Gospel of Weakness

Press Pause

2008-08-18T08:12:00.002-05:00

Thanks for stopping by. I started this blog to kind of get my juices going about some writing ideas I had. I have a lot of oars in the water right now, so I am taking a break from the blog, mostly because no one is really reading it regularly anyway.

If you have comments on anything here, feel free to email me at dan@elimcs.org. In the meantime, please stop by www.hopepacks.com to see what I'm working on now.

What we go through...

2008-07-28T09:03:00.004-05:00

Kayren Lynn Chlup of Living with Cerebral Palsy has a wonderful post to encourage each of us in our attitudes about disability, and towards those who have a disability.

Thus, we who have Cerebral Palsy, a learning disability of Dyslexia, and or any other type of disability are; tossed a bone to keep us pacified, and are patronized, and are regarded as a problem, rather than a asset to our world and our community.

Read more...

Is this how you look at people with disabilities? Do you see them as pitiable, as sorry creatures, as neglected or forgotten by a supposedly loving and all-powerful God? Or do you see them as wonderful beings in their own right, different but whole in their own way? Or do you look at it differently altogether?

I think disability rights advocates would all agree with Karen that people with disabilities are often looked on as burdens rather than assets to society. I think too many Christ-followers would have a difficult time agreeing to same, simply because we so often see disability as a sign of the curse of sin.

I've been promising this for some time, but I look at it differently altogether, for my perspective is that people with disabilities are valued on par with people who do not have disabilities. However, they are not valued as such because of their disability, and that is where I will differ with many disability rights activists, something I hope to explain soon.

Elim's Not the Only One

2008-07-08T11:55:00.004-05:00

Elim has a unique message - people with disabilities need to be cared for, need our help, but they don't need pity. They need opportunity, accessibility, and they need to be challenged.

This is a difficult line to understand for a lot of people, even inside the disabled community. Some vigilantly believe that people with disabilities ought never be pitied, which means that anything nearing pity is an atrocity. This often makes the disability into not only a defining characteristic, but almost the goal of life for someone with a disability. They seem to think that the disability is actually a good thing, and thereby ought not be a cause for concern, empathy, or anything else nearing pity.

Mike Matthews of the Life, Faith and Disability blog (excellent blog, Mr. Matthews!), struggles with that very tension in his most recent post: For Noah:

Noah was born with cerebral palsy... I know a lot people in my field of work would be mad at me when I say it makes me sad to see this little boy going through this. There’s a difference between pity and compassion and my heart just went out to him...I think too many people in the independent living movement and the disability community inside that movement are too hard. If a person would say I feel bad about that person having to deal with their disability than they would get mad and say that your pitying them, and in a lot of cases that is not true. It’s not pity to care for someone else and the circumstances they face. God has called us to community and in a community each member must care about the next. We who have disabilities have a choice to make. We can use our lives to bring glory to God and encourage others or be prideful idiots and be miserable in our own circumstances. I hear it all the time in the disability community from people saying they don’t want to inspire anyone. I’m sorry to tell you, but if your disabled and are living an independent life, you’re empowering people to know they can do it to. So get off your high horse and encourage someone in your life today.

I think that's enough said, thanks to Mr. Matthews - be sure to keep up with his blog too!

Disabled Missionaries

2008-07-07T11:43:00.006-05:00

A few months ago, I started posting information about our HOPE Packs program. You can read the latest entry by clicking here. Anyway, I had promised to complete that line of thinking, and with recent events, am incredible inclined to do so, a little bit at a time.

So what's HOPE Packs? Well, you can certainly find out more about it at the website, but this - to me, anyway - is its essence:

People with disabilities are usually seen as recipients of God's grace, but HOPE Packs equips people with disabilities to be minsters of God's grace to others.

Okay, more efficiently this time: The HOPE Packs program equips people with disabilities to minister to the needs of others.

Now really, have you ever heard of anything like that? We actually are equipping those with disabilities not just to "reach their highest potential" but ton actually be a blessing to others. Elim adults are doing missions work, which is more than a lot of us are doing.

Do you want to help - just stop by hopepacks.com today!

Quibbling with a Life worth Living

2008-07-01T11:15:00.006-05:00

There are so many things we can learn from Harriett McBride Johnson, who died earlier this month at the age of 50 from a congenital neuromuscular disease. Surely, she was a champion for the rights of those with disabilities, but she was much more than that. Here is a sampling of the truths we can learn from her, all from the Wall Street Journal article:

She challenged philosopher Peter Singer by saying "The presence or absence of a disability doesn't predict quality of life."
She worked with groups like "Jerry's Orphans" who challenge the Labor Day telethon, and she also worked with Not Dead Yet, a disability-rights group formed to challenge the assisted suicide movement.
Her work has encouraged our society to question "the rapid near-disappearance of people with Down Syndrome. Between 80% and 90% of women who find out they are carrying a child with the chromosomal abnormality (which can be tested using amniocentesis) choose to abort. A Harvard medical student who surveyed 1,000 women who were pregnant with Down Syndrome babies reported that many were urged by their doctors to terminate their pregnancies; one woman's physician told her that her child would "never be able to read, write or count change." This at a time when new developments in medicine have nearly doubled the average life span of people who have the condition to 49 from 25 years. As a culture, we have made what Amy Laura Hall of Duke University Divinity School calls a "democratic calculus of worth" regarding Down Syndrome. And that calculus has resulted in a society hostile to people who refuse to make the culturally acceptable choice of ridding themselves of a disabled child before she is born."

Yes, we can learn much. But as with all truth, and she definitely had latched into a truth, it comes from God and belongs to God. A society that values people with disabilities does so for reasons other than the fact that they can 'enjoy happy, productive, and fulfilled lives.' This is true whether you believe in God or not. But for people who believe that God did create people in His image, it is easy to understand why people with disabilities are important: because they, like us, reflect His image. They, like us, are conceived with an intrinsic value - not because of their disability, but because they can (and they often do a better job than the non-disabled) reflect God's image and glory in their lives.

Disagree? Read John 9:3 and tell me why.

ADA Gets a Touch-Up

2008-06-28T07:13:00.004-05:00

Despite not yet signing on with the United Nations Treaty on Disabilities, the U.S. House of Representatives this past week succeeded in improving and defining the language of the Americans with Disabilities Act, first signed into law under President George Bush Sr.

The improvements have many ramifications, most notable among them is expanded legal protection afforded by courtroom-interpretation-bypassing steps like further defining what constitutes a disability. Why?

Lawmakers said Wednesday that people with epilepsy, diabetes, cancer, cerebral palsy, multiple sclerosis and other ailments had been improperly denied protection because their conditions could be controlled by medication or were in remission. In a Texas case, for example, a federal judge said a worker with epilepsy could not be considered disabled because he was taking medications that reduced the frequency of seizures.

The next step is for the Senate to adopt a similar measure. And with Sen. Tom Harkin on the case (considering his overall zeal for the cause of people with disabilities), I am sure they will act "in the near future."

Kennedy Family Member Almost Gets it

2008-06-27T09:45:00.004-05:00

According to a new story in the Boston Globe, hundreds of thousands of refugees are not getting the care and oportunities they need for a simple reason: they're disabled.

Jean Kennedy Smith (a former U.S. ambassador to Ireland) does an admirable job of pointing attention to this plight, but she misses something that a lot of people miss. Read this excerpt and see if you notice it too:

We know from witnessing many examples of remarkable people who have overcome the barriers surrounding disabilities that they, too, possess skills, knowledge, and experience that can help them remake their lives and rebuild their communities.

Now, let's not be unfair, because she comes so much farther in her article than many people. Most folks think of people with disabilities as "those people" eligible for little more than pity. Ms. Kennedy Smith apparently knows the reality (that people with disabilities are valuable), because she had an immediate family member with a disability, her sister, Rosemary.

But we're still missing that last little step in realizing the worth of people with disabilities. Ms. Kennedy Smith believes that they are valuable because 'they too, possess skills, knowledge, and experience.' Oh, she comes close. But truth is truth: people with disabilities are not valuable because of the things they can do (nor are we), nor are they valuable just because they're disabled. They are valuable because they reflect the image of God and thereby have an equal and immeasurable capacity to reflect His love and grace, to be living testimonies, just as we are called to be.

But let's not quibble too much, for Ms. Kennedy Smith's got a big head start on most of us. Most folks don't even realize that there's any value at all to the life of someone who's disabled. Not only has Ms. Kennedy Smith realized this truth, she's passed it on to her son William, who started the International Disability Rights Monitor. Not only that, but she herself started a group called VSA Arts. We can learn a lot from the Kennedy family.

Oh, and William's work on the International Disability Rights Monitor reminds me about the UN Treaty on Disabilities. Click here to read about it, and click here to get your legislative representatives to get the United States signed up. We STILL haven't signed on. Let's get this done!

Disabled? Kick Him Off the Plane!

2008-06-25T09:51:00.003-05:00

A mother and her young son with autism were kicked off an American Airlines flight in North Carolina on Monday. The fracas escalated from a flight attendant's insistence to the pilot turning around the plane, including, according to the mother:

"The pilot made an announcement that there was a woman and her child on the plane and the child is uncontrollable. And at that point I just broke down," Farrell said.

The full story is available by clicking here.

So, we have two points of view here, but the questions are still pretty fundamental. How should the airline staff have handled this
situation? What should the mom have done differently?

Ask these questions in light of this basic philosophy: People with disabilities require different interaction, but deserve the same respect and opportunities as anyone else. Moreover, if we truly value people with disabilities as 'co-heirs with Christ,' then how would you handle this situation as a flight attendant or pilot?

Do People with Disabilities Care More?

2008-03-11T21:57:00.004-05:00

When Elim adults assembled packs of school supplies two years ago, they did a fantastic job.

Our adults had been tasked with assembling kits of school supplies to be distributed by another Christian ministry to people in other countries. The adults diligently put their efforts into assembling these kits. As always, they completed the job right on time and as requested by the customer.

But the customer was used to volunteers assembling these relief kits, and wanted to make sure that Elim's adults with disabilties had put together all the kits correctly and completely. So, they made arrangements to put one last item in each kit to do quality control.

And they found mistakes.

That's right, among the 23,000 kits that Elim's adults put together, the customer did find mistakes - two, to be exact. Yep. Two mistakes.

We had put an extra eraser in two of the supply kits. The customer called us up, told us about the quality check, and enthused "We have never had any group do a job as well as your adults did!"

What a blessing! Adults with disabilities did the best assembly of school supply kits this ministry partner had ever seen!

But it gets better, so keep stopping by to find out more!

'Challenge' is not a Bad Word

2008-03-07T09:08:00.004-06:00

Because Elim's philosophy is that God has a purpose and a plan for each person He's put on this earth, this belief causes us to examine how we do 'special needs services.'

If we felt that life was not given by God, and that it was not endowed with the capacity to reflect God's love and grace, and yes - even perfection, then we would not feel compelled to do much more than simply "take care" of people with disabilities.

However, because Elim's philosophy is the exact opposite, that God's image is reflected in the lives of all His people, we know that He has a purpose, a potential, for each life, including lives disabled or touched with a special need or even (this is a naughty word for some people) weakness.

Now, there's a lot of philosophy to discuss here, but I'm not going to do that. You can read some of my other posts to get 'philosophied up' if you so desire. What I'm aiming at is pretty simple:

The reason you can come to Elim and see adults with disabilities who are more actively engaged in the world than at many other facilities for adults with disabilities is precisely becaue of this philosophy. They are worthwhile. More than that, they reflect the image of God.

That's why Elim stands where it stands, and that's why Elim has, for so long, sought challenging and meaningful work opportunities for the adults we serve. And that's why I'm so excited about what we have to unveil here in the next few weeks.

HOPE, the four-letter word of the future

2008-03-06T08:54:00.004-06:00

For twenty years, Elim Christian Services has been serving adults with disabilities. Most people think of Elim as a wonderful school for children with disabilities, but those children grow up, and many of them continue to need Elim once they've graduated.

Today, we have 251 children in the school, and just under 200 adults in our Adult Services programs. The programs we have for adults are just as challenging and have just as big an impact as do our programs for children.

There are many challenges involved in serving adults with disabilities, and one of our biggest is simply this: Do we challenge our adults with worthwhile activities, or do we engage in nursing care that simply takes care of their most pressing needs?

I think you know where Elim stands on this, but you'll be surprised where that stance has taken us.

Be back here soon with the next installment...

Women with Mental Disabilities Used as Human Bombs

2008-02-01T14:36:00.001-06:00

Okay, it's been a few weeks since I posted, but reading this could not have been a better impetus for me:

Militants turn disabled into human bombs

This blog is about one clear message: people with weaknesses are not burdens - they are blessings. They can teach us, help us, and minister to us.

They are not to be pitied, looked down upon, coddled, or treated as anything less than an image-bearer of the Creator. That's why I am actually outraged, and this takes a bit of doing for me, at what these militants have done. But, rather than subject you to my disgust, I will simply post some of what has transpired:

Two mentally disabled women were strapped with explosives Friday and sent into busy Baghdad markets, where they were blown up by remote control, a top Iraqi government official said.

The bombs killed at least 98 people and wounded more than 200 at two popular pet markets on the holiest day of the week for Muslims, authorities said.

In both bombings, the attackers were mentally disabled women whose explosive belts were remotely detonated, Gen. Qasim Atta, spokesman for Baghdad's security plan, told state television.

So what should my response to this be? Anger and outrage come to mind the most quickly. But what is the response God calls us to?

The Lord has His ways and His time. The Lord will judge and will bring down His justice upon those who mock Him. And the Lord will not be mocked.

How has the Lord been mocked here? These two women, in their weakness, and as recognized members of their community, bear the image of the Almighty. Surely, God has used them for His purposes to declare His glory. To use them, destroy them, and throw away their lives in a successful effort to kill others, is a mockery of God, of His image, and of the people He so purposefully created.

More than anything in His Creation, the wonder of humanity speaks eloquently about His glory, power, mercy, and love. To destroy another human, particularly ones who cannot defend themselves, is both cowardly and a blasphemous act against the kingdom of God.

Another Vander Plaats?

2007-12-14T22:42:00.000-06:00

A few years ago I woke up to a sign in my lawn that read "Vander Plaats for Governor." I thought that was very wierd. But it got wierder. Looking into it, I found that a Bob Vander Plaats, who appeared to be a distant cousin, was indeed running for Governor of Iowa at the time (2002) and also happened to run an organization in Sioux City, Iowa, called Opportunities Unlimited in Sioux City, Iowa, and he had a son, Lucas, with developmental disabilities.

Well, earlier this year, Bob, whom I've never met or talked to, released a book about life with his son. You can buy the book by clicking here. I also am including an excerpt from an excerpt that I found on a pregnancy resource center website (http://www.heartlink.org):

Lucas' days may not be as many or as normal as we would like, but I am confident that they have been purposeful. His life has inspired me to seek my own purpose with passion and to motivate others to do the same. Lucas has taught me the importance of living my “dash” to its fullest. [Bob goes on to describe that "dash' is a reference to the extent of our lives on this earth]

It's nice to see another Vander Plaats that looks at people with disabilities as having an equally vital role in God's kingdom. I urge you to see their role in your life today, and if you can to buy this book.

Over 5,000 People Visit Melissa's World

2007-11-29T15:19:00.000-06:00

Over 5,000 people have been blessed by a video we made back in 2002. Then, Melissa was a 9-year-old girl with cerebral palsy whose smile lit up a room. Today, Melissa is older, and she struggles with new challenges as she grows. But, her smile is still more than enough to brighten your day.

We have used Melissa's video to tell donors who they are helping, to let prospective parents know what can happen when their child comes to Elim, and through YouTube, we are showing the whole world how we should look at people with disabilities.

Will you please celebrate this occasion with us? Walk back with us just a few years and share in the joy, the struggle, and the blessing of Melissa's World. Pass along this video to all your friends; invite as many people as you can to experience her world:

Why Not Help People with Disabilities?

2007-11-29T07:16:00.000-06:00

Alex Haxton, Director of Operations for World Emergency Relief writes for ChristianToday.com about his experiences with disability centers in Romania. In reflecting on his uplifting experiences there, Haxton juxtaposes the seeming indifference Christians have to the pressing needs of people with disabilities. He asks:

Did Jesus not call for the children to be able to come to Him? Did He not spend more time with the needy, the lame, the sick and those that society would prefer to reject or at least ignore? I believe that we ignore disabled people at our peril, especially if we are Christians.

Can it be right that we will give our money to feed or educate a child in Africa but we will not give to save the life of a disabled child in Romania or to help provide a wheelchair for a child in Guatemala?

Let us at least examine our own hearts and our attitudes. Jesus went over the lake to release a human being from a severe disability. How far will you go? How far will I go?

At Elim, we have been blessed with thousands of people who have been called to care for those with disabilities, both here and abroad. Some of them do the work, and some of them come alongside the work through their financial gifts.

Today, Elim needs to raise $1.4 million by the June 3, 2008, and $400,000 just in the next thirty-two days. You can help. These questions Haxton asks, like "How far will you go?" - that's a very relevant question. What does God ask of you? Where does He call you to serve? In fact, those are big questions, so let's make it simple:

What can you do today? Look to the right of this post. You'll see a little bar that has a picture of one of Elim's children, along with links to watch a video about Elim and, most importantly, an opportunity to donate. We do need you today. Imagine what you can accomplish at Elim through your gift.

You don't have to imagine. When you donate, we'll tell you what your gift accomplishes. So, please donate today!

Wallace & Gromit on Disabilities

2007-11-28T18:46:00.000-06:00

An article from the Multiple Sclerosis section of a Medical News website talks about the new website www.creature discomforts.org, a site with ads created by the team that does all those Wallace & Gromit shows and movies. From the article:

The disability charity has teamed up with Aardman Animations to create Creature Discomforts, based on the much-loved Creature Comforts series but featuring the hallmark Plasticine characters voiced by people with disabilities including multiple sclerosis (MS).

The characters include wheelchair-user Peg the Hedgehog, Spud the Slug in his mobility scooter and Tim the Tortoise on crutches and carry the voices and experiences of real people living with MS.

Matthew Trainer, Head of Communications at the MS Society, said: "Creature Discomforts will raise issues faced by people living with disabilities in a way that has not been done before. We hope this will challenge the discrimination and ignorance that people with MS face."

The animations use the genuine voices of a number of disabled people describing in their own words the negative attitudes and barriers they experience, which separate them from society.

Please visit the Creature Discomforts website to see all the ads. And then, visit Elim's YouTube site to watch some of our videos too!

Audrey's Kentucky Wheelchair Gets Rolled Away

2007-11-28T11:35:00.000-06:00

Friends of Elim may recall that just over a year ago, Elim student Stephen Sichak had his wheelchair stolen from the end of his driveway, along with his school stuff. The items had been placed there just a few minutes prior to get ready for the school bus to pick him up.

Today, I read about a 8-year-old Kentucky girl who had her wheelchair stolen too, just as we come up on Christmas. You can read the article by clicking here. My hope today is that Audrey gets a wheelchair (sounds like a local family is helping them out), and that the thief who took Audrey's wheelchair has a change of heart.

Stephen never got his wheelchair back, and they never found the person who took it, according to his mom, Erin. But they are all back to normal.

Last year, that story brought supporters out to help Elim, and maybe you can join them this year. You can go to Elim's "donate" page to help out at this important time.

Down Syndrome Causes Abortions

2007-11-20T08:37:00.000-06:00

In calling for a presidential disability-focused debate, David Rundle posed this as one of his most pressing questions:

When potential parents discover their unborn child has Down syndrome, they abort it 85 percent of the time. Are you concerned by that?

I don't know whether or not the next American president is concerned about that, but I wish he was. Abortion is no doubt a difficult issue. Most people acknowledge that you are killing a human through abortion (and that is certainly how I feel), but we start to diverge when it comes to whether or not that act (or murder) is right.

Here's what the "85%" fact above tells us though - it tells us that those parents-to-be are asking questions about the value of that life. It seems to me they are asking:

Now, I will not be naive and say, "Living with Down Syndrome is a joy and utterly painless." But I will tell you, with the experience of knowing dozens of families who have struggled with the effects of Down Syndrome and other developmental disabilities, that disabilities are not equal to, and do not deserve, the death sentence, and abortion is a death sentence.

A person is not defined by their disability, and when people abort children with a disability, they are doing exactly that, letting the disability define the person.

More than that, a disability requires struggle. Struggle requires perseverance. Perseverance, and the reliance upon God that it requires, are what brings God glory. Therefore, we testify to His strength through our weakness. When 85% of people choose death instead of life for a child with a disability, they ignore the blessings and life education that God will provide.

Searching for Elim

2007-11-19T17:08:00.000-06:00

Think it's too complicated to get involved in helping people with disabilities? It's not - really! It's as easy as searching for something on the web - no, really!

In fact, when you use Goodsearch.com to search for everything you usually look for online, you'll generate donations to Elim. Since July, we've raised almost $50, with just a few people using the system. But with 200 people doing just 5 searches per day, we could raise over $3600 in one year!

So, I've got three steps for you to take:

GoodSearch.com right now

Here's a screenshot of the GoodSearch website (notice, you can also help Elim by shopping through the GoodSearch website - and there's no better time to shop than right now!)

You can make a big difference with just a few small actions! Please act right now!

Welcoming Disabilities

2007-11-19T08:31:00.000-06:00

Helen Keinlen wrote a list for eHow.com called "How to make your house accessible to disabled," grammatically incorrect and non-person-first language notwithstanding. You can read the quick list by clicking here.

Meanwhile, mothers of children with disabilities are invited to relax with other moms once a month in the Kane county area of Chicagoland. Read the article by clicking here. From the article: The group meets from 9 to 11 a.m. the second Saturday of the month at Papa G's restaurant at 250 S. Main St. in Elburn (Illinois) - click here for a map. For information, e-mail Capes at capesfamily@verizon.net.

Today's Blessing: Michael (at Misericordia)

2007-11-02T09:26:00.000-05:00

Neal Steinberg, a writer for the Chicago Sun-Times, writes today of a little "slice of heaven" he found at Misericordia.

Misericordia is a ministry much like Elim. They focus much more on residential services, and most of their day program focuses on serving adults - but clearly, they also experience the same message that we do here at Elim: We bless them. They bless us. Together, we honor God. Here is an excerpt from the end of Mr. Steinberg's article (I hope you'll click here to read all of it):

'He's a blessing'
When I ask Chris Patarzzi what benefit comes from his daily visits to Michael, I mean what benefit to his brother.
But that's not how Chris takes the question -- he assumes I mean what benefit to himself.
"It has brought me closer to him in ways that never would have happened," he says. "Little parts of his personality that I pick up on that I'd miss if I visited once a month. I can tell when he's happy, I can tell when he's sad."
His brother isn't a burden, he says. He's a blessing.
"He's helping the family," he says. "Our family was really close, before, but Michael has brought us closer. The last 10 years of my life would not have happened without him."

Thank you Mr. Steinberg for being among those whose eyes are open to the blessings that people with disabilities - created by God - are meant to be in this life.

Elim on Your Radio

2007-10-17T10:59:00.000-05:00

October 15 was an exciting day for us here at Elim. President Bill Lodewyk and ACE Program Coordinator Anne Lubbers joined WMBI's Steve Hiller on their afternoon Primetime Chicago radio show.

Hiller introduced his listening audience to Elim, sharing how Elim’s ministry is changing the lives of children with autism. You can listen to the interview by clicking here for a streaming audio file (mp3) or you can listen to a downloadable mp3 file by clicking here.

It's exciting to hear about what's going on at Elim on a big-audience radio station like WMBI. Thank you to Steve Hiller and Producer Michelle Strombeck for a great opportunity to represent the adults and children with disabilities at Elim Christian Services.

Finding Strength in Down Syndrome

2007-10-15T09:41:00.000-05:00

In the October 14 edition of the Chicago Tribune, reporter Heidi Stevens recounts the Sullivan family's ordeals this past August, as they uncovered their daughter's diagnosis with Down Syndrome.

The assumption is always that such a diagnosis is not only disappointing, but crippling, even tragic. You can not, of course, minimize the difficulty of living with developmental disabilities, nor the danger of its associated health effects, but you can find a peace similar to what the Sullivans have encountered:

"I wish I could go back and tell myself to feel the way I do now, which is completely fine about the diagnosis, even happy about it! I had such a wrong idea of what Down syndrome would mean for our family. Kate is just a unique little girl, just as any child is unique. And she is adorable and such a blessing to our family. I am so happy that she is exactly the way she is. And I love getting to know her more and more each day."

You need to go read the article (click for direct link), it is truly a blessing!

Today's Blessing: Andy

2007-09-17T19:05:00.000-05:00

Today we had our golf outing at Olympia Fields Country Club, and we focused on the new HOPE Project. Andy is one of the adults who worked on a HOPE Project assembling backpack supplies for school kids from Cottonwood Creek Baptist Church. For the golf outing, we had Andy and three other adults from our programs for adults with disabilities out on the course. I used Andy in our video and a flyer promoting the project, and Andy was pretty pleased with that. In fact, Andy told me he was "a celebrity," and "I'm going to be famous."

It's always been a blessing to experience Andy's clear and optomistic outlook. Watch this site and Elim's website for more information as the HOPE Project grows. In the meantime, you can check out the HOPE Project promo video below:

The Great Chicago Rain: An Elim Moment

2007-09-13T16:21:00.000-05:00

Three weeks ago, Chicago was deluged with a major thunderstorm, including a few funnel clouds. In the midst of this storm, Rene Bamonti, a very dedicated and loving Elim staff member, was transporting many of our adults to and from their community jobs. Here are her reflections on that afternoon's adventure:

A couple of weeks ago when we had that terrible storm on a Thursday night, I was driving in it the entire time, trying to pick up clients that work evenings and get them home safely.

There were roads flooded, traffic lights out, debris flying through the air, traffic was practically at a standstill at times. By the end of the evening, when I finally arrived safely back at the Alsip campus, it was still storming so badly that I was afraid to get out of my car. The rain was coming down in torrents, lightning was flashing, and the thunder was so loud!

Then I had to drive all the way home in it. Needless to say, it made for a very long and scary evening at work. The next morning when I was picking up Lucy Toering (an adult client at Elim) to take her to work, she told me immediately that she had been praying for me the night before, because she knew that I was out driving in the storm. I told her that her prayers must have been heard and answered, because I and all of my passengers and fellow drivers made it through those few anxious hours without a scratch. Lucy thought to pray for me, and that was a blessing.

Rene was blessed by Lucy's thoughtfulness, just as so many people have been blessed to come alongside Elim, knowing that their support is really changing lives.

Oh sure, I can say this - I'm in charge of raising funds, so I'm supposed to say that, but reader, I believe in what Elim is doing to my very core, because I see the difference it makes. Lucy should be concerned about herself and the difficulties of her life with its disabilities. But she's not - she is praying for a staff member because she has been welcomed in the kingdom of Christ on earth. You, when you support Elim are making this happen.

Thank you. And if you aren't supporting Elim already - what are you waiting for? We need you today!

October is Church Disability Awareness Month

2007-08-21T14:23:00.000-05:00

Every year, the federal government declares October to be disability awareness month. I think churches can learn something from this. In fact, I am staking a claim that, henceforth, churches are challenged to host Disability Awareness efforts in their churches, starting with 2007.

At Elim, we're working on this very idea, and would like to share some ideas with you in the near future. Please stay tuned to find out how you can host Disability Awareness Month in your church.

"Not This Separate Category"

2007-08-10T13:33:00.000-05:00

Kay Olson over at The Gimp Parade had a great recent post about a CNN report. Aparently she posted on a CNN article about people with developmental disabilities (Thanks for the resource tips in that awesome post Kay!). I loved how Kay broke down the whole "us and them" philosophy:

I think the main thing that nondisabled people don't necessarily know or understand is that developmentally disabled people are not this separate category of human beings. People tend to think, "We can do things. They cannot." And there's no line like that dividing all of us. There are shades of ability, varying talents that surface in surprising places. This is true for physical disabilities as well. Most of us, in the course of our lives, discover we have abilities or affinities for some things and lack talent elsewhere, so this idea that a certain class of people lack value or the ability to contribute inevitably underestimates and wastes a lot of human potential.

Kay hits on a vital message that Elim, too, so badly wants to communicate: It's not about them and us - it's about us together. That's how God created us to be. And though the Fall, sin, and all kinds of debilitating affects visited the human race and caused any number of difficulties, diseases, disorders, and disabilities, God still calls us together, to fellowship together, to be a blessing to each other.
Thanks to Kay for being today's blessing of Truth.

Flaming Hot Cheetos for Cancer

2007-08-06T08:46:00.000-05:00

One of our students at Elim has a mom who is struggling with cancer right now. The following is from that student's teacher:

During summer session this year I received the sad news that one of my student’s mothers was diagnosed with cancer. It was found during a routine check-up and she then began aggressive treatment to stop its progress. It was devastating. I have had her son in my class for 3 years now and have become very fond of the entire family.

I made sure to do what I could to be supportive; offering help, sending prayers or trying to relieve whatever stress that I could on this overwhelmed family. But it didn’t seem to be enough.

While I was doing my best to help the family, I realized I might have been overlooking their son. He is a 17-year-old with autism and I began to see his behavior change. During our routine morning circle time, we sing a song that ends with “and how are you today?”. The boys are then given a choice board with nine different emotion pictures to choose from. This normally happy young man, who almost always chooses “happy” or “excited,” began to point to “worried” on a daily basis. He also seemed more anxious than usual.

It was then that I realized that he was able to understand, on his own level, that something had changed in his family. So, with the help of our program social worker, I decided to do something to make this experience something that we could all learn from.

It started with a "social story" that included text and pictures, written at a very basic level, about what it means to be sick. The story included the concepts that people who are sick may have pain, may need to rest or may just act differently than usual. It talked about how the student’s mom was sick and that we could help by thinking good thoughts, offering to help or buy buying a gift to show her that we’re thinking of her. This story was read to the students during their social work group.

The story also included that we would be taking a trip to the Dollar Store where each child would be able to pick out one gift of their choice for their friend’s mom. Later that day we went to the store and let the boys “loose.” I wasn’t sure what to expect. Would they pick something for themselves? Would they even understand that they were looking for something for someone else? I was amazed. The gifts ranged from a jeweled tiara and necklace set, to a pink slinky. One student even picked out a bag of his favorite snack, Flaming Hot Cheetos, and was reminded that they were not for him and he would not be able to eat them. He was then asked again, “what do you think your friend’s mom would like?”. He looked at me like I was daft, and replied, “FLAMING HOT CHEETOS!” very emphatically.

I decided the trip was a success. The gifts were all labeled from each child and arranged in a gift basket with a card signed by the staff and students. It went home on the bus that day and I hoped it would bring some joy during a hard time. The mother called the following day, thoroughly pleased with each gift, and even knew who the Cheetos were from without reading the tag!

We did all learn from this experience. The boys showed that they could feel for others, grasping empathy on their own level. I learned that just when I thought I knew these wonderful set of young men, I really didn’t. They surprise and inspire me everyday. It’s in these moments that I truly see the hands of God upon each of them.

Once again, we see how people with disabilities, in grasping the simplicity but enormity of empathy and basic felt needs, are teaching us and blessing us, just as they touched this special Elim teacher.

I can only smile as I think about how this mom will open her basket and wonder "Why flaming hot cheetos?"

Johnny Who?

2007-07-26T10:27:00.000-05:00

I never, ever, ever in my life thought I would ever quote the star of an MTV show with a very unfortunate name, but here goes.

In last year's movie, The Ringer, Knoxville notes in the bonus features that

“God has taken something from them in one area, but He’s made them extraordinary in all the other areas.”

It's a great quote, and it really reflects the truth of what disabilities mean. Some people say that a disabiled sense in one area actually heightens your other senses. I don't think it does - I think it makes you rely more on your other senses, something you don't do when you have all of them functioning properly.

"Rely" is the key word in this discussion. When some is disabled, they cannot rely on that part of them that is disabled. I have a speech impediment. I cannot trust that my communication will come through clearly just by me mumbling. I must find ways of making sure I am clear, and I do that by relying on different tricks that help me get around my impediment.

People with more severe disabilities rely on more severe solutions: a full-time aide, speech devices, wheelchairs, friends. They all "rely." And it is this reliance that offers to teach us so much, and which leads into my next two posts. The first will be about where we place value when it comes to disabilities, and the second will be on the object of our reliance.

Today's Blessing: Mohinder

2007-07-20T15:07:00.000-05:00

When two Elim staff members arrived in Asia* this past April, they learned a lot about the differences in cultures. But some things are the same across the ocean, like Mohinder.

Mohinder is a little boy who had never made eye contact with his mother. In fact, it was difficult to ever tell if he was looking at anything in particular.

Kim wanted him to make eye contact, to engage with his environment. So she tried all kinds of things to get his attention and to get him to lock his sight on something, anything.

After many unsuccessful tries, Kim finally found a ball that lit up when you pounded it on the table. She splatted it right in front of Mohinder and his eyes darted toward the ball. A few more times, and he was looking at it consistently.

Mohinder's mom was excited, and she was standing right there. She took the ball and started banging it, geting Mohinder's attention, then pulling the ball towards her own face, forcing him to finally look his mother in the eyes. She did this over and over and over. She was so happy to see Mohinder do this, she started crying.

But it gets better.

Kim and Mohinder's mom would then guide his hand to the ball, and then, holding his hand and the ball, they would pound the ball down, settying off the lights. Mohinder could see that he could interact with this ball. He could do this. Slowly, he took more and more interest, and independence.

And by the end of the week, Mohinder was actually taking the ball on his own, pounding it, and watching with excitement as he caused the lights to go on. What a blessing!

* country un-named and child's name changed

Today's blessing: Michelle

2007-07-18T10:30:00.000-05:00

Today, I watched as Michelle practiced sorting through different colored blocks, trying to arrange them in the right color-coded bowls. In the process, Michelle is learning sorting skills crucial to her vocational development. As I took her picture, she couldn’t help but smile every few seconds, even squeezing in a muffled "cheese" from time to time. She must have been thinking “I am supposed to smile when my picture is taken, but how many pictures does he have to take?”

Michelle was a blessing to me this morning, but I had to be open to the blessing too. This is the lesson then: God blesses you in unexpected ways, through people you don't expect. Be open to receiving His blessing from whatever source He chooses.

Madness of God

2007-07-16T08:55:00.000-05:00

In his books, Rev. John Timmer (an ordained minister of the Christian Reformed Church denomination) frequently refers to works by Elie Wiesel. One quote that stands out for me is from a play by Wiesel called "The Madness of God." Here's what Timmer says concerning Wiesel's decision to call it God's madness rather than the madness of a group or individual person:

"...God's madness is his decision to use a weak and despised people to be the instrument of his saving purpose in history, to be the means whereby he brings healing and salvation to the nations."

Here again we see how God's strength is displayed, and powerfully so, in the midst of man's weakness. It seems as madness to us - why use what's weak when you want to succeed? Why use the lowly to proclaim your power? This is indeed the madness of God, and it is seen and evident all around us.

Beginning with an understanding

2007-07-13T09:21:00.000-05:00

Something I cannot do in this blog is pull my thoughts away from the context. I believe things. Because I believe these things (my context) I live my life a certain way and pursue certain goals.

I also don't believe some things. I'll start with that. I don't believe that what we see is all there is. I don't believe that a religious life means you go to heaven when you die and that's it. I don't believe that everyone subscribes to a common understanding of what's right and wrong purely because of 'societal norms.'

So what do I believe then, what is the context for this blog?

I have observed that all people (every single one) has a sense of what is right and what is wrong. It is not learned. From infancy, we know it is right for you to feed me but not to hurt me, and our sense of this 'morality' can grow and sophisticate as we get older (I say 'can' because not everyone lets that happen). But even though everyone innately understands at least a sense of right and wrong, we notice that:
1) the world often seems out of balance with what's right and what's wrong; and
2) each of us often fails to live up to what we actually know is right

It is therefore as though we live in a world that has been placed askew - out of whack. It's as though the 23-degree angle at which the poles spin our little globe has also impacted how we live our daily lives, and everything is off balance, so many things are wrong. Disease, war, lying, pollution, health care disasters, natural disasters - all speak to a reality that things are not as they should be.

And yet, some good still comes out of it. We find ourselves better off for the struggles we went through. We gather together, we help each other, we donate money to causes, we offer aid. People get better from illnesses, live to 90 despite smoking like a chimney, and forgive their daughter's abuser. This doesn't speak to things wrong; it speaks to something, somewhere, being right. And it's right because it's in line with what we think of as 'right.' It coincides with our innate understanding of right and wrong.

It is as though there is this world and another world, living concurrently, at odds with each other. And it is this I believe. Of course, this leads tme to conslusions you can probably jump to as well. And we will get to those. But I felt it was important to establish some kind of baseline so that you knew where I was coming from.

Hopefully, you can accept these ideas as valid perspectives, and continue to visit this resource, and we can continue the conversation.

Rethinking Disability

2007-07-12T16:04:00.000-05:00

Do you realize how much of your world is filled with people who are a lot like you? I know that's true for me.

A few years ago I started working at Elim Christian Services, where there's a lot of people who are very different from me. Okay, I do have a speech impdeiment, but everybody at Elim has some kind of significant developmental disability.

Most people look at a place like Elim and assume it's a place of sadness, but it's not. It's become a source of joy and blessing in my life. But it's not because of Elim, it's because of the people there.

They have revealed to me a powerful statement: God's strength is made evident in weakness.

We cannot hide from weakness or struggle or pain. It eventually finds us one way or the other. This blog, I hope, will become a place where you can see and celebrate stories of success over disability, success despite pain, and even success because of pain - I believe all three are evident every day. In fact, I believe that we can and even should challenge our definitions of success.

How's that ? Vague enough for you? Well, every journey begins with one step. Maybe every blog begins with a really bad first entry. We'll see if they get better. Thanks for stopping by.