Although I have always enjoyed performing in plays and musicals, I didn't become a full-time performer until June of 1976, when Lamb's Players - a Christian Performing Arts Ministry out of San Diego - accepted me as a new member of their Mime Troupe, "Hands and Feet." I was fortunate to travel around the country with Lamb's Players for a year and a half. Since then, all of my "acting" has been volunteer and spare time.

In July of 1978, I felt led to pursue a career in Rehabilitation Counseling, working with Hearing Impaired individuals. (I am fluent in American Sign Language.) With a Bachelor's Degree in Communicative Disorders and a Master's in Rehabilitation Counseling - both from San Diego State University - I have been able to exercise my training and gifts, working both for the American Samoa Government and in the States of California, Ohio, and Washington. In addition, I have often served as an interpreter for Sunday church services at the various churches we have been members of around the country.

After 16 months working for the American Samoan government and eight years for the Ohio Bureau of Vocational Rehabilitation Services as a rehabilitation counselor, I took a year off from counseling and then pursued and was offered a position more focused on deafness with the Washington Division of Vocational Rehabilitation at their Spokane, Washington, office. Though the job was wonderfully challenging and I thoroughly enjoyed my many professional contacts with individuals in other agencies and schools, God had other plans for me and I found myself called into teaching. I have been serving as a Lecturer/Professor of American Sign Language and Deaf Culture at Whitworth University since 2001 as well as an ASL teacher (since 2005) and Senior Class Advisor at Lakeside High School in the 9 Mile Falls School District.

Through the many (and continuing) changes and challenges in our lives, Penny and I have learned that the most valuable and enduring lessons often come in the form of trials. We have experienced that by trusting in God’s provision during hardship and heartache, our faith expands exponentially. 2 Corinthians 1:3-5 has become the guiding scripture for our marriage.

(Written in 1998. Revised 2009.)

Which one is the wig?
San Diego, 1976, and Alliance, Ohio, 1997

---

---

Donn Alan Nelson

donnnelson@juno.com
Spokane, Washington