television. I was out visiting a friend and unaware of the breaking news until I got home. My mother said a violent car crash in Paris, France, where Princess Diana was killed and her partner. There may be some delays with the flights and funeral that spoiled my holiday plans. But, I said to my mother, “nothing will stop me from going on a long holiday.”

Off, I went on a holiday, and my first stopover was London, UK, because a young lady was living there for the first time from New Zealand. She was working as a service coordinator for the Deaf Community in Hamilton, New Zealand. Tania was the name of this young lady. Before arriving at Heathrow, UK, the air hostess said there would be a slight delay in landing due to heavy air traffic. So I was in the aeroplane and the other passengers and staff for about 30 minutes in the air. Obviously, the reason why there were so many high-profile people coming to Princess Diana’s funeral.

We landed at Heathrow Airport, and I made my way to the Bed and Breakfast hotel with Tania, who met me at the airport. I showed Tania around London as sightseeing. Ohh, what strong perfume floating everywhere we walked around London, and we passed the Kensington Palace. We saw massive rows to rows of flowers, bouquets of flowers, wreaths and many messages lying on the ground toward Buckingham Palace. We stopped briefly to look at everyone who paid respect and to mourn the loss of Princess Diana. Then, we walked away from this to the other side – Mayfair, Soho, and back to Chelsea, where I was staying. A couple days later, I took a train to Nottingham to see my cousin and his family on my late father’s mother’s side family. I was not bothering about the Royal family and staff preparing the funeral and enormous crowds in London. Still, I am glad to be out of London.

We did not watch the Royal family on TV or read the papers because we were travelling around Notts and Warwickshire before catching a flight to Vancouver, Canada. I flew to Vancouver and stayed there for several days before heading out to Edmonton, where I stayed with my mother’s new friends. They took me to visited the Deaf School called Alberta School for the Deaf (ASD), where I met several D/deaf children and the principal. They also showed me around Edmonton for several days.

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I returned to the UK via Heathrow and took a rental car to Wales. I stayed in several bed and breakfast hotels and Patrick’s sister and her family’s place and drove around Wales. Before making my way to Warwickshire – Solihull, I caught up and stayed with my cousin and her family for a few nights. There was nothing to talk about the funeral and afterwards over Prince William and Harry. I took a flight to Ireland from Birmingham Airport, and the flight was delayed due to a mechanical fault. The air hostess gave me a new seat in the business class – oh wow! The flight to Dublin was quicker than I thought.

In the morning, I finally read the newspaper in the hotel lobby after breakfast. I saw there were severe fuss and drama over the royal family, the press, the partner’s family in the media. This was how I remember the media, the blame by the partner’s family, heartbreaking stories and the result of the violent car accident. But from that day, I completed my tour around Ireland and flew back to Birmingham, UK. I hired another rental car and Cambridgeshire – St Ives, where she got a little fella under 2 years old. I was completely forgotten about Princess Diana’s death, media and the drama of the Royal Family. I finished off my holiday in the UK before heading home to Hamilton via Auckland, New Zealand early October.

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Oh, that was a long time ago – twenty-seven years since Princess Diana’s violent death.

June 24th 2021, waking up in the early hours of this morning – blimey freezing as we walked on the floor, and my partner lets the dogs out for a run.

Young Nova, the dog, walked on tipping paw each time she walked on the grassy and Nova came back as soon as cuddling up to my legs. Sheer, Joseph, and Jazz came back and begged for dog treats as soon they walked up to the pantry door.

Yep, Jack Frost banged on the first day of the frost session this month. Unfortunately, the temperature record was -2.8C – ouch, while the King Country area received -3.5C. Wondering if blueberries shrubs are okay through overnight or not! Blimey as I recorded in the gardener magazine while checking the weather forecast from the iPad.

Made lunch for dad for I call him as he is my hearing partner while he gets ready for his work. Our dogs munching their favourite dog treats while I drink a cup of coffee. Oh, dear! It was time for dad to leave for work on the freezing cold morning.

Dogs and I followed dad out in the sunroom, checking his movement. We are still working on installing another spotlight in the carport facing the gate of the road. Watching dad leave for work as dogs ran back to one of the doors, for they knew a large dog biscuits bag stashed away. Oh sigh! I want to go back to bed and have a proper sleep, for I did not sleep well overnight. Went into the room where there is a large dog biscuits bag and grabbed several Tux biscuits as it was there favourite snacks.

Checking the clock and sigh, the boys caught their school bus on the opposite side of the road. Went back to sleep for another half an hour before getting up to catch up on emails, preparing meals and let our dogs out for another long run. Sun came out peeping through the window! Cor blimey, it is still freezing morning, and what shall I have for breakfast. Sleeping away until another disturbing and Jazz barking at the regular walking along the road. Time to get up for our dogs played with me on the bed. Mm. Ahh, why not a porridge on my own, for dad was not here with me through winter during the week.

Indeed why not, and let make one so I can share with our dogs!

I recall through many photos while cleaning up any identical images from the Cloud Drive storage. April is here, and May will come within a few weeks, and I saw this photo. This photo reminded me of where it was taken during the Lockdown Level 4 rolled to Level 3 in 2020.

A few days, I was helping the Deaf man (Stephen – not real name) to install the new free wifi modem, but there was a problem with the connection to his mobile. I was not allowed to enter his flat as a deaf essential worker. There were guidelines from the MOH (Ministry of Health) and the approved details when working or helping other invalid people, people with disabilities, during the Lockdown. I signed to Stephen outside his flat within 2 metres, and I tried to figure out the problem with his connection. NOTE: a free modems were under the Government Funding through COVID via Social Service where I worked. Thank you, Skinny Jump, for provided modem to any low-income families, including people with disabilities, so they can pay $5 per data of the Gb each month.

I decided to contact someone I know through Hamilton West School, and he is an IT person. His name is Duoiane, and he did the network connection job here when Peter and I moved from Hamilton to Eureka in 2014. Duoiane was happy to assist with the modem connection to the mobile. The day before this photo was taken, it was a bad day because my dead tooth cracked, and it was so bloody painful even the night before. I made the booking through the Facebook message to my Dentist the day before the photo was taken. Note: my dead tooth had been around, so a long time, over 20 years and this tooth refused to pull out even I do not have any pain until 2020.

The next day, I headed out to the Dentist first thing in the morning. I waited outside until the staff checked my temperature reading and filled out the particular form under the Lockdown. We went inside the building and started the process of removing the cracked tooth. The Dentist staff tried to remove by using three different sizes of piler/clamps. Finally, the broken tooth out then, followed by a numb check and a jaw. I found it hard when I tried to talk; never mind, there is always sign language.

Off to pick up the modem and a couple mobiles from Stephen and speak in sign language outside his flat. He worried how long it will take to reset or re-fix, and I told him that the IT person lives on the other side of the lake. Maybe a couple hours or so! I headed over to the other side of the lake and texted Duoiane to say I am at their driveway gate. I walked up to his front door, and his wife greeted me at the porch within 2 metres of social distances. I placed a modem, a couple mobiles and details of the server and password on the table in the patio area.

I walked back to my car as it was a sunny day while nursing my left side of my face. That goodness, I took a couple pain relief!

Admiring the side of the lake, colourful leaves falling down, while the cold airbrushing along with the trees. And everyone who walked along the footpath. I felt the cold and sharp wind against my body while the sun shining on me. The colourful leaves were yellow, reddish, and brownish, lay on the footpath reminded me that Autumn was here. Yes, it was Autumn time, for I recalled during the Lockdown 4 and 3 in 2020.

A poem – To Autumn by John Keats

Season of mists and mellow fruitfulness, 
   Close bosom-friend of the maturing sun; 
Conspiring with him how to load and bless 
   With fruit the vines that round the thatch-eves run; 
To bend with apples the moss’d cottage-trees, 
   And fill all fruit with ripeness to the core; 
      To swell the gourd, and plump the hazel shells 
   With a sweet kernel; to set budding more, 
And still more, later flowers for the bees, 
Until they think warm days will never cease, 
      For summer has o’er-brimm’d their clammy cells. 

Who hath not seen thee oft amid thy store? 
   Sometimes whoever seeks abroad may find 
Thee sitting careless on a granary floor, 
   Thy hair soft-lifted by the winnowing wind; 
Or on a half-reap’d furrow sound asleep, 
   Drows’d with the fume of poppies, while thy hook 
      Spares the next swath and all its twined flowers: 
And sometimes like a gleaner thou dost keep 
   Steady thy laden head across a brook; 
   Or by a cyder-press, with patient look, 
      Thou watchest the last oozings hours by hours. 

Where are the songs of spring? Ay, Where are they? 
   Think not of them, thou hast thy music too,— 
While barred clouds bloom the soft-dying day, 
   And touch the stubble-plains with rosy hue; 
Then in a wailful choir the small gnats mourn 
   Among the river sallows, borne aloft 
      Or sinking as the light wind lives or dies; 
And full-grown lambs loud bleat from hilly bourn; 
   Hedge-crickets sing; and now with treble soft 
   The red-breast whistles from a garden-croft; 
      And gathering swallows twitter in the skies.

There is much different cosmology around the world, for example, Religious Cosmology or Biblical Cosmology.

Several weeks ago, one Deaf Christian woman posted the comment and the photo. She mentions that her hobby is astronomy – stars, spaces and Egyptian people like Cleopatra, Thutmose or Nefetria. It is not very clear because her English is not so good and she signed in the video for what she means to talk about her favourite hobby. The deaf blogger presume is that she was signing about Egyptian Idols rather astronomy.

Surely there has been confusing the difference between Cosmology and astronomy. It is difficult to explain to someone when a D/deaf person may be reading this than anyone else.

Let take a look at Religious Cosmology:

• an explanation of the origin 
• development of the universe as a whole
• the religious conception of the world and particular phenomena in the world.

Let take a look at Biblical Cosmology:

It is biblical writers’ conception of the cosmos as an organised, structured entity, including its origin, order, meaning and destiny.  

Who invented cosmology? Both Plato and Pythagoras influenced the first logically consistent cosmological worldview, developed by the Greeks in the 4th century B.C. This early cosmology was an extrapolation of the Greek theory of matter proposed by Empedocles. http://abyss.uoregon.edu/~js/ast123/lectures/lec01.html

However, there is another website which may help you because it is difficult to get the fact correct. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_cosmological_theories

Cosmology, the field of study that brings together the natural sciences, particularly astronomy and physics, in a joint effort to understand the physical universe as a unified whole. https://www.britannica.com/science/cosmology-astronomy

“Cosmology is a branch of astronomy that involves the origin and evolution of the universe, from the Big Bang to today and into the future. According to NASA, the definition of cosmology is “the scientific study of the large scale properties of the universe as a whole.”Sep 26, 2017,” https://www.space.com/16042-cosmology.html

The Egyptian Gods are different from Biblical/Religions, and here is a quote here.  

Ancient Egyptian culture grew out of an understanding of these deities and the vital role they played in the immortal journey of every human being. Historian Margaret Bunson writes:

The numerous gods of Egypt were the focal points of the nation’s cultic rites and personal religious practices. They also played a part in the great mortuary rituals and in the Egyptian belief in posthumous eternal bliss (98).https://www.ancient.eu/article/885/egyptian-gods—the-complete-list/

It is not about Cleopatra, Thutmose or Nefetria as the Deaf woman mentions on Facebook. For example, Cleopatra was a living goddess (Queen of the Nile), and she was not Egyptian because her bloodline traced back to Macedonian Greece and Ptolemy I Soter. 

Several Cosmology/Astronomy groups – The Egyptian/Mesopotamia Cosmology and Māori astronomy – tātai arorangi known in English, considered astronomical knowledge. https://www.maoriastronomy.co.nz/#:~:text=WHAT%20IS%20MAORI%20ASTRONOMY%3F,noted%20and%20examined%20by%20them.

How and whom does cosmology come to anyone?

Aristotle – geocentric cosmology that his works widely accepted for many centuries

Nicolaus Copernicus – (1473–1543) formulated a heliocentric cosmology.

Albert Einstein – (1879–1955) introduced general relativity and the cosmological constant.

Isaiah Newton – 1642–1727) formulated the law of universal gravitation and supported the heliocentric model.

Did anyone know or probably not know that there were D/deaf astronomers – John Goodricke and Konstantin Tsiolkowski? 

Both men have lost their hearing at an early age by scarlet fever, and they used lip-reading during communication.

John Goodricke spent his time on his investigation of variable stars around or by 1783. The first discovery was the Algol known as the Winking Demon then the delta cephei. He died very at the age of 22 in 1786.

Konstantin Tsiolkowski was interested in space research and invented rocket powers powered by liquid fuel and oxygen for astronauts. His works known as the Tsiolkovsky rocket equation. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tsiolkovsky_rocket_equation

If you want to know more about his life – check out one of the links from the website. https://www.nasa.gov/audience/foreducators/rocketry/home/konstantin-tsiolkovsky.html

“The secret of getting ahead is getting started.”

I was watching the television programme – “Following Twain with Oscar Kightley” this morning. One of the quotes from Twain encouraged me to continue improving my writing/typing blogs and stories as listed above. It gives me more confidence and expands more comprehensive vocabularies and strength in grammar, lexicons, and new words. In the past, my mother, sister, and friends helped me improve and adapted the grammars when I was studied for my BA and many formals letters, even to the government’s MPs as proofreaders. Today I am using technology as a proofreader while I am typing to ensure my grammar, lexicons and spelling check, vocabulary and thesaurus etc. I know everyone does not have the same head grammars when reading or understanding other people writing/typing. 

 “Continuous improvement is better than delayed perfection.”

Why? In the late 1960s and 1980s, I attended Hamilton Deaf units from Hamilton West School to Melville High School. We, D/deaf children, spent time learning English writing without sign language as it was forbidden to used sign language in the New Zealand Ministry of Education policy. Yes, the sign language was banned from the 1880s because of the Second International Congress on Education of the Deaf in Milan, Italy. Nevertheless, in 2010, at the 21st International Congress on Education of the Deaf, they received a formal apology in accepting the dangerous ramifications of such ban as an act of discrimination and violation of human and constitutional rights. I know many D/deaf people struggle to learn to improve their reading and writing English today because their first language is sign language and are no longer at school or study at University. The same story with the Bible reading/Theology where D/deaf Christian people want to learn about God, faiths, prayers and other stories by Jesus. When reading, they go through mundane trying to explain by giving the wrong message or answer, typing by doing their best for other people and even understanding what is mean. 

 “Life does not consist mainly, or even largely, of facts or happenings. It consists mainly of the storm of thoughts that is forever flowing through one’s head.”

Let go back to Twain topic. Who is Mark Twain? Why I love to read Mark Twain. How did I came to his works and learn more about him?

Samuel Langhorne Clemens was the actual real name as his pen name was Mark Twain. My mother and sister love reading books and books anywhere, and my mother was a librarian for many years. One of the books I read was about Helen Kellar and her meeting with Mark Twain. Here is Twain’s quote “I am filled with the wonder of her knowledge, acquired because shut out from all distractions. If I could have been deaf, dumb, and blind, I also might have arrived at something.

– Mark Twain’s Speeches”. http://www.twainquotes.com/Keller_Helen.html

“All you need in this life is ignorance and confidence, and then success is sure.”

Slowly I learn to understand his quotes and his works like Huckleberry Finn – Tom Sawyer, Letters from the Earth, A Dog’s Tale, or The Wit and Wisdom of Mark Twain. Then I moved up to University where I took and studied my BA in History and Linguistics and Anthropology, more books to read, and understanding from the books to typing assignments. Indeed I have had supported persons like interpreters (sign language), notetakers, proofreaders-assistance person and extra times to spend studying for five and a half years. I asked for more bits of help from my mother and sister to double-check my home assignments to them by faxing or email with an attachment. Dawn of the years studying, I completed my BA degree at last, and I felt great. 

I did not realise Twain visited New Zealand until I learnt about the history and language paper at the University. I sourced the books at the library until I found several newspapers, books and Twain’s books about New Zealand. 

“With courage, you will dare to take risks, have the strength to be compassionate, and the wisdom to be humble. Courage is the foundation of integrity.”

Every day as a deaf specialised community worker, advocator, tutor, historian, and blogger, I use my thinking cap and start looking out outside or observing the mother’s natures. People doing things strangely, even their behaviour are odd. I dare take the risk of pen wording down to tell a story, blog, or book. This is why I use Twain’s quote – With courage…..

Our lives here at home is an impressive experience, peaceful for my hearing partner, spaces in the property where our dogs run and walk around freely within the fence boundary. Our home is far away from city life, work in the gardens, and relax with a coffee cup in the courtyard. 

“Give every day the chance to become the most beautiful of your life.”