[Faith-Talk] Our Ministries.

Sun Aug 11 11:57:58 UTC 2024

My vision loss is only in the last decade. It is neurological based in a degenerative illness that was predicted to lead to death in 8-12 years, but my progression has been slower. As a result, I have relied on other accommodations and not learned braille. My residual sight is such that a few days a week I am able to read for about an hour max. I use a lot of technology to help me, from ones on the computer, recorded Bibles, and Apple accessibility features. Some parts of the liturgy I memorize while other parts I can “wing” it within reason. I certainly rely on liturgies and Scripture readers. I am fortunate that I was never one that preached from a text/manuscript, instead using a web outline. This allows me to have the flexibility when the Spirit moves and is easier to have in my head to guide my preaching. 

Commentaries and similar aids I have found good resources for. Work in the original language was historically focused on the written language and I have little resources for that technologically. I get some of it through secondary sources. 

I also use voice messages as a common Korean and processing technique. I have refined some things over time based not only on what I learn in the moment but also by recording and listening to my sermons. 

Christopher

------
The Rev. Christopher L. Smith
New York, USA

Sent from a remote device. 
Please do not reply to this email address, rather use my regular email address (this may possibly be found in the cc)

> On Aug 11, 2024, at 12:03 PM, Judy Jones via Faith-Talk <faith-talk at nfbnet.org> wrote:
> 
> Hi, Shley and Christopher,
> 
> My husband, Chris, and I have always used braille as our preferred media.
> 
> Back when I started teaching, it was hard-copy all the way, and now, it's through our notetakers.
> 
> Chris used to have a file cabinet full of messages, alphabetized in their braille-labeled folders.
> 
> Chris would copy the passages he needed to use into his messages from his hard-copy braille Bible. We each had one, which definitely took up shelf space.
> 
> Now, everything is stored on notetakers, and he still copies and pastes passages into his messages. He preaches from it at the pulpit, as I did when teach Sunday school, while mine is in my lap or on my shoulder when in the congregation.
> 
> When we need to stand, I can also hold in one hand and read with the other, or if I am using the case with a shoulder strap, have it positioned in front of me.
> 
> I'm currently using a padded Bible case that fits it perfectly, with extra pockets for storage.
> 
> I also have my Bible study materials stored on it, plus several Bible versions.
> 
> The notetakers we use are the Selvas BS6 running Android. While it has it's own set of apps, we can also download from the play store.
> 
> We use them to access the internet when away from home by hooking them up to our phones and using them as hotspots.
> 
> Technology has certainly come a long way!
> 
> We still use our Perkins brailler, but not to the extent we used to.
> 
> I did have an embosser when self-employed as a transcriber, but no longer have it, and were already using notetakers back then: The Braille Lite.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Judy
> sent from the HIMS Android braille tablet
> 
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: Ashley Bramlett via Faith-Talk <faith-talk at nfbnet.org>
> Date: Saturday, August 10, 2024 10:03 PM
> To: "Faith-talk, for the discussion of Blindness in faith and religion" <faith-talk at nfbnet.org>
> CC: bookwormahb at earthlink.net
> Subject: Re: [Faith-Talk] Our Ministries.
> 
> Hi Chris,
> Thanks for sharing! What type of church?
> I grew up Protestant although for a while attended a large non
> denominational church and have gone back to the small Methodist church.
> How do you know what to say? Do you use braille notes to preach? If so, how
> did that come about?
> 
> Braille embossing is expensive and my embosser which is very old does not
> work well. I can write notes by hand on a Perkins brailler but can only
> write so much since my hands are tired after a while.
> So, how do you handle it?
> 
> I do not preach or do public speaking now for anything. But if I did
> participate in ministry, I'd likely use some sort of braille notes as
> reminders what to say and the action plan. For instance, if I led activities
> in the youth group, I'd want an outline of what to do to remind myself what
> to do.
> 
> 
> Thanks.
> Ashley
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