by Paul Lucero

What is happening at the studio? Well, at the studio we did not destroy or steal equipment or make a movie to be a Star. Last year, I entered the studio for the first time with Pastor Warren, Pastor Acton and Brad Holloway to make a video. The video featured Stronger Together and the 2016 Paint-a-thon.

While others were getting ready to prepare or set up, I was sitting next to Pastor Acton. He was asking me questions to practice before filming the video. Then for some reason, he started to look around at the walls and said the walls need some painting. While I was lipreading, something popped up in my mind. And then we continued practicing until we were ready.

Then last month my heart and mind were telling me to ask the Immanuel Deaf Ministry members if they would like to help paint the walls in the Studio. I explained to them about what we will do and quickly they agreed without a doubt.

On a Sunday morning after the service I had an Interpreter tell volunteer Dave Brazzle, who oversees the studio. I told him that we would like to paint the walls of the studio. He was thrilled to hear it. You could see his eyes were wide open and he was excited to hear the news. I asked him to give me the color he wanted for the walls. His quick response surprised me; he gave me the color in a week. You could see his big smile.

A day before painting, Dave moved all the equipment away from the walls, because we did not want to be responsible for damage to it. We appreciate that he did that. Next day after the service, we had the colored paint and tape. Pastor Warren brought the equipment. When we went inside the studio, the walls looked dull and marked up. My wife Betty Jo brought us Subway before we started painting because we had no lunch. After happy eating, we started to work. Betty Jo and Cindy Kermath started to tape around the door frames and the wall bases from below the floor. Cindy, Bill Doescher, and Betty Jo painted the corners and edges, while Pastor Warren and I painted the walls with rollers. The room was hot. Pastor Warren and I were soaking wet from sweating and felt good losing some pounds. We teased each other, laughed, and worked hard to complete the walls. It took us about 3 hours to complete the walls, clean up and wash the brushes, rollers and other equipment. We had fun. I want to thank Pastor Warren for being there.

Why are we doing this? We want to have a partnership with Dave just like Stronger Together. We want to know more about it and look forward to working with you in the future.