The View from Where I Sit

Tag: church

  • ‘Through the Roof Charity’

    Did you know that, there are 1 billion disabled people living in the world today, and 12 million in the UK (18% of the population)? Statistics show that globally a disabled person is more likely to live in poverty and isolation and to be a victim of crime and discrimination.  They are less likely to be in employment and have less access to education, transport, appropriate housing and the internet (Office of Disability Issues).  The cost of bringing up a disabled child is three times greater than bringing up a non-disabled child (Scope). 

    Through the Roof is a registered charity that exists to ‘transform lives through Jesus with disabled people’.
    The charity’s name comes from the Bible account where some men break through the roof to help their disabled friend meet Jesus according to Luke 5. We recognise that every person is made in the image of God and has inherent value and worth, which includes people who have personal experience of disability.

    “they went up on the roof and lowered the paralysed man on his mat through the tiles into the middle of the crowd, right in front of Jesus”-Luke 5

    Many of our dedicated trustees, staff team, volunteers and donors have personal experience of disability and seek to make a positive difference to the lives of disabled people and their families by:

    • Providing life-changing opportunities for disabled people
    • Equipping the Christian community to fully involve disabled people

    We achieve these aims by delivering three activity programmes:

    Through the Roof is part of the Churches for All network. Follow this link to find out more about CFA. 

    According to the Lausanne Committee for World Evangelization, “90% – 95% of the world’s disabled people never hear the Gospel“. It is vitally important that our churches and ministries include them.

    This ministry is the brainchild of Joni B. Eareckson Tada. She is an international author and speaker and the founder and Chief Executive of Joni and Friends International Disability Centre in the USA.  We are privileged at Through the Roof to be an affiliate of JAF since being founded in 1997, after Joni’s European speaking tour in 1994.

    At the age of 17 a diving accident left Joni quadriplegic and in a wheelchair. She founded Joni and Friends in 1979 to provide Christ-centred programmes to families with disabled children, as well as training to churches. Joni and Friends serves thousands of families with disabled children through Family Retreats, and has delivered over 100,000 wheelchairs and Bibles to disabled people in developing countries, as part of their Wheels for the World programme, which Through the Roof UK ‘imported’ in 1997. Joni’s lifelong passion is to bring the Gospel to the world’s one billion disabled people. What a great way to Deal with Disability in the Church!

    Joni survived stage 3 breast cancer in 2010, yet keeps a very active ministry schedule. She and her husband Ken were married in 1982 and reside in California.

    You can learn more about Joni’s ministry at www.joniandfriends.org or can write to her at response@joniandfriends.org.

  • Dealing with Disability in the Church: Third edition of series (Three Perspectives)

    Dealing with Disability in the Church: Third edition of series (Three Perspectives)

    By: Daniella Jade Lowe

    Dealing with Disability in the Church hasn’t been all that bad for me. First of all, I’d like to start out by saying, I’ve attended church all my life. I love church. I get involved in church services mainly by serving on the Audiovisual/Technical Team. I enjoy this.

    While living in Bradford I noticed that their churches have their own private buses to pick up and drop off their members.

    Now I’ve got one ‘bone to pick.’ Why are public buses in England expected to be wheelchair accessible but not private buses? Just an observation.

    However, whenever I asked to use it instead of taxis, I was told they do not take wheelchairs for liability reasons. Also I noticed the church I first attended, had a wheelchair section for easy access in case of a fire. I also attended a university campus church in Bradford.

    On the other hand, while living in Ilkley, there is one church that has a disability ministry for those with intellectual disabilities called the Ark, which meets the first Sunday of every month from 3pm to 6pm. Some other churches may even have Sign Language interpreters for the hearing impaired.

    In relation to handling disability, churches should take on The Good Samaritan Approach.

    Prayer

    I appreciate prayers. I have been asked to be prayed for and gladly accepted such. It can be slightly frustrating when your expectation for a change is so high and it doesn’t come which has discouraged me at times. But I do believe in miracles.

    However, I also know someone who has autism of a different persuasion. Her experiences in the church have almost never been positive. Many times, Christians have prayed for her to be healed of autism.

    She does not personally want to be “healed” of autism, because she believes that God intentionally allows some people to be born with autism or Down Syndrome for his own good reasons, and that these people are fearfully and wonderfully made in the image of God, and perfect just the way they are. They do not need to be healed; God made them like that.

    She feels that her autism is an integral part of who she is, and is not a negative thing, but rather a positive one. She does not feel that autism holds her back.

    When church people pray for her to be healed of autism, without asking her first whether she wants healing, or despite my objections to what they’re doing, that does not empower me. They are deciding on my behalf what direction they think my life should take, but they do not have that right; it’s my life. People with disabilities deserve to be in control of their own lives.

    Instead of being “healed,” all she wants is to be accepted by the church for the peculiar, wonderful, autistic person who she is. She needs acceptance and inclusion.

    When people pray for her to be healed of autism, she perceives them to be indirectly saying,

    “I want God to change you into a normal person, for my own comfort, because I can’t handle that we have a disabled person in our church. I don’t want to deal with having to include disabilities, so it’s easier if I can just try to heal them instead.”

    She fully believes that God does have the power to heal people. But she also believes that when church members wish to pray for a disabled person’s healing, they need to first ask that person whether he or she wants healing or not. If the disabled individual declines the offer, church members need to fully respect this, and not keep pushing healing on the person.

    It is good to be content and happy with life. I do agree to some extent. There is also a way of embracing disability without accepting it as if there’s no hope.

    In other words exhibit faith, despite the odds! Don’t glorify the problem, glorify the problem solver.

    Stating the facts about one’s medical condition isn’t necessarily claiming it but acknowledging that something is different about the way a person functions. We shouldn’t live in denial and shame, especially if people ask genuine questions out of curiosity.

    The Stigma around Medical Intervention

    Another subject I don’t understand is the notion that surgery or taking medicine isn’t faith. I believe God can heal through medical science. Sometimes medical intervention is part of the process. There is also nothing wrong with prayer and a psychologist, social worker or carers.

    Besides, faith without works is dead. I also notice that people tend to judge by appearances. I’m not looking for pity but inclusion.

    Wheelchair Accessibility: Functioning in Dysfunction

    Some churches in England have a health and safety policy where they have designated seating for the physically challenged. They’re also wheelchair accessible for the most part too.

    Wheelchair Accessibility and mobility issues are just some of the problems that the physically challenged face. Access alleviates the amount of limitations and restrictions on wheelchair users. Failing to ensure wheelchair accessibility is neglecting to provide reasonable adjustments. It is like functioning in dysfunction.

    I get really annoyed with drivers who park across dropped kerbs. Dropped kerbs are meant to make it easy for wheelchairs to enter and exit sidewalks. I think that drivers should either be fined or vehicles towed. Alternatively, if the church building isn’t wheelchair accessible, there is the option of watching services online, but then the problem with that is, one can’t mix and mingle with other believers. I suppose this will always be an issue depending on where one lives. There are many other issues that this subject can cover but this video should do the job. Why should your church be Disability Friendly?