Twenty percent or 54 million Americans have special needs –
and churches should have programs to minister to them, a national consultant
said.
Twenty percent or 54 million Americans have special needs –
and churches should have programs to minister to them, a national consultant
said.
“Jesus didnt tell us to minister to just those who
can walk up our steps, who are socially acceptable, who are good looking or
who are well-behaved and highly intelligent,” said Marci Campbell, a consultant
for LifeWay Christian Resources of the Southern Baptist Convention. “No,
the Bible tells us to minister to everyone.”
During a recent presentation, Campbell said people are misinformed
when they think of people needing special education as being only mentally challenged.
“Of this 20 percent of Americans with special needs (from
1990 Census figures), only 3 percent have mental retardation.”
People with special needs have a variety of challenges, Campbell
said. They may deal with hearing disabilities, learning disabilities, physical
disabilities, mental handicaps, visual impairments, behavior disorders or even
be exceptionally bright.
Additionally, it is not only the people with special needs
who are hurt when churches do not offer specific programs for them, Campbell
said.
“Its their whole families who may be kept out of
churches when the person with special needs cant attend. Thats a
lot of people who may not hear the gospel.”
Campbell pointed out that she heard a story last year about
a man with a 10-year-old special needs son who had visited 58 churches in an
attempt to find one that could minister to his child.
“Fifty eight churches! This isnt a choice for our
churches. Its a command from the Lord that we share the gospel with all
people,” Campbell emphasized.
Throughout the Bible, God used people with special needs, she
continued.
“Look at Moses – he didnt speak well. Look
at Peter – a classic ADHD (attention deficit hyperactivity disorder). He
was volatile, impulsive. Do you believe he really thought about it before he
cut off that mans ear? He had a problem with focus.”
Church leaders should look at strengths people with special
needs have and help channel them, Campbell said.
In working with people with special needs, “the number
one requirement” is to have a teacher who is willing, Campbell said. “If
you have a person with a spirit of willingness to do whatever the Lord leads,
he will supply everything else we need.”
Training events can offer workers ideas and helps to more effective
ministry, the Southern Baptist worker added. Southern Baptists offer such sessions
at national camps each summer, she pointed out. “More than 50 new special
education ministries were started after last summers conferences. So far
this year, I know of 20 new ministries.”
Even though attitudes toward people with special needs are
changing, people still hold on to a lot of outdated ideas, Campbell acknowledged.
“We see people who look at a person with special needs and think the parents
must have done something wrong. In some cases, maybe so, but sometimes things
just happen.”
One way churches could help caregivers of special needs children
is through relief care, said Campbell, who is the mother of a special needs
child. “You dont know what just an hour or two can mean to someone
whose life revolves around caring for someone with special needs.”
For some, going to the grocery store alone would be such a
gift, Campbell noted. For others, a two-hour nap would be the most helpful thing
they could get.
“Some people with special needs have disabilities so severe
that a caregiver cant go out to the mailbox because the person cant
be left alone for even a minute.”
Building a relationship with families of special needs children
is vital for effective ministry to them, Campbell stressed.
“You cant just go in and immediately offer to help,”
she pointed out. “The family, especially the caregiver, wont have
an automatic level of trust. Building a relationship takes time and work.”
Once a relationship is established, Campbell counseled persons
to offer to do a specific task like staying with the special needs individual
while the caregiver takes a couple of hours off or taking a meal.
“Do some yard work,” she asserted. “Just dont
say, If theres anything I can do, call me. They wont
call.” (BP)