Before I began high school, my family started at a new church. We have loved this church for many reasons, but I think my favorite thing about it is the focus on ministry for people with special needs. Even as a sophomore in college now, I miss my church and the way it loves people so well.
I had never encountered a church with this kind of focus, and if I’m being totally honest, caring for those with special needs just wasn’t on my radar. Little did I know, my entire viewpoint would change over the course of high school.
My family began participating in our church’s ministry for people with special needs pretty early on. I was reluctant, intimidated, and nervous about spending time with people who weren’t like me. It took a while for this attitude to fade, but the Lord began to work on my heart as I continued to volunteer for Special Saturdays and Special VBS.
Special Saturdays are mornings once every month where our church members volunteer to serve children with special needs and their families. Volunteers run stations like games, crafts, and Bible/music time, or they buddy up with one of the children to walk them through the morning’s activities. Special VBS is basically a week of Special Saturdays.
The parents can use this time to run any errands they need to run, and it gives them a chance to have a morning off from being full-time caregivers. These parents sacrifice so much to care for their children, and this is a way to serve them and give them a chance to recharge.
By spending time with these children and their families, I grew to see God’s image and goodness reflected in the diversity around me. I began to see the beauty in the simplicity of the Gospel as I watched the kids understand it better than I ever did. These kids have such a beautiful faith to witness, despite the fact that their lives are different from and more difficult than mine in many ways.
We talked a lot about using “person first language,” which basically means that we say “the boy with autism” as opposed to “the autistic boy” because a child’s disability or special need is never their whole identity. If this hadn’t been pointed out to me, I never would have been aware of the small ways that we can give dignity to those around us.
Some of the kids I worked with were non-verbal, except when we sang. Then they got super excited and started making lots of noise. While it’s not words, and it’s not language I can understand, this is how these kids praise the Lord. It brings a smile to my face just thinking about it.
This experience has taught me that although we may have different abilities, everyone is capable of praising the Lord in their own way. He is pleased when non-verbal children sing, he is pleased when children in wheelchairs dance, and he is pleased when I sing and dance too.
Although I started begrudgingly and with an unenthusiastic heart, the ministry for those with special needs at my church is one of the things I miss the most about home. Time with these kids and their siblings is good for all of our souls, and the amount of joy is overwhelming.
I would like to encourage anyone reading this to get involved in a ministry for folks with special needs, or even just to try to be more aware of the people around you in everyday life. This ministry taught me how to value the contributions of others in a totally new way. I have a newfound compassion and a new appreciation for the diverse image of God in those around me. These kids and this ministry have blessed me more than they could ever know, and I love them with all my heart.