No Room For Rest

IMAGE SOURCE: http://goo.gl/1neIGU

Here’s my stunning revelation for the week: for the countless people affected by Disability worldwide we all share one profound yet simple spiritual similarity—we may all be just one accessible restroom away from Salvation.

Now hear me out—this week I ran into Calvin Rutherford (now that’s a Presidential name) whom Beloved and I met years before on our valiant attempt to Get Out to local churches and enlighten them on the Joys of Disability Evangelism. Though his tiny Church Plant no longer exists, its core group of members now attend another local Baptist church.  Encouraged that our Awesome Lord may finally be opening doors for us closer to home, I inquired further about the church,  namely the accessibility of their facilities.

“So Calvin does your church have ramps to allow people in wheelchairs to get into the building?” Yes! Hurdle One cleared.

“And what about accessible restrooms?” Since a perplexed pause ensued I continued “you know, a wider door and wider stalls with grab bars for people in wheelchairs?”  Nada. Alas!  Defeat from the jaws of Victory!

Bottom Line: if people with disabilities cannot “Go” at your church, they will not be able to Come to your church!  A simple biological barrier to Salvation that’s relatively easy to remedy yet perplexingly eludes far too many churches today.

OK now here’s where all that Marketing Wisdom I’ve accumulated over the years FINALLY comes in handy for Ministry. It’s a simple concept alluded to earlier called “The Last Mile”:

“The last mile or last kilometer is a phrase used by the telecommunications, cable television and internet  industries to refer to the final leg of the telecommunications networks delivering communications connectivity to retail customers, the part that actually reaches the customer.” (Source:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Last_mile)

To apply the concept to Disability Evangelism, you simply must have a way for people with disabilities to use the restroom safely and with dignity in order to ever have a hope in Hades of getting a shot at sharing with them the Good News about Salvation through faith in Jesus Christ, Our Accessible Savior.  

I discovered an excellent video by a pastor with disabilities who laments about the widespread lack of sensitivity to Disability Ministry in the local church today.

THE DISABLED—ONE OF THE LEAST EVANGELIZED PEOPLE GROUPS IN THE WORLD http://goo.gl/xZHOCt

According to the unidentified speaker with a heavy Scottish brogue: “But the issue of inclusion for disabled people is not about ramps and loos (I.e., toilets), it’s about heart and attitude.”  I must respectfully disagree!  Because though you may possess a God-given heart of gold for Disability Evangelism, without accessible restrooms your efforts go straight down the “loo!”  Making your church totally accessible–including a way for people with disabilities to safely and easily enter/exit your church, navigate successfully once inside and especially to use the restroom with ease and dignity–are simply a bare-minimum earthly down payment towards investing in Disability Evangelism efforts with a prayer of ever yielding Heavenly rewards in the Hereafter.

And IMHO there is simply No Room For Rest until every restroom of every church of every size is accessible to EVERY person of every ability nationwide.

In His Accessible Grace,

Linda