The Beatitudes for Friends of Someone with a Disability

Blessed are you who take time to
listen to difficult speech,

for you help us to know that if we
preserver, we can be understood.

Blessed are you who walk with us in public
places and ignore the stares of strangers,
for in your companionship we find havens
of relaxation.

Blessed are you who never bid us to ‘Hurry up’
and more blessed you who do not snatch our
tasks from our hands to do them for us, for
often we need time rather than help.

Blessed are you who stand behind us as
we enter new and untried ventures,

For our failures will be outweighed by the
times when we surprise ourselves and you.

Blessed are you who ask for our help,
for our greatest need is to be needed.

Blessed are you who help us with the
graciousness of Christ, who do not bruise
the reed or quench the flax, for often we
need the help we cannot ask for.

Blessed are you when by all these things
you ensure that the thing that makes us
individuals is not our peculiar muscles, no our
wounded nervous system, nor our difficulties
in learning, but in the God-given self which
no infirmity can confine.

Rejoice and be exceedingly glad and that
you have given us reassurance that could never
be spoken in words, for you deal with us as
God dealt with His own children.

-Author Unknown

Dancing Moves the Soul

As I have been reading about the state of those with disabilities, information about inclusive education has been overwhelming. It seems like many advocates of children with disabilities are putting all of their eggs into the basket of inclusive education, as if being incorporated into a classroom with students without disabilities is all that is needed to open a child up.

At the beginning of December, I caught a news segment on the Shimmy Club, a program that teaches visually impaired teenagers how to tango. Founded on the concept that dancing doesn’t require vision, only feeling the music, two women implemented the program in their community.

These two women have empowered the teens by helping them gain self-confidence. The teens have broken out of their shells and are now bold enough to ask someone to dance. Tango, in fact.

Imagine what could be done in the lives of visually impaired teenagers if there was a program like this in every community. The end that many are seeking, inclusive education, would greatly benefit from being paired with a program that teaches self-confidence to students with disabilities. And, as these two women have proven, it doesn’t require action on behalf of a school system or the government to make a difference in the lives of people with disabilities. It just takes a vision and the dedication to see that vision come to fruition.

What is your vision?

To read the article visit: http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/22147757/

World Disability Day

We live in a world of rallies, protests and speaking out against injustice. No longer will people sit back as children are taught to murder as soldiers in civil wars, or as young girls are being sold as prostitutes. They refuse to look the other way when millions of children are forced into labor. Hollywood has used its resources to bring attention to the injustices around the world through movies like Hotel Rwanda and Blood Diamond.But where is the outcry against the mistreatment of those with disabilities? These children are abused even in countries where there isn’t political unrest. There are about 150 million children in the world living with a disability. Many of these vulnerable children are exploited because of their disabilities. They are abandoned by their families, left without education and surrounded by a stigma of being untouchable.

But each year, December 3 marks World Disability Day. The day is set aside for those with disabilities and their advocates to demand the acknowledgement of their needs. The 2007 World Disability Day was the 11^th event and was celebrated in many countries around the world. Participants flooded the streets of Patna, India, chanting, “We don’t want kindness… we want education.” The day is also intended to celebrate those with disabilities. As one blogger wrote, “Of course, for many of us all 365 days of the year remind of our disability, so perhaps this occasion should be used to celebrate our abilities.”

Interview with the Director of Access Ministry at McLean Bible Church

In this episode, Dr. Edward Bradley interviews Jackie Mills-Fernald, the director of Access Ministry at McLean Bible Church. Her relationship with Access Ministry began originally in 1999 as a volunteer. By autumn of that same year she had joined the Access Ministry staff. In 2000, Jackie became Assistant Director of Staff and Volunteer Development for Access with a focus on recruitment, training, and overall program development. Since December of 2003, Jackie has served as a member of McLean Bible Church’s ministry staff as Director of Access Ministry and also oversees the Signs of Life deaf ministry.

Jackie is a sought after workshop presenter and consultant for churches in the development of disability ministry and creating an inclusive culture in the church.

After listening to the podcast, let us know your thoughts below. Do you have a question for Jackie? Would you like to know more about their ministry?

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