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MissionAccess
Celebrating Disability Ministry Worldwide
Moving Forward
This Summer we’ve been studying When Helping Hurts: The Small Group Experience based on the book by Steven Corbett and Brian Fikkert.
Our Goal is Transformation: “To restore people to a full expression of humanness, to being what God created us all to Be, people who Glorify God by living in right relationship with God, with self, with others and with the rest of creation.” [i]
So this week we wrap up our Summer Series 2015 by discussing where we go from here:
Let’s look at a key Bible verse that sums up Our Goal:
Col 1:28-29 NASU: We proclaim Him, admonishing every man and teaching every man with all wisdom, so that we may present every man complete in Christ. For this purpose also I labor, striving according to His power, which mightily works within me.
That’s IT! What it boils down to is working together to help FACILITATE the Transformation of each & every person into becoming what God has created each of us to be.
Implementing An Asset-Based Participatory Development Approach
Locked and loaded with newly-acquired wisdom regarding how best to proceed may seem overwhelming, but Fear Not! Let’s take it One Step at a time:
STEP #1 Assess and mobilize the gifts of your church or ministry: A great place to start is to simply do an inventory of the assets God has already gifted you with. You will be amazed at the hidden treasures of talent hidden in your congregation just waiting to be tapped for His Glory.
STEP #2 Learn about the existing ministries & organizations already working in the area. Then PARTNER with ‘em!: No need to “recreate the wheel” here—so before you launch into new programs or services, find out who is doing what in your community. What a great way to allocate resources wisely and build new relationships and partnerships in the future.
STEP #3 Adopt “first-encounter” policies for when your church is approached for help: Having an official policy helps minimize frustration and maximize transformational efforts for everyone.
STEP #4 Explore the possibility of starting a new ministry to address the key gaps that are not being met: Once you know what you’ve got and what’s available along with an official policy about how best to deploy those resources, you can begin to think about starting something new. Yeah verily we serve an Isaiah 41:13 God who may just be preparing you and your congregation for something truly Transformational!
In His Accessible Grace,
Linda
IMAGE SOURCE: http://goo.gl/AmrRGs
- [I] Steve Corbett and Brian Fikkert, When Helping Hurts: How To Alleviate Poverty Without Hurting The Poor—And Yourself (Chicago, IL: Moody Publishers, 2009), Kindle edition: Location 74.
Posted in Mission Accessible Inc.
Divide & Conquer!
Greetings & Welcome to Our Summer Series 2015! We are studying When Helping Hurts: The Small Group Experience based on the book by Steven Corbett and Brian Fikkert.
Our Goal is Transformation: “To restore people to a full expression of humanness, to being what God created us all to Be, people who Glorify God by living in right relationship with God, with Self, with Others and with the rest of Creation.” [i]
So this week we: DIVIDE & CONQUER!
We do that by dividing Poverty into different segments. Why? Because Poverty at different stages requires different responses in order to be as effective as possible at Achieving Our Goal of Transformation.
Let’s look at each of these separately: [ii]
#1 RELIEF: Urgent temporary aid to reduce suffering from either a natural or man-made crisis primarily through a Provider-Receiver dynamic.
#2 REHABILITATION: An effort to restore people back to a pre-crisis state. People begin to contribute to improving their situation.
#3 DEVELOPMENT: Walking with people ACROSS TIME in ways that move ALL the people involved—both the “Helpers” as well as the “Helped”– closer to being in right relationship with God, Self, Others & Creation than they were before. It avoids “doing for” and focuses on “doing with.”
Makes sense, right? I know only too well from going through a major MS relapse in 2013 (aka My MS “Splat”) what those feel like. But I also tasted true Transformation through good people working alongside me and not simply doing everything for me.
The Poison of Paternalism
PATERNALISM: Habitually doing things for people that they can do for themselves. [iii]
So many of us are dealing with disability! And we ALL need a little help. But NOTHING is more disabling than never allowing someone to DO for THEMSELVES whatever needs doing to the best of their ability. Otherwise well-meaning and compassionate people may actually make things worse and hamper or prevent altogether people ever becoming what God created them to be. What a shame!
Is Transformation easy? Nope. But is it worth it? Priceless!
In His Accessible Grace,
Linda
- [i] Steve Corbett and Brian Fikkert, When Helping Hurts: How To Alleviate Poverty Without Hurting The Poor—And Yourself (Chicago, IL: Moody Publishers, 2009), Kindle edition: Location 74.
- [ii Location 512.
- [iii Location 492.
IMAGE SOURCE: http://goo.gl/AmrRGs
Posted in Advocacy, Christian Caregivers, Disability Evangelism, Discipleship
Invest In Transformation
Image Source: http://goo.gl/qb3RIK
More than 50 years ago President Lyndon Baynes Johnson declared War on Poverty. However now more than half a century later and trillions spent to “alleviate poverty” in America suffice to say that sadly little has changed. So what’s the answer? Poverty is a complex issue with no easy answers.
But there are better answers.
Journey with me as we begin our quest towards discovering those better answers.
Because whether we are rich–or whether we are poor– we are ALL broken. And we ALL need to WORK TOGETHER to help each other reach The Goal:
“To restore people to a full expression of humanness, to being what God created us all to Be, people who Glorify God by living in right relationship with God, with self, with others and with the rest of creation.” [i]
That’s from the book “When Helping Hurts: How To Alleviate Poverty Without Hurting The Poor—And Yourself“ by Steven Corbett and Brian Fikkert who have dedicated their lives to answering that question about how best to alleviate Poverty based on Biblical principles.
Caution: We are NOT talking Prosperity Gospel here! Far from it! We are talking about helping other achieve lasting change through Relationships!
Isa 58:10 NASU
And if you give yourself to the hungry
And satisfy the desire of the afflicted,
Then your light will rise in darkness
And your gloom will become like midday.
Q: Do you see ANY mention of money in that verse? A: NO!
Well what DO you see? A: “Give Yourself”! Hmmm—just like Christ!
After World War II the World Bank’s efforts to rebuild war-torn Europe were remarkably successful—yet in the 1990s doing the same for India did little to alleviate the problem of Poverty. So they tried something different—asking “the true poverty experts—the poor themselves.” [ii] The result was a 3-volume series entitled Voices of the Poor where in their own words people answered the question “What Is Poverty?” What they found was that poverty was described in largely psychological terms—NOT financial!
Why is that important? Because the diagnosis determines the “cure”–and if we misdiagnose the problem we will arrive at the WRONG conclusions!
So let’s apply that to the issue of Poverty—because though we may be materially rich or poor we ALL have what is defined as a “Poverty of Being”—i. e. as a shared brokenness due to our fallen nature:
- For The Poor—as we’ve seen their Poverty of Being is expressed in a hopelessness rather than a lack of material resources.
- But For The Rich—their Poverty of Being is rooted in what’s called the “god-complex”—
“a subtle and unconscious sense of superiority in which they believe that they have achieved their wealth through their own efforts and that they have been anointed to decide what is best for low-income people whom they view as inferior to themselves.” [iii]
The Central Point Is This:
“one of the biggest problems in many poverty-alleviation efforts is that their design and implementation exacerbates the Poverty of Being of the economically rich—their god-complexes—and the Poverty of Being of the economically poor—their feelings of inferiority and shame.” [iv]
WOW! THAT IS POWERFUL! This realization brings me great Hope! But it also brings me great shame—in that my attempts to materially bless people may be the very thing that is preventing them from becoming ALL that our Awesome Lord has created them to be.
OK so how DO we do that? Nothing short of a total shift from Poverty Alleviation to a new paradigm of Transformation Investment! So stay tuned…’cause here’s The Deal:
Because my tagline for Mission Accessible is: Transforming Disability Ministry Worldwide
The ONLY way to accomplish that lofty goal is to first Transform PEOPLE!
I am feeling that crazy kinda hope when I think about the Opportunity we have before us—to truly help each other Transform the lives of people & families affected by disability!
“Forget the former things;
do not dwell on the past.
See, I am doing a new thing!
Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?
I am making a way in the desert
and streams in the wasteland.
–Isa 43:18-19 NIV
In His Accessible Grace,
Linda
[i][i] Steve Corbett and Brian Fikkert, When Helping Hurts: How To Alleviate Poverty Without Hurting The Poor—And Yourself (Chicago, IL: Moody Publishers, 2009), Kindle edition: Location page 74.
[ii] Ibid, p. 49.
[iii] Ibid., p. 61
[iv] Ibid, p. 62
Posted in Advocacy, Disability Evangelism, Mission Accessible Inc.
“I C U!”–Love, God
Image Source: iStockphoto.com
Lately the Lord has been showing me a particular facet of Disability that ALL of us dealing with it are all too familiar with: feeling invisible.
There’s a video on YouTube called The Freezing Homeless Child! (Social Experiment): http://goo.gl/NwGjju
What a powerful video about how we choose to ignore really glaring issues in our daily lives—this one about a child who appears to be homeless enduring hours in sub-zero temps in just a tee shirt and jeans being passed by until a HOMELESS MAN stops and without hesitation offers the boy his coat!
Though homelessness was the focus of the experiment, it could have just as easily been—DISABILITY.
Because though 1 in 5 people nationwide are considered Disabled according to the US Census Bureau, circumstances surrounding our disabilities render us largely INVISIBLE to the general public. Out of sight and out of mind.
And now that I am in a power chair I am definitely feeling the Invisibility Factor skyrocket! In fact I went to OfficeMax to pick up some color prints and waited—patiently—while the clerk helped someone else. Then a pretty young spandex-clad woman swooped right by me and was IMMEDIATELY waited on! Then an older gentleman breezed right by me also, cleared his throat loudly and HE got helped!!!
FINALLY I spoke up and asked for my color prints but not before feeling as invisible as a Superhero (but far less powerful).
However unlike the world, God Sees You in a uniquely personal way—and I believe wants for us to be able to see others in that same Christlike way also.
In the Book of Genesis we see Hagar (the maidservant of Abraham’s wife Sarah) who as a result of Sarah’s urging becomes pregnant with Abraham’s child Ishmael. Soon relationships sour and Sarah demands that Hagar and her son be banished to the wilderness to which Abraham reluctantly agrees. But Hagar cries out to the Lord and He answers!
Gen 16:13 NASB Then she called the name of the Lord who spoke to her, “You are a God who sees (El Roi)”; for she said, “Have I even remained alive here after seeing Him?”
Why? “Because the Lord has given heed to your affliction.” Gen 16:11 NASB He’s saying “I C U! “—I Hear You, and I am ready Ready, Willing and Eager To Help You.”
So to all of you who struggle with disability like I do, I urge you to consider this: rather than see your limitations, try looking at yourself though God’s Eyes. Because for all the many-splendored things we lack, most of us have an overabundance of something that most of our able-bodied counterparts just can’t get enough of—TIME! May we invest that precious gift wisely! And like the homeless man in the video, boldly reach out to others overwhelmed by disability simply to say—“I C U! “—I Hear You, and I am ready Ready, Willing and Eager To Help You.” For His Glory! In the name of Jesus. Amen.
In His Accessible Grace,
Linda
Posted in Advocacy, Disability Evangelism, Discipleship, Mission Accessible Inc.
Embracing My Thorn
In his book The Power of the Blood author Bob Sorge says that the enemy has only three tricks: discouragement, distraction and temptation.[i] However this week our Awesome Lord worked all three together for His Glory by personally showing me the power of Embracing My Thorn of Disability.
OK Christians—let’s talk about the “H” word. No not Heaven nor Hell. I’m thinking of one far more emotionally charged—especially for people and families affected by disability: HEALING.
Lord knows I have done everything within my power (note—MY power) to Name-n-Claim the miraculous healing so many Christians believe is clearly within my grasp. All I have to do is Believe, right? And with the 20th anniversary of my December 1, 1995 diagnosis of MS looming large on the horizon, suffice to say that I am susceptible to indulging in a little well-meaning but ultimately misguided attempts at Self-Healing.
Thanks to the miracle of Facebook I now have easy 24/7 access to personal opinions about my health challenges and how best to combat them. Free opinions—but not necessarily priceless.
This week is a glowing example.
A small contingent of my fellow MS Buddies rejoiced upon hearing that at long last I decided to take up the Paleo Torch— i.e. to ditch my crazy wacky modern dietary habits and pursue with passion the culinary roots of my Paleolithic ancestors. Beans? Begone! Dairy? Ditch it. Eggs? Consider them Exorcised! Because now in my new more enlightened nutritional state of mind only fresh fruits, veggies and nuts along with grass-fed or wild-caught fish or meats will suffice.
Boldly I sojourned to the local Sprouts health food market to acquire the new tools of My Healing! Voila! I proceeded to whip up the most intoxicating stew of self-sufficiency (laced with a little flaxseed oil) that my lowly kitchen has ever seen. Topped off with organic berries for dessert and in no time I shall be shall be Dancing with the Stars just like God!
Unwisely I chose to sup on the sofa which quickly went awry. Upon realizing I was unable to transfer my unhealed carcass safely back to my scooter, I cried out to Beloved (aka my husband Larry who thankfully works at home) with palpable panic. Valiantly he sprang into action, successfully swooping his Damsel in Distress out of harm’s way! But alas! During the Rescue Mission we managed to overturn the unholy concoction onto our favorite loveseat where we both plopped down atop the leftover remnants of my half-full bowl of empty promises.
Though the Apostle Paul begged the Lord three times to remove his “thorn in the flesh,” (which appears to have been some physical disability, possibly blindness), the Lord answers that “my grace is sufficient for you (2 Corinthians 12:9).” Humbly now with stew-soaked bum I return to that place I’ve been so many times before—ready to begin yet again Embracing My Thorn of Disability. Acknowledging at long last that the only way success could ever be remotely possible is solely because of the thorns that He so willingly embraced for me with Love on Calvary.
[i] Bob Sorge, Power of the Blood: Approaching God With Confidence (Grandview, MO: Oasis House, 2012), Kindle edition Location 1284
Image Source: http://goo.gl/YBz8ih
Posted in Disability Evangelism, Healing, Mission Accessible Inc.
Wanted: Hearts & Loos
As I ponder yet again what it really takes to Transform Disability Ministry Worldwide, it’s actually quite simple. It all comes down to Hearts and Loos (that’s British for restrooms).
Before that simple yet profound theory can begin to make sense, allow me to share three pivotal statistics regarding Disability Ministry:
1. Disability affects 20% of people nationwide according to the US Census Bureau.
2. 80% of people with disabilities are “unchurched” according to Joni and Friends.
3. Yet only 10% of churches nationwide have any Disability Ministry Outreach.
That’s the problem in a nutshell: millions of people affected by disability are disconnected from the church because too few churches are reaching out to them in a meaningful way.
So what’s the Solution? Well first it’s being aware that a problem exists. Of course Luke 14:13 tells us that we are to “invite the poor, the blind, the lame and the crippled and you will be blessed.” But a passive invitation alone does not suffice to proactively help people and families affected by disability truly build a lasting life-transforming Relationship with Jesus Christ.
Hey! Wait a minute! Wasn’t the landmark 1990 Americans with Disabilities Act supposed to solve everything? Well a quarter-century later, not so much. In fact the 2010 Survey of Americans with Disabilities done by The Kessler Foundation found that adults with disabilities are significantly less likely than their able-bodied peers to attend church. Not to mention far more likely to have NEVER attended church!
Pssst! Plus the dirty little secret is that according to www.uscj.org, “in most cases, religious entities are exempt from the ADA requirements.” Leaving many local churches—both literally and figuratively—largely as inaccessible as ever.
In a YouTube video entitled THE DISABLED—ONE OF THE LEAST EVANGELIZED PEOPLE GROUPS IN THE WORLD an unidentified pastor with disabilities speaking in a heavy Scottish brogue declares: “But the issue of inclusion for disabled people is not about ramps and loos, it’s about heart and attitude.” I respectfully disagree. As I’ve said in a previous Blog entitled No Room For Rest, “Though you may possess a God-given heart of gold for Disability Evangelism, without accessible restrooms your efforts go straight down the “loo!”
But seriously—what IS the Solution? Hearts? Or Loos? The Answer is: BOTH! Because combining Compassion with Accessibility unleashes powerful opportunities to minister not just To—but also Through—People and Families Affected by Disability in order to truly Transform Disability Ministry Worldwide.
In His Accessible Grace,
Linda
Image Source: http://goo.gl/EW8cSh
Posted in Church Accessibility, Disability Evangelism, Discipleship
Lo & Behold
Church should be the most disability-friendly place on earth, right? Well—not so much. Though 20% of us are dealing with disability according to the US Census, only about 10% of churches nationwide have any sort of Disability Ministry outreach according to Joni and Friends. As the former Church Relations Coordinator for Joni and Friends/DFW, I personally consider even that paltry percentage to be wildly optimistic.
So Lo & Behold–imagine my delight when Richardson East Baptist Church here in Richardson went above and beyond to make their humble place of worship accessible to me.
You see, I have MS (well some people call it MS but I call it VIP Parking). And my husband Larry is legally blind so we are no strangers to disability. Without really even thinking about accessibility issues, we gladly accepted an invitation from our friend Calvin Rutherford to attend a Sunday morning Bible Study just minutes from our home.
But alas! Though we planned to attend services afterwards, not one of their three restrooms proved accessible to me. So sadly, we were forced to leave early. Proof positive as I pointed out in my October 2014 Blog Post “No Room For Rest” that if people with disabilities can’t “go” at your church—they can’t come to it.
However Calvin caught wind of my dilemma and relayed it straight to the top. “This is a priority! “ thought Pastor Wayne Lewis regarding renovations to increase accessibility. “We have to get this thing done.” A carpenter by trade just like Jesus, Pastor Wayne along with a group of volunteers wasted no time tearing down walls and redoing plumbing to make both restrooms in the Fellowship Hall “good to go” for me!
No Committee meetings to contemplate! No fundraisers! No excuses! Without fanfare or kudos, THEY SIMPLY JUST DID THE RIGHT THING!
Not only did they tackle accessibility issues boldly, in 2012 REBC hired Joshua Busby, who has Muscular Dystrophy, as Youth Minister. Josh says that prior to his job interview “they didn’t know about my disability! But there was never any question. They didn’t blink!” Josh was hired on the spot.
Yeah verily that speaks volumes without saying a word to current and future generations about how we are to value, esteem and empower people and families of ALL abilities.
I stumbled upon (pun intended) a YouTube video entitled The Disabled — One of the Least Evangelized People Groups in the World by an unidentified pastor with disabilities who succinctly summed up the situation in his heavy Scottish brogue: “It’s not about ramps and loos (i.e., toilets)—it’s about heart and attitude.” Amen & Hallelujah!
Richardson East Baptist Church humbly displays that heart and attitude for people and families affected by disability in Richardson and beyond…exceeding abundantly (IMHO). Well Done Thou Good & Faithful Servants.
May all churches small and large worldwide go forth and do likewise.
in His Accessible Grace,
Linda
Happy Isaiah 43:18-19!
As yet another year dr
aws to a close, I share with you my Life Verse:
“Forget the former things;
do not dwell on the past.
See, I am doing a new thing!
Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?
I am making a way in the desert
and streams in the wasteland.
— Isaiah 43:18-19 NASB
I share with you also this incredible image snapped on my humble cell phone in Hot Springs National Park after Beloved (aka my husband Larry) and I headed home from a Christmas Day visit with his Grandmama who lives in a nursing home there. Just like The Year of Our Lord 2014, so too we sense that things for Grandmama may be drawing to a close. But rather than mourn we Rejoice as we perceive the promise of unspeakable joy in the Things To Come so wonderfully expressed by God Himself in this Glorious Sunset custom-made just for us.
So here’s to the New Things springing up in 2015…and beyond.
In His Accessible Grace,
Linda
Team DeDe Needs Ur Help ASAP! :)
PLS HELP R Dear Ms. DeDe! 🙂
Greetings & Blessings Fam & Friends of Bartimaeus Baptist Temple! R Sister-in-Christ Ms. DeDe Pippens needs R Help NOW!
DeDe is being evicted from the rental home she shared with her mother Arvella (who went Home 2 B w The Lord in 2011). The house is being auctioned off Dec. 2 2014 to pay outstanding property taxes. That means that DeDe & all her stuff & dogs ALL need to be OUT before Dec. 1.
DeDe is visually-impaired and overwhelmed by everything that needs to happen in less than 2 weeks.
THAT’S WHY WE NEED YOUR HELP ASAP!
We need: moving truck(s), moving boxes, and most importantly STRONG ABLE-BODIED PEOPLE to pack up & move DeDe 2 her new home. Since BBTemple is a church that ministers 2 people & families dealing with disabilities, many of R Members R willing but simply not able 2 help with the heavy lifting required 2 pull this off.
In this season of Thanksgiving let’s all remember how Thankful we R 4 R Sister DeDe! She has always been generous & kind & has NEVER hesitated 2 help others. NOW IT IS R TURN 2 REPAY THE FAVOR & BLESS R SISTER DEDE IN HER TIME OF NEED!
MOVING WEEKEND IS: FRI NOV 28 & SAT NOV 29!!! If U R able 2 help pls contact me: Linda Thacker (Associate Pastor Larry’s wife): linda@missionaccess.com
GOD BLESS U & THANKS IN ADVANCE 4 UR HELP! 🙂
In His Accessible Grace,
Linda
Posted in Disability Evangelism, Mission Accessible Inc., Volunteers
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
Posted in Advocacy, Disability Evangelism, Discipleship, Mission Accessible Inc.