Now Special Touch presents a tool to help local pastors and congregations touch the lives of people with disabilities in their communities. Compel Them to Come In: Reaching People with Disabilities through the Local Church is both a disability ministry conference between two covers and a journey into the world of disability as seen through those who live there. At the heart of the book is the premise that every person, regardless of their condition or disability deserves a presentation of the gospel at their level of understanding. Compel Them to Come In presents discussions on the following topics:
The Biblical foundation and mandate for disability ministry
How churches can start an outreach to people with disabilities in their community
A Biblical strategy for evangelism
How to Present a Disability Awareness Sunday
Including Students with Special Needs in your Sunday School
Whosoever Will May Come: People with Intellectual Disabilities and Worship
Understanding the Unique Needs of People with Mild Intellectual Disabilities
Inside the Prison Bars of Physical Disability
The Crisis and the Covenant: Physical Disability and Marriage
Making the Cross Accessible to the Blind and the Vision Impaired
With much more to everyone with an accessible heart and a desire to make a difference on an adventure of a lifetime!
Objectives
To create awareness of the need for disability evangelism and ministry in your community
To be able to capitalize on commitments to servanthood
To create an atmosphere of love and acceptance for people with disabilities in your church
To explain the need for accessible facilities
To fit into the flow of administration and ministry within the church
The Concept:
When the body of Christ comes together and gathers in His name, it is a celebration-in effect, a banquet-where acceptance, fellowship, worship, and ministry are available to all. The church "prepares the banquet" by readying their hearts, ministries, and facilities for heavenly
Foundation Scripture
Luke 14:12-14: The Parable of the Great Feast
The Definition of "Disability Ministry":
Disability ministry or ministry to people with disabilities is responding to Christ's Great Commission with a commitment to evangelize, disciple, and equip people impacted by disability to use their ministry gifts to build up and complete the body of Christ. The scope of this ministry includes those with physical and intellectual disabilities, their families and caregivers.
Creating Awareness:
Accept the Call
God calls His people into ministry in many ways. Rev. Tommy Barnett pastors a large, thriving church in Phoenix, Arizona. Over the years he has developed a proven method for starting new outreaches to the community. From time to time, a member of the congregation will come in and propose a new ministry. Pastor Barnett listens to them share their burden, and then challenges them to act on that burden by taking the lead in getting the ministry started. If you have a burden for seeing people with disabilities come to know Christ, it is probably an indication that God wants to use you. There is an old proverb that says, "If not us, then who? If not now, then when? If not here, then where?" That saying becomes an imperative that compels us to act when we consider the admonitions of Jesus: "As long as it is day, we must do the work of Him who sent me. Night is coming, when no one can work" (John 9:4 New International Version).
Compassion goes beyond weeping because someone is in a wheelchair or has a severe mental disability; compassion is the love of God within us driving us to serve someone in need. Reaching People with Disabilities through the Local Church
Get Involved Personally
Act on the burden God has given you. Don't be afraid of starting alone and starting small. When asked how to begin a music ministry, Bill Gaither said, "The best way to get started is to get started." The same is true of disability ministry. Here are some simple ways you can begin letting the Lord use you in reaching people with disabilities:
Bring a neighbor with a disability to church.
Bring Christian music, videos, and literature to shut-ins with disabilities.
Visit nursing homes and community-based residential facilities (CBRF). Many are looking for people who will come in and share on a consistent basis.
Meet the felt needs of a neighbor with a disability: do yard work, laundry, grocery shopping, etc.
Volunteer as a Special Touch caregiver at a Summer Get Away or volunteer for another disability ministry such as becoming a reader for the National Center for the Blind.
Diving in and getting personally involved gives one experience and a testimony of God's faithfulness. God can use that testimony to draw other workers into partnership with you.
Pray to the Lord of the Harvest
Prayer is the foundation for success in any ministry endeavor. Prayer is our admission that we need more in our ministry than the latest winning strategies from the last conference we attended or the last teaching to which we listened. Pouring our hearts out to the Master demonstrates our reliance on Him to provide His power, His plan, and His people for the completion of the task He has given us.
As you continue in disability ministry, share with others about what you are doing. Ask them to pray for you. Over time, you will develop a network of intercessors that will undergird your ministry in prayer.
Cast Vision
Casting vision is planting what God has placed in your heart into the hearts of others. You do it by placing the need before them, showing or reminding them of a Biblical response, and demonstrating how they can be a blessing. You cast your vision by doing the following:
Stand on the Scriptural Foundation
We thought it appropriate to introduce this guide by identifying the scriptural foundation for disability ministry. That foundation is Jesus Himself. Use this material as a tool in communicating your vision, but try not to use it as a Scriptural sledgehammer.
Involve your Pastor
For both spiritual and pragmatic reasons, it is imperative that you involve your pastor. From a spiritual point of view, every ministry needs a covering to nurture it, encourage it, and provide accountability for it. Your pastor can also give you vital prayer support and insights on servanthood and personal interaction. From a pragmatic standpoint, he is the key to the pulpit, and the pulpit is the key to the congregation. He is also the key to the church board, which is the key to most of the church's resources. When sharing your ministry burden with anyone, be prayerful, tactful, and respectful. When presenting the need to your pastor, be willing to be part of the solution.
Use Available Resources
Here are some more weapons you can use in your awareness arsenal:
Ask your pastor if he would prayerfully consider preaching and teaching on the need for disability ministry, the biblical view of disability, and servanthood.
Talk to your C.E. Director about offering an elective Sunday school or mid-week class on disability awareness and effective ways of evangelizing people with disabilities.
Put together an information sheet of disability statistics and facts for use by the pastor and board, and by the congregation on Disability Awareness Sunday. Try to tailor it to the needs of your community and congregation. Much information is available at your public library or on the Internet. Always note that statistics vary, and give only a general indication of the need.
Plan a Disability Awareness Sunday or ministry-training seminar. Special Touch Ministry can assist you in these areas.
Get together and share your burden with those who are already impacted by a disability in some way. Don't forget to include those who have a spouse or a child with a disability.
Utilize Special Touch events to expose people with and without disabilities to disability ministry. Use them as opportunities to be encouraged by others who are involved in disability ministry.
Capitalizing on Commitments to Servanthood:
Establish a Core Group
Disability Awareness presentations usually help congregations build a fresh emotional link to people with disabilities and their needs. God's call to their hearts for involvement must be solidified before their tears dry and are forgotten. After your Disability Awareness Sunday, you need to recruit your core group. They will be the heart of your disability ministry team. They will help you carry the ball. The core group is the most important element of an effective and lasting ministry. Recruit people who will be there when the tough times come. The core group is the engine on the disability ministry train. Prayer and passion are the fuel. Parents of children with disabilities and those with spouses who have a disability many times make great core group members because they already have the passion for it.
Make a Plan: Everyone Can Do Something
Next, map out a strategy for ministry to the community, or if you are in a large city, draw a circle with a ten-mile radius around the church. Strategies for community evangelism are covered in the next chapter, but here is an example of an effective disability ministry.
"The Beaver Dam Strategy"
Special Touch in Beaver Dam, Wisconsin is a thriving chapter in the network of Special Touch support groups. They use a comprehensive and balanced approach for affecting those in their sphere of influence. Their plan provides room in their schedule for:
Monthly meetings for fellowship and support
Bi-weekly mothers' coffee fellowships for evangelism and caregiver support
Periodic appearances at community events to increase exposure and provoke involvement
Periodic fundraisers to meet expenses and support missionaries to people with disabilities
The group in Beaver Dam identified four areas of need: fellowship and support, evangelism, community involvement, and ministry support and expansion. Then they designed events and a workable schedule to help meet those needs.
Disability Ministry Programs for the Local Church
A church-based ministry may have slightly different priorities. When making a ministry plan for your church, keep in mind the following program elements:
Sunday school classes for people with intellectual disabilities
Family night classes/activities for people with intellectual disabilities
Transportation for people with disabilities Pastoral counseling
Visitation and felt-needs ministry
Support and fellowship groups outside the church itself (such as a Special Touch Chapter) that can assist in providing parental, spousal, and other caregiver support
Short-term respite care
Friendship building
The above list is simply an example of some of the programs a church might offer to its congregation and community. Every local church and community will be different, and each will have slightly different needs. In addition to these specific ministries, care must be taken that people with disabilities are not neglected in the routine life of the church, which includes worship, fellowship activities, and ministry gift development.
Recruit Facilitators
Sometimes a church's disability ministry can become isolated from the rest of its outreaches to the community because it is the pet project of just a few people. This usually happens because of the false perception that disability ministry requires a specialist who has knowledge or experience in the area of disability. Although knowledge and experience can be helpful, they are never a requirement. Every person in every pew has a gift or talent that can be used to bless and reach people with disabilities for Christ if they simply have a willing heart. You have to have this philosophy if you are going to successfully recruit workers and helpers to your ministry and create a broad base of support and awareness throughout the congregation. The entire church body is your potential ministry team. Disability ministry needs everything from plumbers to pastry chefs at one time or another; it is a ministry in which everyone, at almost any age, can participate. Learn how to plug the right person, with the right ministry gift, into the right ministry opportunity.
Creating an Atmosphere of Love and Acceptance
In order to create an atmosphere of love and acceptance, we first have to recognize that a gulf often exists between the world of the church and the world of people living with disabilities.
Understand the World of the Church
The world of the church has certain inherent characteristics:
The life of the church centers around celebrating Jesus, worshipping God, and fellowshipping with the saints
By design, the church is a family unit
Sunday services often showcase the church at its best
Even though these things are good, when viewed from the perspective of people with disabilities, they can become problematic.
Understand the World of People with Disabilities
The world of disability has unique characteristics that put it at odds with the church. They are:
People with disabilities often feel betrayed by God or isolated from Him; therefore they are not sure about worship. They wrestle with the question, "If God is so loving and so powerful, Why did He allow this terrible thing to happen to me?"
In a group of able-bodied people, people with disabilities often feel isolated and ignored-not part of the family.
Some people with disabilities are continually confronted with the base side of life. They often feel uncomfortable and uneasy about their appearance and behaviors. They know that they may seem bizarre or revolting to others.
A quick comparison and analysis of these of characteristics illuminate the problems. If people with a disability feel that God has punished or rejected them, and think they are an accident or a mistake, why should they want to go to God's house and celebrate Him? Going to church can feel like attending someone else's family reunion. It is a closed circle. The smiles and hugs are for those who are known and loved. Only those in the family know the inside jokes. Strangers are treated with cool politeness. Why should a person with a disability confront the logistical hassles of going to church and being lonely when they can be lonely at home? Even people without disabilities often feel this way.
The next issue you must face can be very difficult. Is the church-your church-ready for the stark ugliness of some of the things that accompany disability? Are you ready for drool on your upholstery and seizures on your floor? Are you ready to help empty a leg bag that needs immediate attention? Is your pastor prepared for those who may interact with his sermon by answering his rhetorical questions or by interjecting irrelevancies, or fall obviously and noisily asleep? Are you prepared to deal with people who may not look pretty, dress pretty, smell pretty, or act pretty? Most people with disabilities don't think so, and that is why the statistics say that they are staying away from the church in droves. The average Sunday service often unwittingly celebrates appearance and ability, which is a mark of the worldly culture in which we live. Our culture is often highly intolerant of physical and mental imperfection. The final result is that people with disabilities can feel the church has placed a "KEEP OUT!" sign on the front door of their accessible, multi-million dollar facility. If we take this perspective into serious consideration, is it any wonder why the master of the banquet instructed His servants to compel the maimed, lame, and blind to come in? (Luke 14:23)
The Solution
During the youth revival of the 1970's, some churches were literally home-grown. They began as home Bible studies and grew to number in the thousands. There were also established churches that experienced phenomenal growth. Whether they knew it or not, these churches put biblical principles into practice causing them to reap a tremendous harvest of souls. Practicing these same principles will energize your disability outreach and your entire church.
Be Consumed by the Love of Christ
Members and adherents of those churches experienced a personal revival. They were personally so touched by the love of God that they were filled with a burning desire to share it with friends, enemies, and everyone they encountered, without regard for personal inconvenience.
This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; but if we love each other, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us. (1 John 4:9-12 NIV)
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Excerpted from Compel Them To Come In Copyright © 2010 by Special Touch Ministry, Inc.. Excerpted by permission.
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Overview