Bringing in the Harvest: Reaching Out

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Bringing in the Harvest Reaching Out

• Presented by Nancy J. Contrucci, Ph. D
• March 13, 2004

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Bringing in the Harvest Reaching out

• Practical aspects of integrating individuals into
  the church so that they may worship, too.
• Matthew 937 The harvest is plentiful but the
  workers are few.

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Wheres the Field?

• As you may realize, there are unreached people
  in our communities.
• How can we welcome and disciple those who are
  differently-abled?
• What prevents us from doing this?

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James 21-6a

• . Isnt it clear by now that God operates quite
  differently? He chose the worlds down-and-out
  as the kingdoms first citizens, with full rights
  and privileges. This kingdom is promised to
  anyone who loves God. (The Message)
• Are we following the Royal Rule? If we are the
  body.

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If we are the Body

• Two verses and three refrains
• Why arent his arms reaching?
• Why arent his hands healing?
• Why arent his words teaching?
• Why arent his feet going?
• Why is his love not showing them there is a way?
  There is a way.

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• Jesus paid much too high of price for us
• to pick and choose who should come.
• And we are the body of Christ.
• Refrain 2 times
• Jesus is the way.
• Lyrics by Mark Hall (2004) Casting Crowns

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Whose Choice?

• Do we, as the body of Christ, unconsciously pick
  and choose who should come?

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How many?

• 54 million (20.6) Americans live with
• some level of disability.
• 26 million Americans have
• severe disabilities.
• 4 million children under 18 have disabilities.
• (data from Joni and Friends Ministry)

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Attitudes

• Negative attitudes still prevail about
  individuals with disabilities.
• Negative imaging persists about individuals with
  disabilities.
• Expectations for people with disabilities are low
  and idleness is high.
• Valued social connections are minimal for many
  people with disabilities.

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• People with disabilities often face grave
  obstacles, likely lead idle lives, and are
  lonely.
• Not only is the attitude and the term
  non-person used for people with disabilities
  but now also is pre-person for the un-born
  child and post-person for the elderly and
  people with Alzheimer's.
• Families still experience serious problems.
• Condeluci, A., (2002, Winter) Is this as good
  as it Gets? Compass Newsletter, 8, 1.

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Is there stress?

• Parents were asked in a recent Joni and
  Friends Ministry survey if caring for a disabled
  child created stress,
• their rating was 97 on a scale of 100.

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Denied Access

• 500 surveys of parents who attempted to attend
  church with children with disabilities
• 13 felt unconditional acceptance
• 20 accepted
• 20 tolerated
• 47 felt they were denied access
• Cindy Solomon, Focus on the Family Interview
  3/9/04

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V.A.B.

• What people do in their relationships or in
  response to others needs depends on their
• Values
• Assumptions
• Beliefs
• Osburn, J. (1998) An overview of Social Role
  Vaorization Theory. The International Social
  Role Valorization Journal 3(1), 7-12

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Who, What, Why, Why not?

• If we are the body, why do our V.A. B.s create
  barriers to acceptance and being involved in the
  lives of families with children with
  disabilities, or
• have many opportunities for the involvement of
  adults with disabilities?

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Lets look at the Normalization Principle

• What can this principle reveal to us, as
  Christ-followers?
• Why does society still seem to de-value
  individuals that are differently-abled?
• Help us understand!

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Normalization Principle (1972)

• Social Role Valorization-Value (1995)
• Both terms developed by Wolf Wolfensberger
• Normalization Definition as much as possible,
  the use of culturally valued means in order to
  enable, establish and/or maintain valued social
  roles for people.

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Key to Integration

• Valued social roles for people is the key to
  integration into the mainstream of life.
• What type of social roles are valued in the
  church?
• Greeters, Child Care workers, Kiosk workers,
  Resource Room worker.

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Basic Needs Shared by All

• To be independent
• To be treated with dignity and respect

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Social Role Valorization-Value

• People with valued social roles will tend to be
  accorded desirable things, within the resources
  of their community.

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Enhancement

• Two major means to support valued social
  roles
• Enhancement of an individuals social image in
  the eyes of others
• Enhancement of an individuals competencies, in
  the widest sense of the term.

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Positive Image

• A person whose social image is positive is apt to
  be provided with experiences, expectancies, and
  other life conditions which are likely to
  increase his/her competencies.

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Valued aspects of Life

• Home and family
• Friendship
• Acceptance
• Sense of belonging
• Opportunities to participate
• Normative places to live
• Opportunities to work

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Devalued aspects of Life

• Being rejected by the community.
• Being put and kept at a social or physical
  distance.
• Having negative images (language) attached to
  individuals.

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Devalued continued

• The positive things in life are usually not
  accorded to people who are devalued in society.
• This is why having some valued social roles are
  so important.
• A person who fills valued social roles is likely
  to be treated much better than people who are
  devalued.

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Valued Social Roles

• When a person holds valued social roles,
  attributes of theirs that might otherwise be
  viewed negatively are much more apt to be put up
  with, or overlooked or dismissed as relatively
  unimportant.

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Do Action Implications

• Individuals benefit from being involved in social
  systems that are likely to enhance their
• positive perceptions, images and
• competencies of that person by others,
• e. g., active participation in the local church.
• Ref. Osburn, J. (1998) An overview of
  Social Role Valorization Theory. The
  International Social Role Valorization Journal
  3(1), 7-12

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Reach by Valuing Individuals

• Communicate dignity and respect by age
  appropriate settings consider their
  chronological age rather than mental age.
• Church classrooms would have adult sized tables
  and chairs, activities would be age appropriate,
  food and beverages would be age appropriate, etc.
• Avoid words like girls and boys for adults.

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Teach Practical/Functional Skills

• Teach using multi-modalities, all senses
• Give clear directions e.g. Open to the center
  of the Bible for Proverbs and find the big 3
  and the little 5 and little 6 to find the
  Proverbs 35-6 scripture verse.
• Repeat memory verses often and where possible
  hand motions and again use repetition to learn
  memory verses.

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People First

• Use people first terminology and emphasize
  abilities e.g., Individuals with disabilities.
  Christa, who works at the Braille
  Institute. Mark, you have probably seen him
  riding his bike.
• Avoid the nots not mentally retarded, not the
  retarded, not the disabled, not suffers with, not
  confined to.
• Choose descriptive terminology for routine
  achievements not brave, nor courageous.

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Sam

• Listen to this progression
• This is my mentally retarded son, Sam
• This is my son, Sam.
• My son, Sam, who has a paper route and roots for
  the CUBS baseball team.
• Barriers to Bridges, (2001) NOD

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Why not?

• Why arent his arms reaching out to
  individuals with disabilities, if we are the
  body?
• Reasons Selfishness, not knowing what to do,
  not using the gifts that God instilled in us as
  the body of Christ, not being available, not able
  to show compassion.

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Reaching, Teaching, Doing

• When you show compassion to those that are
  differently-abled you are expressing Jesus
  compassion.
• Matt. 2540 I tell you the truth, whatever you
  did for one of the least of these brothers of
  mine, you did for me. (NIV)

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2 Cor. 13

• Father of compassion from The Message, Father of
  all mercy! God of all healing counsel! He comes
  alongside us when we go through hard times, and
  before you know it, he brings us alongside
  someone else who is going through hard times so
  that we can be there for that person just as God
  was there for us.

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Send Workers Out

• There is a way, Jesus is the way.
• Then he said to his disciples The harvest is
  plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord
  of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers
  into his harvest field. Matt. 937 (NIV)