Tis the Season

There are many things that I love about the Christmas Season, but one thing that has grown to be one of my favorites is seeing how God moves within the Christmas Events within our disABILITY Ministry. For instance, this last Friday Night our Friday Night Live Bible Study performed their rendition of the Nativity Scene for the Impact Ministry. And WOW!!!! Was it amazing. With only a few weeks of practice and minimal planning for costumes, I have to admit, many of us were over the top nervous with how it was all going to go. Boy did God put us all in check with our lack of faith here. God moved from beginning to end. Pastor Tim Booher who heads up the Impact Ministry began by introducing me, and then I had the privilege to thank Impact for their love towards our guys and then introduce, Sharon, who was to be our volunteer director for this skit. As Sharon began introducing each segment of people, as they were walking up the audience began to clap. I was thrilled. And then, as if it couldn't get any better, after ever person said his or her line, the audience clapped, whistled, and shouted out with love, encouragement, and support for our guys. And it didn't even end there, once the skit was complete and all of our participants had taken a bow and began exiting the stage, the audience stood, giving them all a standing ovations. My heart was so touched in that moment that it took all I had to hold back the tears, and as we all made our way back into our room to begin our study, the over powering emotions of our participants with enjoying themselves so much, wanted to go back out and perform it again. The night from beginning to end was nothing but God filled and Holy Spirit led.
          Now, one might think that just that would make the weekend great. And yes, everything about it was great. However, we still had a Dinner and Dance to make our way through for many more of our participants on Saturday evening. The volunteer team that stepped up to make this happen was more than what I could ever ask for. I am just so grateful to be surrounded by such amazing people. And although there were several glitches, none of us were going to allow it to ruin the day or the event. For example, our regular Volunteer Santa Claus ended up with the flu on Saturday morning and had to cancel. But God being so good, provided us with another Volunteer who willingly accepted the position. And then, as the rain was coming down, myself and Sharon were getting ready to head out to go and purchase all of the food which other volunteers were going to prepare. Now this would not have been so challenging had I not backed up in a not so perfect way and therefore remove my passenger side front bumper. I mean, this was truly a bummer. But what was I going to do. The bumper was gone, my passenger side door unable to open, and the clock was still ticking, we still needed to get the food, and the event was still going to begin on time. So not allowing this to ruin the day, we happily carried on, thanking God for every passing moment. The tech area had a few glitches, but me know a bit about tech and having God in my corner, was able to get that all working. All of this happening while other volunteers were diligently decorating the Plex, setting up Puppets, and making room F look like an amazing Winter Wonderland, and room G transformed into a portrait studio for pictures with Santa. It was amazing!!!!!!! And as everyone arrived, they were greeted by volunteers, and then moved into room G, greeted by a couple of elves in order to get their picture with Santa, then steered into room F in order to experience the amazing Winter Wonderland Scene, while being surrounded by Christmas Trees, Snow, Snowman, Stockings, and much more. Upon existing room F, they were then greeted by a couple other volunteers where they received a hot cup of cocoa and escorted to a seat. Once all this was finished, an amazing Chicken Dinner was served, and after Dinner, and amazing Puppet Show performed, and then by about 7:15, the Music and Dancing began and went until about 9:00 pm. I mean WOW!!!! What an evening, and then by about 9:30 or so the room was cleared out and everyone who came to experience the evening was headed home. At this time though, there was still so much to do. We still had to now, Clean Up!!!! And what an adventure that was. It was still raining cats and dogs outside and the wind was howling, and between about 9:45 and 10:30, the power went out about four times, and on the last one, it stayed out. Therefore, we had to complete the clean up process in the dark using only our cell phones as flash lights. In the end though, although many of us were just overly exhausted, we were all filled also with an abundance amount of joy.
          Sunday then proved to be an even more amazing day as many of us, although still tired, came to church to hear a GREAT message on "Miracles". And I don't believe that any one of us who took part in the events on Friday Evening or on Saturday within the disABILITIES Ministry was anything less than wonderful little Miracles that God seems to always work and do within our midst while we are serving these wonderful joyous people!!!!

The Perfect Storm

Does anyone ever feel like Murphy has taken over and anything that could happen does happen, and it all seems to happen at once. Well, that is what yesterday morning felt like. We are always saying to expected the unexpected and if it could happen, it probably will. That I would say describes what our experience was yesterday in our Sunday Servants Bible Study. It began really like any other Sunday morning. I arrived in the class to be greeted by some of our guys, such as Melvin, Gene, Debbie, Gary, and many others. The coffee was almost ready to be made. That is, Debbie had put the water in in order to help out and so all I had to do was put in the filter, the coffee, and push start. Once the coffee had been made, I refocused my attention onto how many donut holes each participant was taking. We have a limit of two per person. Tina and Sharon had both already arrived in the room and were greeting everyone as well. We then had a new person arrive named Jeremy. He seemed to be quit intimidated by all of the people and so Sharon began speaking with his aunt and introduced me to them both. As we were speaking with them, another one of our participants in a split moment, became ill. It was so all of a sudden and the look on his face was instant fear. He was apologetic and couldn't believe himself what had just happened. Suzy who was sitting next to him although didn't catch much, did catch enough to where we had her take off her jacket. Everyone at his point was amazingly calm and Judah being the person he is, stepped in and began helping with the clean up, and right away, Arturo offered to help as well. It was like some of them although are considered participants, are also amazing volunteers at the same time and willing to do anything to just be of service, even more so than some of the actual volunteers. I then had moved out of the room in order to phone Anthony's care provider and facilities. Things seemed to calm down if only for a moment, because then arrived Andrew, our 17 year old autistic boy. Now, this would not have been such a hectic thing except as I was on the phone speaking with Anthony's care provider, the person Jeremy and his aunt were still at the entrance of the room and so Sharon had refocused her attention on reassuring Jeremy that everything would be ok. And then, within just a blink of an eye, Tina quickly noticed that Andrew had made a bee line into the classroom and quickly made his way to the box of donut holes. She yelled out, "Andrew is at the donuts". Sharon and I both looked over and already Andrew had more donut holes in his mouth than we could count. I mean "WOW"!!!! Another intense moment. Sharon without even thinking, quickly ran over to Andrew and grabbing him by his sweatshirt, was able to pull him away from the donuts and get him back out into the plex. At that point, my phone conversation with Anthony's care provider had finally ended, I was able to phone facilities to come and help finish cleaning what we were unable to, and Sharon and I then were able to completely focus our attention on Andrew. It was probably about 9:30 by this time and all of this had taken place within maybe about 10 minutes. It was a pretty crazy morning but all in all, Anthony was picked up by his care provider and taken home to rest, the mess was cleaned, the bible lesson taught to the rest of the class, and Sharon and I had a pretty surprising easy rest of the time with Andrew. Now, after reading all of this, some might wonder how it is we do what we do and completely enjoy it all from start to finish. Well, for me it is easy, Jesus said that anything we do for the least of these you did for me, and anything that you did not do for the least of these, you did not do for me. Now, the one thing that I believe many get confused about, is the context of what the "least" means. We do not in any way consider our guys to be even remotely less than any one of us. We are completely equal with them. We all just have different abilities. Therefore, they are much like children in the since that as a child is unable to independently care for themselves, so are our guys, and because of that, it is our responsibility to do for them as we would for a child. And when we seek to serve, we are blessed, because in the grand scheme of things, when we give and when we serve unselfishly, even in the midst of challenges such as these, we are doing it all ultimately for the Lord, and that I believe is what keeps us coming back. The smiles, the joy, and the blessings that Christ allows us to have in season and out of season, in the good times, and even while in the midst of the "Perfect Storm".

Giving Thanks

One of the many blessings that I have received from the lives of the people within the disABILITY Ministry is their natural ability to continuously find happiness and joy in all things, and it just warms my heart each and every time I am around them. For example, it was about two and a half years ago that myself and about five volunteers decided to begin a Friday Night Live Bible Study, and I remember in the beginning stages of it, aside from us, we would have about 3-4 participants, and sometimes 5 or 6 if we were lucky. But I also remember the commitment that everyone had to seeing how God would move within the group and within the lives of the people who came. And now today to see the group averaging about twenty participants, about eight volunteers, and the passion that each person has for God and for one another warms my heart beyond measure. And when I think about how we can't out give God, I also think about how God values and uses each and ever person for His glory and this last Friday night was no different. It was the Friday before Thanksgiving and because we all decided to take the Friday after Thanksgiving off, we planned on having a Friday Night Live Thanksgiving Feast. A time where we would worship God, share in a meal with one another in community, and give thanks for everything that Christ has done and is doing within our individual lives and within the group as a whole. What an amazing time we all had. It was a pot luck meal where I was to bring the turkey and ham, and everyone else would bring the sides. This was an interesting experience for me in that because of circumstances, I ended up cooking two turkeys back to back on the Thursday before, and then heating up the ham about 2 hours before on Friday, and although it was work and required hours of my time, the moment I walked into room G in the plex with the food, I knew the presence of God was in the room. And then as people began arriving, Betty with green bean casserole and corn, Tina and Maria's group with mash potatoes, Trevor with rolls, Anthony with more corn, and Sharon and Rickie with the pies, we were definitely going to have a feast. And just one of the beauties of how this evening came together, was although some forgot to bring their food, and others did not know to bring some, there was more than enough to go around. But the biggest blessing of all, was that as there was plenty for all of us, the participants also brought bags of food in order to donate to the food pantry at Crossroads so that not only could the group experience the blessings of God, but so that they could be a blessing as well. And that is just what these folks are all about, from the Tuesday night, to the Friday night, to the Sunday morning, they might not have much to give according the standards of the world, but what they do have, they give, and what they give, goes beyond measure and God not only blesses them, but he moves through them so that they can experience what it means to also be a blessing to others, and for me to be able to see and experience just a fraction of that, I give thanks.

An Accessible Church Presents to Persons with disABILITIES an Accessible God!

I was reading an article yesterday evening that really placed a new perspective on how I view church, God, and people with disabilities. The article opened up with a question that stated, "do you have many disabled persons attending your church? If not, why not?" After meditating upon this question and how I would answer it, I began to broaden my scope of thinking beyond just the walls of Crossroads and think about the church in general. And what I began thinking was how affective are we as a church reaching and ministering to people with disabilities and how that is translated into whether God is or is not accessible. I mean, yes, Crossroads as a whole has truly embraced the importance of accepting people with all forms of disabilities and really making it a place for all people to come. Unfortunately, that is not the norm. Most churches do not have an interpreter for the deaf, or a braille bible for the blind, or a class for the developmentally challenged. All they typically will have is a few parking spaces and if it is a new building, a larger bathroom stall. But as I read this article, it presented me with the two extremes that have gone from the Old Testament to the New Testament with regard to attitude regarding disabilities. For example Lev 21:17-23 displaying exclusion while Jesus in Luke 14:12 reminding us of the importance of inclusion. So when considering the church at large, what attitude or what position ought we embrace. Well, of coarse for many of us we would say inclusion - but when we see a person with any form of a disability and we choose to do nothing or nothing more, then which one have we truly taken? You see, as this article presented to me, the amount of accessibility that a church provides for the disabled will often times be translated into how accessible God is. The writer of this article then ended with this statement, which caused me to think a little differently: "persons with disabilities have a lot to teach able-bodied persons about living their faith. Many of us have overcome lifelong obstacles that most of you will only face in the final few years of your life. God makes his presence known through his church. He makes his church's presence known through his people; all his people! An accessible church presents to persons with disabilities an accessible God." So my prayer is that we never take on the attitude that what we are doing is enough - let's continue to pray and have a longing to do more in order to love more and reach more, all for the sake and the glory of Jesus Christ!!!!

Down Syndrome, Society, and the Heart of God

Over the last few weeks I have been doing a lot of reading about disabilities, the church, and how we can become more effective at reaching out to not only the people who have a disability, but to also their families and the people close to them as well. Through the coarse of my reading however my heart has become deeply saddened as I have read about the statistics of what is happening within the arena of Down Syndrome. According to the National Down Syndrome Society there are over 400,000 people living with Down Syndrome. Unfortunately now because woman are able to have a test done to determine whether or not their unborn child will have Down Syndrome, 90% who test positive are choosing to abort. This statistic just broke my heart in that as I already believe abortion to be absolutely wrong, doing so because the unborn child is seen as less than perfect because of a test that suggests him or her as such is a tragedy. It causes me to reflect on people within our ministry such as Arturo, Mike, Trevor, Calano, Laura, or Debbie, all whom have Down Syndrome but also have amazing personalities and are filled with an over abundance amount of love and joy. They bring so much blessings to the ministry that I couldn't imagine them not being here. So my prayer is that God will reveal to me His Will and the direction He would have for me, the ministry, and our church, with regard to what is happening within our society and the unborn children with Down Syndrome. We as Christians who represent the voice of God, need to advocate for them, so that rather than being seen as a burden or a tragedy, they will each be seen as a blessing whose value is no less than any other unborn child. I mean, just look at the faces below - they are priceless and truly have and display the heart of God.

The Blessings that come from Serving

        One of the most important aspects regarding people who have any form of a disability is that they are a person first. They, just like any one of us have been created in the image of God and are of no less value than any one else. Unfortunately, so many elements within our society is causing an inequality for people who are affected with a disability. But for us as Christians, and us as a Church, we are not to fall into or even step remotely into this arena of inequality. We are to see all people as being valued by God, created by God, and specifically made for a purpose. And when we look at the Bible and what Jesus had to say about how we are to treat people with disabilities, I was reminded of Luke 14:12-14 where Jesus said the following, "when you give a luncheon or dinner, do not invite your friends, your brothers, or relatives, or your rich neighbors; if you do, they may invite you back and so you will be repaid. But when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blinds, and you will be blessed. Although they cannot repay you, you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous".

        Wow!!! Jesus really knows how to hit at the heart of what matters. It is so easy for any of us to be drawn towards only doing for or hanging out with those that we are most comfortable and know how to communicate with. But taking the time to get to know and hang out with those who may not have much, as the world defines much, and hang out and get to know them, the blessings are endless. They more often times than not give more than what I could have ever imagined, and I would even go so far as to say that most people who volunteer or have volunteered within the disability ministry at Crossroads feel the same way.

        In fact, just yesterday, I and a key volunteer, Sharon Bautista, were able to spend time with the autistic boy that we were with the previous week. Only this time we were able to have him in the plex. The beauty of this time however, was that four people from Generate, who are also volunteering on the concierge team came and volunteered as well. Therefore, we had 3 girls in the classroom assisting within our 2 classes, and the one male, assisting Sharon and I in the plex with the autistic boy. What a blessing, to not only be able to give unselfishly of ourselves, but to have a few new people come in and not only give of their time as well, but to fall in love with it so much, that they all said that they would be back next week to help again. That is the kind of blessings that many of us have received within the disability ministry. Where we receive so much more than what we are able to give, and can't help but have desire to come back and serve again!!

One of God's Special Friends

One of the things that I love about Crossroads is the extra distance that people will go and do in order to serve others. This past Sunday was one of those moments, where I had the privilege to be a part of it. I, and a key volunteer, Sharon Bautista, had gone to introduce ourselves to a mother of a 17 year old autistic boy, who often times hasn't been able to fully enjoy the Sunday Service because of having to tend to her son. But on this particular day, after introducing ourselves, we offered to stay with her son so that she could quietly enjoy service. This experience although challenging for us, I know from her response, blessed her abundantly, as well as the two of us. And it is definitely in moments like these, where we are truly able to see, feel, and experience God's unconditional love for all people.

Calendar

Blessings are meant to be shared, and here in the disABILITIES Ministry, blessings just seem to come regularly. Therefore, in order to help keep everyone up to date as to what is happening within the ministry, i have added a calendar link to the right with everything going on over the next few months. So if anyone would like to come and volunteer for any of these events, please just shoot me a message or email letting me know. The volunteer door is always open and we would love to be able to share in the blessings that so many of us are already receiving.

Friday Night Live

I am forever amazed by the amount of love that comes from within our Friday Night Live disABILITIES Group. A couple Fridays ago I was out of town, and one of the volunteers, Veda, had a great idea for the group. They decided that rather than be a group who is viewed as taking, they decided that they wanted to be a group that gives. Therefore, they all decided that the following Friday they would all bring in non perishable food for our Food Pantry ministry at Crossroads. When I heard about the idea and the decision, I was thrilled. Then, this last Friday night I was even more thrilled as each person walked in with a bag of food and the excitement that they each had with being able to give. And then, as if it couldn't get any better, they had also decided that out of the donation money that they give to help offset the cost of our Friday night meal, 1 dollar would be taken out, and whatever was collected a gift card would be purchased as well to give to the food ministry. We collected 25 dollars and just today I went to Vons and purchased the card, and now look forward to going in tomorrow morning and bringing in all that the disABILITIES Friday Night Live group gave in order to bless others. God's presence is definitely moving withint this group and I am so thankful to be just a small part of it-:))