What does the Great Commission look like to the work of Special Needs Ministry?

The Great Commission – Matthew 28:18-20 [ESV]

18 And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
When we think of special needs ministry, it is usually a room or two at the end of a hallway where all the children – young and old – gather to have a Bible story and some special time away from their over burdened mom and dad. This is common and sometimes necessary, but is this all there is to special needs ministry or does the Great Commission give us reason to think about how we perform this valuable ministry?
Let us start with our view of individuals with special needs. There are millions of individuals diagnosed with one or more disabilities that range from physical, mental, or emotional, and each of them God has blessed with the opportunity to have the Gospel shared to them so that they can respond as they are able. Just because a disability may hinder their ability to fully understand and/or respond does not justify reluctance or a lackadaisical attitude from the one who should be ministering. Never forget that the same Jesus who received “all authority in heaven and earth,” is the same person who rebuked His disciples for refusing to let the children come to Him. Also, keep in mind that Jesus was very much involved in creation, and He is NOT surprised or set off by an individual with disabilities. On the contrary Paul writes, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” (2 Corinthians 12:9) If our Lord finds that a great field of ministry comes from dependence on Him, then individuals with special needs are ample teachers. Since our God was very much involved in creating them, it is very important that we take the time to faithfully consider our ministry to them.
The next part of the Great Commission is an emphatic command to go, but how can that happen when we place the children in special rooms? The rooms are necessary, but that is not where the ministry should end. Within the sphere of a child with special need’s life there are so many others who could use the Gospel of Jesus Christ. How do we reach into this child’s sphere and minister? The level of a child’s disability greatly impacts the amount of care necessary to meet their needs. Many parents will give up jobs to care of their children or if the need is very great they will take extra jobs to get needed assistance. Did you know that the parent of an autistic child will spend approximately $30,000 a year on the care of their child (Autism Today http://www.autismtoday.com/articles/Special_Needs_Trusts_Estate_Planning.htm)? Finances, lack of individual and couple time, and other burdens leave parents stretched, and they may turn from church to have personal time on a day they would have off from work. It is unfortunate that these parents would consider somewhere other than the church to find rest and renewal after bearing the burden of intense child care and provision. These children have more than just their parents to help care for them within their circle of influence. Who is reaching out to the teachers, day care workers, therapists, and even grandparents who share a part of their lives to improve these children? Jesus is not telling the parents and caregivers to go to church, but He is certainly telling the church to go to them!
When it comes to the next part concerning discipleship, baptism, and teaching, that is a function that is very broad and would carry this blog on into infinity. I want to make it simple for now by saying that Jesus has commanded to do all these things to which children with special needs should never be excluded. Only our heavenly Father knows the capacity of understanding these individuals possess and when it comes to judgment the only concern I need to have is whether or not I have carried out His command. I will use other blog posts to provide my two cents on ways to effectively disciple and teach children with special needs. For now all you need to concern yourself with is how you are doing these things with these special individuals.
I want to finish this blog by giving you some comforting words – Jesus will be with you always even when you may have a hectic day with a child who forgot to take his meds for ADHD. Our God is fully aware of these children with special needs, and He has workers ready to minister to them and their families. These workers may feel alone sometimes in the two rooms down the hall, but rest assure that our Lord is there also. Our Lord has a desire to seek and to save those who are lost and because someone has a developmental disability doesn’t mean that they are excluded. These individuals and their circle of influence is in a great need for the Gospel. Did you know that according to national studies, more than 80% of people with disabilities don’t attend church (National Organization on Disability)? What about their family and caregivers who very much care for their well-being? Jesus, a very well-known minister to the sick, has included those with special needs into the mission stance of the Great Commission. I’m ready to go out from the two rooms at the end of the hall.  How about you?

Hinder not the little children - Matthew 19:13-15

As many of you already know, I am a father of seven children. I make it a practice every day to raise up my children to the Lord and ask for His blessing on their lives as they grow. I mainly do this because even though it is my job to work to take care of their needs, I have to acknowledge the fact that I cannot do that sufficiently without the Lord's blessing. If I try to do this under my own power, I may fall under the example of many who work all day and feel that a paycheck alone is caring for their children's needs. These parents end up never knowing who their children really are. I could also be a parent that is involved in every aspect of their child's life and end up seeing my children drift away because they are tired of looking at me. All of this to say that I can't be everything for my children, but as a parent who loves and serves the Lord, I must acknowledge that He can be everything to them. I admit that I need the Lord's help when it comes to raising my children.

In reading Matthew 19:13-15 and Mark 10:13-16, I find that there are various perspectives that can be taken concerning the parents bringing their children to Jesus. It is easy to look at the disciples and become indignant in their refusal to allow the parents to bother Jesus with their children while He is teaching. In Mark 10:14, even Jesus became indignant about that. We can look at the perspective of Jesus as His an opportunity to teach about how to come to the kingdom of God. Many have written whole entire books on this, but I want to focus on the perspective of the parents.

As a parent, we want what is best for our children. We search out the best schools. We shop for the best clothes. We try our best to give our children what we know that they need, and these parents in the Bible knew that a blessing from Jesus was one of the greatest honors that they could provide for their children. I would like to think that when Jesus talked about the faith of the children being the key to the kingdom that there may have been a moment when he looked at the parents and smiled. I firmly believe He knew that they had the faith of a child to bring their children to Him for His blessing. I would love to recognize these parents who knew that they were not sufficient enough to give their children everything, but sought the Lord's blessing knowing that through Him, their children's needs could be met.

My desire is to pursue our Lord in ministry to children with special needs and their families, and as I pursue it, I am always trying to find ways to provide an opportunity to reach out to them with the message of Christ. However, I have to heed the warning that comes from the disciples' example. If I find that what I do in ministry prevents an opportunity to holistically meet the needs of an entire family, then woe to me for stepping in the Lord's way. An example of this would be to plan out a marriage enrichment activity and not provide anything for the children to do at the same time. What a great opportunity and testimony a ministry could have when the parents have trust that in their search to understand God that they can place their very precious treasure, their children, in the hands of people who will be a blessing from the Lord to them. As a minister, I can't help but to look at these parents who desire the best for their children by bringing them to the Lord, and wholeheartedly let them come into His presence by providing opportunities to care for the whole family and not just focusing on the needs of one or the other.

Jesus taught the disciples that the only way to enter His kingdom is as a child. This is a faith that we tend to lose when we focus on our own personal needs and not on the big picture of reaching to others. The disciples had a lesson in this earlier when they argued over who was the greatest in the kingdom, and Jesus corrected them by using the example of a child. Once again, they failed to listen and could have very well disillusioned a group of parents who desired to reach out to the Lord on behalf of their children. Jesus saw the faith of these parents and the actions that they were taking and knew that this was probably one of the greatest teaching moments available. When we acknowledge our inability to meet our needs, and look to Him as the one who can sufficiently meet our crucial need which is a relationship with God through Him, that is when we show faith as a child and truly see the way to salvation. When we come to Jesus Christ knowing that we have a debt due to our sins, and acknowledge that He can forgive us of our sins and establish a right relationship with Him, we have the faith of a child, and we can become a part of the kingdom of God. What are we doing today to allow "little ones" to come to Christ? Are we gearing our ministries to meet one particular need or are we focusing on the fact that our Lord wants us to reach out completely and holistically when it comes to ministry to children and their families?

The Personal Development of Hinder Not

Hinder Not  is the manifestation of God’s work in my life over the last nine years. During that time, I became a father of seven wonderful children. I also had the opportunity to be a Sunday Bible fellowship teacher to 1st and 3rd graders, a large group teacher for 3rd through 5th graders, and an activities director for Kindergartners up to 5th graders. However, I experienced my most eye opening work when I was a special education teacher.
For two years I had the opportunity to see children in their most common element – school. I heard and witnessed the toils and struggles of the students trying to master basic skills in order to progress into knowledgeable adults some day. My primary work was with children who struggled harder than most to learn.  As I taught them strategies, I also had the opportunity to find out more about their life. One student in particular had a hard time staying awake during school. I asked her why and the she told me that after school she went to work with her parents. They finished work at midnight and would either go grocery shopping or do laundry at the laundromat. She told me that most nights she would get to bed close to 2:00 in the morning. I shuddered at the thought of this and my heart grew in desire to find ways to minister to my students.
After the spring of 2007, I was laid off as a teacher and had plenty of time to think of ways to minister to children with special needs and their families. I also had the blessing of putting my experience to the test in the church we had attended for several years. A handsome young boy with autism was coming to the point of possibly being transferred from the preschool hallway to the elementary hallway up stairs. A child with autism already has trouble with transitions and this move would be like you taking a trip to another country without knowing the language, customs, or ways of its people. The parents and grandparents were very concerned, so I was asked to help smooth out the transition. After communicating with the boy’s family, I learned that he was not moving up to kindergarten that year and was entering a new treatment program. I learned more about the program and began to train his teachers and the ministry staff on ways to work with him. That year was a big success for him and the people around him. The next year he was transitioning to kindergarten and everyone was ready to make it happen. The transition went well and a new vision was added to the calling God had placed on my life when I surrendered to the ministry at the age of seventeen. That experience is what I consider as the birth of Hinder Not.
As a young ministry, I see that many more relationships and experiences will help to mold the work of this ministry. The primary goal is grounded on Matthew 19:13-15 where Jesus commanded that that the disciples should not hinder the parents from bringing their children to Him. Hinder Not is here to help make the ministries of churches inclusive to the special needs community, their families, and their other caregivers. Please make it a point in your prayer time lift this new ministry up. If you have any questions please  email me at wayd2him@live.com or call me at (770) 592-2125 or (404) 308-4696.