Monday round-up!
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I regularly have a ridiculous number of browser windows open, because I don't want to forget about various articles from around the web. Several other bloggers I admire do weekly round-up posts, each with a list of links of interest from the previous week. I'm not sure yet if this will be a regular thing, but I do know it's today's post!
Great post about the grace shown to one momma and her daughter during VBS at a church that's doing a lot of right things in welcoming families with special needs!
So thankful that Pamela Wilson, the voice behind Bella Online's Special Needs Children's Site, was able to encourage this woman when she found out her child had Down syndrome. Verklepmt indeed, Pamela!
I think it would be great to create a series of panels like these to post around our church with statements about each child's worth in God and to the church. While this campaign's focus was kids with Down syndrome, I would include kids with other special needs as well.
Not sure that there's anything to be said about this, but I was struck by the juxtaposition of a story about a girl with Down syndrome who wasn't allowed to fly as an unassisted minor on a British Airways flight despite being fairly independent and another story about Quatari airports' taking extra measures to be welcoming to people with special needs. (And, FYI for those in the US, here's the TSA's site about traveling with disabilities or other special needs.)
Next up: I'll be writing more about this in the future, but I've found much food for thought in Dr. Steve Grcevich's post on Special Needs Ministry about the rate of depression among dads of children with autism and this post about reaching out to moms and dads in different ways. As we're seeking to welcome families who have children with special needs, how can we make sure it's not just mom + kids who we're welcoming while dad is ignored and disengaged?
Barb's post about using teen volunteers in disability ministry resonated with me, because I am blessed to have a summer intern who is a rising senior in high school. (And she rocks. We love you, Kelsey!) And then I came across this blurb about the winners of a property owner's association's scholarships, noting that one winner had opportunities to serve in her church's special needs ministry and is now preparing for a degree in occupational therapy to work professionally with the same population. We miss out in encouraging the passions of the next generation if we don't include them in meaningful service in the body of Christ! (And have I mention that we love Kelsey and our other student volunteers?)
Wayne Stock's post about recruiting volunteers was timely for me, as I look at the needs in our ministry. When I was involved in recruitment for Teach For America, we were trained to be starkly honest about the difficulties but just as transparent about the rewards. We didn't want to scare folks off, but we also didn't want to be peddling lies either, especially because we found that corps members recruited that way might join but would then quit quickly or stay unhappily. The same is true in ministry. (And you might also want to check out another post by Wayne on the same blog: Nine Special Needs Blogs for Kidmin, in which I'm humbled to be included.)
Two posts by Cassi LeTourneau, who blogs at Treasure the Rain, were featured on The Inclusive Church (Amy Fenton Lee's blog) last week, and they are possibly the two best special needs ministry blog posts I've ever read: Ministering to Parents of Children with Special Needs and 5 Things I Learned After Becoming Involved in Disabilities Ministry
And, finally, I enjoy Ron Edmondson's take on how you can guarantee that no one disagrees with your leadership.
(And, if you're still reading after this random collage of thoughts and links, would you mind leaving a comment to let me know if you'd like to see a weekly post like this or if I should just stick with writing a typical post on Mondays? Thanks!)
Great post about the grace shown to one momma and her daughter during VBS at a church that's doing a lot of right things in welcoming families with special needs!
So thankful that Pamela Wilson, the voice behind Bella Online's Special Needs Children's Site, was able to encourage this woman when she found out her child had Down syndrome. Verklepmt indeed, Pamela!
I think it would be great to create a series of panels like these to post around our church with statements about each child's worth in God and to the church. While this campaign's focus was kids with Down syndrome, I would include kids with other special needs as well.
Not sure that there's anything to be said about this, but I was struck by the juxtaposition of a story about a girl with Down syndrome who wasn't allowed to fly as an unassisted minor on a British Airways flight despite being fairly independent and another story about Quatari airports' taking extra measures to be welcoming to people with special needs. (And, FYI for those in the US, here's the TSA's site about traveling with disabilities or other special needs.)
Next up: I'll be writing more about this in the future, but I've found much food for thought in Dr. Steve Grcevich's post on Special Needs Ministry about the rate of depression among dads of children with autism and this post about reaching out to moms and dads in different ways. As we're seeking to welcome families who have children with special needs, how can we make sure it's not just mom + kids who we're welcoming while dad is ignored and disengaged?
Barb's post about using teen volunteers in disability ministry resonated with me, because I am blessed to have a summer intern who is a rising senior in high school. (And she rocks. We love you, Kelsey!) And then I came across this blurb about the winners of a property owner's association's scholarships, noting that one winner had opportunities to serve in her church's special needs ministry and is now preparing for a degree in occupational therapy to work professionally with the same population. We miss out in encouraging the passions of the next generation if we don't include them in meaningful service in the body of Christ! (And have I mention that we love Kelsey and our other student volunteers?)
Wayne Stock's post about recruiting volunteers was timely for me, as I look at the needs in our ministry. When I was involved in recruitment for Teach For America, we were trained to be starkly honest about the difficulties but just as transparent about the rewards. We didn't want to scare folks off, but we also didn't want to be peddling lies either, especially because we found that corps members recruited that way might join but would then quit quickly or stay unhappily. The same is true in ministry. (And you might also want to check out another post by Wayne on the same blog: Nine Special Needs Blogs for Kidmin, in which I'm humbled to be included.)
Two posts by Cassi LeTourneau, who blogs at Treasure the Rain, were featured on The Inclusive Church (Amy Fenton Lee's blog) last week, and they are possibly the two best special needs ministry blog posts I've ever read: Ministering to Parents of Children with Special Needs and 5 Things I Learned After Becoming Involved in Disabilities Ministry
And, finally, I enjoy Ron Edmondson's take on how you can guarantee that no one disagrees with your leadership.
(And, if you're still reading after this random collage of thoughts and links, would you mind leaving a comment to let me know if you'd like to see a weekly post like this or if I should just stick with writing a typical post on Mondays? Thanks!)