disability ministry weekly round-up {2-20-12}

Amazing Gifts: Stories of Faith, Disability, and Inclusion This article begins, "Churches, synagogues, mosques and temples are places where people with disabilities might not expect to feel excluded, isolated or patronized, but that has often been the norm," but the rest of it tells the stories of faith communities that are outside of that norm - most notably First Reformed Church of New Brunswick, New Jersey.

A Life Worth Living or a Choice? Should the lives of people with disabilities be considered sacred or optional?

Book Report: Don't Sing Songs to a Heavy Heart I haven't read this book yet, but I trust my friend Katie's opinion. (Katie, does he ever address the flaw I see in the title, though? Because sometimes when my heart is heavy, singing songs is exactly what it needs. And I could point to several verses that explain why that works too.)

7 Lessons from the Community of Disability So thankful for Greg Lucas, his faithfulness in pointing to an ever-faithful God, and his words and God's wisdom in this post.

Divorce & Special Needs and Divorce and The Child with Special Needs: Both of these articles caught my eye. When our disability ministry started, 25% of the parents were divorced; now that percentage is smaller, but it has been helpful for me and my husband - as we co-led Access - to understand the complexities of families affected by both disability and divorce.

Best Special Needs Vacation Spots Read this list, and consider how you can borrow practices of these vacation spots to be a more welcoming church for these families.

Same Lake, Different Boat In this post on Church4EveryChild, Steph Hubach answers questions about the book and teaching DVD with the same title. I haven't watched the DVD yet (though I have it and am looking forward to viewing it once adoption paperwork dies down!), but her book is the best disability ministry resource in print.

Just the Way I Am - still $5 but not for long John Knight highlights an amazing book that is clearanced at Desiring God right now as they clear out their warehouse of print resources. We bought enough copies to give one to each of our parents as an encouraging resource.

Helping Asperger's Kids to Sit Through Service The practical tips in this post go beyond the title (thankfully!), because the aim - for any child - is more than just being present at church.

Any other links you think our community should see from the past week? Please leave a comment with the link and how it is helpful (even if it's a post of your own!).

would you pray for another baby girl with special needs who needs family?

Our adoption coordinator just asked if I could get the word out about another baby girl in Taiwan who needs a family. She's in the same home as Zoe Amanda. She is seven months old. Her mother is 16 and gave birth alone in a hotel room; she was later found wandering the streets. This baby girl also has special needs; the primary diagnosis appears to be schizencephaly, which is a rare developmental disorder of the brain. She is able to track items with her eyes and enjoys being held and loved by the caregivers in the children's home where she and Zoe Amanda are living now. Some short videos and medical records are available for families who are seriously interested.

image source via pinterest

Please pray that God would provide a family for this little girl and, in the words of Psalm 68:6, "set the lonely into families."

If you're interested in adopting her or know someone who might be, please contact me at shannon@theworksofgoddisplayed.com. Because of changes to Taiwanese adoption law, the process of getting everything together and submitted to the courts in Taiwan would need to be accelerated. A home study should already be done, or a family must be willing to have that process expedited. (Ours was done in less than a week, so it's possible to rush it.) The total adoption cost will be $20,000-25,000.

Thanks.

would you pray for another baby girl who needs a family?

Our adoption coordinator just asked if I could get the word out about another baby girl in Taiwan who needs a family. She's in the same home as Zoe Amanda. She is seven months old. Her mother is 16 and gave birth alone in a hotel room; she was later found wandering the streets. This baby girl also has special needs; the primary diagnosis appears to be schizencephaly, which is a rare developmental disorder of the brain. She is able to track items with her eyes and enjoys being held and loved by the caregivers in the children's home where she and Zoe Amanda are living now. Some short videos and medical records are available for families who are seriously interested.

image source via pinterest

Please pray that God would provide a family for this little girl and, in the words of Psalm 68:6, "set the lonely into families."


If you're interested in adopting her or know someone who might be, please contact me at shannon@dinglefest.com. Because of changes to Taiwanese adoption law, the process of getting everything together and submitted to the courts in Taiwan would need to be accelerated. A home study should already be done, or a family must be willing to have that process expedited. (Ours was done in less than a week, so it's possible to rush it.) The total adoption cost will be $20,000-25,000.




P.S. - Tomorrow I'll have a post with loads of pictures, more in line with the posts I usually have around Dinglefestopia, so if you've been missing those, don't worry... they're coming!

disability ministry weekly round-up {2-16-2012}

It's Thursday. This usually posts on Mondays. That tells you a little about our week. It's been marvelous and busy and paperwork-y and tiring and refreshing and paradoxical.

The coolest thing about this week? I can't remember another time in my life that has so transformed my faith and increased my trust in God. You know the announcement I made last week? Well, we hadn't even started our home study then. And now it's done, being sent via email to Taiwan today to be translated into Chinese and being sent via express mail today to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services at the Department of Homeland Security with our application for advance processing of orphan petition. (And I may frame it because it says my housekeeping standards are excellent. How many wives and mothers of small children have an official document stating that?)

Oh, and did I mention that we're awaiting word about a funding source for a large portion of our adoption costs? (And by large, I'm talking five figures. I'm talking 75% of the funds we need covered in one donation. Please pray.)


And now, on to the links:

"That lovely, lovely man" I love how this story highlights the way in which God can swap "the minister" and "the one ministered to." (HT: Challies)

7 Simple Steps that Will Help You Keep Volunteers Good and relevant post for what we're working through right now at our church.

Before and After Club: One-Year Reflection This ministry of Northview Church started as a way to help kids with social challenges from various special needs connect with each other, God, and their community, and this is a neat report on what has happened in the past year.

Getting people to see the ability instead of the disability Amen.

Why 'Autism Linked To...' Headlines Don't Tell the Whole Story Useful article in thinking about how the media sometimes (mis)handles research and how we ought to think about new links to conditions like autism.

Books Explore Ministry to The Disabled, Suffering I have only read the first two books here (and highly recommend them), and I look forward to getting the third one.

Beeping Easter Eggs Great guest post on The Inclusive Church about an adaptation made to one church's Easter egg hunt to include children with visual impairments.

I know I've overlooked other links in the busy-ness of this week, so let me know if you've seen anything noteworthy that I should include in my next round-up post! (And please don't be shy if it's a post you wrote, as long as it applies in some way to disability ministry.)

Free childcare AND a gift card for dinner? How to partner with local restaurants for a successful respite night

We had our third respite night this past weekend, and we added something new this time. Not only did we provide three hours of childcare for children with special needs and their siblings (10 and younger), but we provided every family with a gift card to a local restaurant or coffee shop... without spending any money.*

*Well, we could have if we started early enough. We did buy some gift cards from a coffee shop to make up for the donations we didn't get because we started so late. But if we had started earlier, we wouldn't have had to spend anything!

You see, restaurants typically have a budget for charitable donations. If your event serves the larger community and not just your church members, then many restaurants will be willing to draw from that philanthropy budget to provide one or two gift cards for families. We haven't perfected this, but I'd love to share what we learned this time!

Lesson 1: Start early. 

We didn't do this. We started two weeks before the event. Several restaurants wanted to help, but they couldn't. What will we do next time? Start a month or month and a half early. 

(Also, know that many chain restaurants have a certain amount of money provided to them each month from their corporate office for donations, and for many, that budget re-starts on the first of the month. So if you make a request that is turned down on March 15th, for example, it might be wise to try again on April 1st.)

Lesson 2: Explain why you're doing what you're doing.

What's the point of respite night? Who does it serve? Why does it matter? Get your best motivational speaker or Hallmark movie thinking cap on, and figure out your spiel. You'll need to be prepared to share it when you make verbal requests, and you'll need to include it in written requests. (And if the other members of your respite leadership team can all articulate this clearly defined purpose for and description of the event, then every member of the team can solicit donations from different restaurants so no single person shoulders all of the work!)

Lesson 3: Put your request in writing, and make it specific.

What do you want? For us, we asked for a gift card or voucher suitable for an appetizer, two meals, non-alcoholic beverages, and a dessert AND a 5:00pm reservation. (Our event runs from 4-7pm.) Some restaurants gave us exactly what we asked for, some don't do reservations but provided the gift card, and some gave a gift card that would cover part - but not all - of what we asked for. In other words, our specific request told the managing partner of the restaurant what we would like, and then each one used his or her discretion to provide what they could in return. We graciously received each donation, thankful for whatever was provided. 

Lesson 4: When you put the request in writing, use church letterhead with the church's tax-ID number listed. 

Most restaurants will require this. I made a few requests before I knew that and then had to resubmit them on Providence's letterhead with our tax-ID number. Save yourself a step by doing this from the beginning. 

Lesson 5: Work with - and not against - other ministries in your church.

Check with your church leadership to find out if other ministries are doing anything like this. Work with them so that your church only has one request at a restaurant at a time. Your church could look disorganized and a little demanding if a restaurant received multiple requests in the same time period, and the managing partner of the restaurant will be more likely to say no to both ministries' requests. Working together is working smart. 

Lesson 6: Let families know in advance.

Some families will already have other plans, and that's okay because some gift cards will be more flexible. For example, two different Chili's restaurants partnered with us, and I knew parents could use those gift cards another time (including picking up a take-home order via Chili's To Go if they can't go out). I emailed parents a week before to ask them if they would be able to use a voucher with a fixed reservation or if they preferred a flexible gift card for any time. (And let me tell you, parents get REALLY responsive when you email with a question like that!) 

The night before respite, I emailed each family with the gift card they would be receiving, so they could plan accordingly. One benefit of this? Every family came to respite - no no-shows! - and everyone arrived on time because they were excited about their plans. 

Lesson 7: Thank the partnering restaurants afterward!

Write a thank you note. Share the names of partnering restaurants with the rest of your congregation so that they will be motivated to thank the restaurant with their business. (I know Lee and I have a whole new list of places we'll go on date nights now, because we'd prefer to spend our money at a place that supported the ministry we're passionate about!) If you eat out there, ask to speak to the manager so you can thank him/her in person and let him/her know that you decided to eat there because of the donation made for respite night. 

And - on that note - Raleigh friends, you might want to visit Brio Tuscan Grille at Crabtree Valley Mall, the Chili's on Glenwood Avenue, the Chili's at Brier Creek, Carino's at Brier Creek, Longhorn Steak House at Brier Creek, Crabtree Tavern, and Brixx Wood Fired Pizza at Brier Creek. And tell them THANK YOU for supporting Providence Baptist Church's respite night in February.

Thanks!