disability ministry weekly round-up {11-28-11}

December starts this week. Oh, my!

This is an encouraging story of disability and faith. The story is supposed to be about a church and others coming together to buy updated prosthetic legs for a college student, but the real story that shines through in it is the one of a God using disability to capture the heart of a young man. That man says,

"People call this is a disability," he says. "I call it an ability to display the glory of God. He blessed me with this gift so I could see the goodness in people and in him. How lucky is that?"

The thanks I owe my child with special needs & To my friends who struggle at the holidays: I am listing these two together because I think they can be read best as a pair. In the first, Ellen from Love That Max reflects upon what her son with special needs (or, as she likes to say, special powers) has taught her. In the second, John from The Works of God encourages those parents who aren't feeling as thankful. For those of us who minister to these families, we need to understand that parents can be thankful and not-so-thankful all at the same time. Or they might alternate between the two responses. Or dwell somewhere in between. The lesson? Meet them where they are.

Carrie with Children blogs about Target's inclusion of a child with Down syndrome in one of their ads. This brought to mind a challenge for the church: do our ministry materials include images of those with special needs? If your church has people with special needs, then those materials should reflect that.

A church realized a family - including a single mom, a seven-year-old child with autism and a seizure disorder, and a grandmother on dialysis - was living in sub-standard conditions, so what did they do? They bought and fixed up a mobile home for them. Read about it here.

What December traditions do you look forward to each year?

love the Lord. and your neighbor {Luke 10:25-28}

And behold, a lawyer stood up to put him [Jesus] to the test, saying, “Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?”

He said to him, “What is written in the Law? How do you read it?”

And he answered, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.”

And he said to him, “You have answered correctly; do this, and you will live.”

{Luke 10:25-28}

...

Truth in Tinsel: An Advent ebook I'm using at home & church (only $2.99 TODAY)

I love the idea of daily Advent activities with my preschool-aged children. I really do.

And I love the idea of having meaningful ornament crafts to make in special needs ministry (like at our December respite event or in our special needs ministry sensory room). Honestly, I do love the idea.

But I just don't love having to come up with the practical elements - the supply list, the craft, the Bible verse, and the activities - first. 

Which is why I love the Advent e-book that Amanda from the blog Impress Your Kids wrote. It's called Truth in Tinsel, and every day - 24 in all - has (1) a "read it together" passage (a handful of verses, nothing too long), (2) a "make it together" craft (a Christmas ornament that goes along with the passage), (3) a "talk about it" section (some kid-friendly discussion points), and (4) a "do more" suggestion (tips to extend beyond the lesson itself). 

While this was designed more for moms like me with preschool to early elementary aged kiddos, it is also a GREAT tool for children's ministry and special needs ministry. The subtitle is "An Advent Experience for Little Hands," so I will black that out with electrical tape when I print it for our sensory classroom because we'll do these activities with bigger hands too. 

I could simply say I recommend it, but that wouldn't be as powerful as these words: I'm using it. I'm going through all 24 days with my kids, and I'll be doing at least a handful of the days in a ministry setting. 

And if you want to do the same, it's $2.99 today (usually $4.99). Order it here. 

thankful

In the past year, God has done more with disability ministry at my church, across the country, and throughout the nations than I expected.

Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen.
{Ephesians 3:20-21}

But there is still much work to be done, including the work of prayer.

Then he [Jesus] said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.”

{Matthew 9:37-38}

Thanks for being a part of what God is doing to change hearts and lives, in prayer and other action.

Making This Christmas Count: Providence Baptist Church's respite care event

On December 10 from 4-7pm, families of kids with special needs (age 10 and under) and their siblings will be cared for at Providence Baptist Church at our Making This Christmas Count respite care event. While our trained volunteers love them, parents will get a respite to Christmas shop, go on a date, or do whatever other child-free activity they would like. Every child with special needs will have a one-on-one buddy for the event, and siblings will be supervised as well as they rotate through themed activity rooms. This is part of our church's Making This Christmas Count week of outreach events, and most of our guests will be families who have never visited our church before.

We're excited. If you're not in Raleigh or the surrounding area (and even if you are!), please pray

• for our preparations
• for the health of our families (at our October respite event, many had to cancel at the last minute due to sickness; plus it's cold and flu season, which doesn't bode well for little ones who may be more susceptible to illness due to their special needs)
• for energy and wisdom for our leadership team
• for God to provide the remaining volunteers needed
• for information about the event to reach the families who need it
• for stamina and protection for me, as my health has been less than ideal lately (I'm on week three of a cold, which means I might be entering my annual fall bout of pneumonia)

For local folks, there is still room for families (and volunteers, though pre-event training and background checks are required). Here is the link for registration for both families and volunteers, and here's a link to learn about the other Making This Christmas Count outreaches that week.

And, if you have happen to have friends and followers in the Raleigh area, please post a message like this on Facebook or Twitter so we can get the word out:

Have a child (birth-10) w special needs in Raleigh? FREE trained childcare at Providence Baptist on Dec. 10 from 4-7pm http://www.pray.org/news--events/providence-kids.aspx

Thanks!