Revived

My friends and family know I have been deeply involved in the Aldersgate Special Needs Ministry here in S.C. Our goal is to provide secure dwellings for adults with developmental disabilities. I have been chairman of the Board for the past year and it has been a job dealing with governmental agencies, regulations, revenue sources, worried parents, disgruntled board members, etc., etc. - especially since I really have no experience in the gov regulation area. Fortunately I serve a church where they don't worry about the days I give to Aldersgate, though I do try to schedule most of that on my days off.

Honestly, there have been several times over the past couple of months when I've asked myself why. There's no one making me do this extra work. It's frustrating, and it's all volunteer. Well, yesterday I got my answer.

In the past two months we finally got both our homes operating. The women's home has six residents and the men's home has one resident, with three other young men in process to get the funding lined up. I went by the women's home for a visit yesterday, my first since the residents had moved in. What a good move for me.

I was greeted by two of the residents and their first words to me were: "We love our home!" I met with some of the staff we've hired to run the house, but the residents cut that short, wanting to show "their home" to me, and to show me how they'd decorated their rooms.

You could tell they were so comfortable there, and with one another. One of the young ladies usually speaks in a whisper, but the other girls knew that and encouraged her when I asked her a question. You could readily tell they were already becoming "family" for one another.

We were worried about the transitions these girls would be able to make from their families. What's happened is that the residents have told their parents they don't have to come visit and check on them. They are enjoying their new found "independence."

There are many times in ministry when we work and serve and never get to see the fruit of our labors. Wow, am I fortunate. The experience yesterday does make the six year journey to get there feel so worthwhile. It has been a blessing to work with some dedicated parents and board members over those years, and to witness how so many people have given time, effort and resources to this cause. There's still a lot of work to do, and a lot of money to raise, but now I know in a new way what a difference it all makes. Thanks be to God!

Aldersgate Ribbon Cutting

Been meaning to put this post up all week - but here it is finally. This past Monday was a milestone in the development of our ministry for adults with developmental disabilities. We formally received the home in Columbia from the Home Builder's Association of Greater Columbia. There was a nice ceremony with the Home Builder's Assoc President, the Mayor and about 150 guests. Five of the six young women who will be living in the home were able to be present, and they definitely were excited. For the "ribbon cutting" each of the residents were given a present and the ribbons on the presents were "cut." Inside each was a monogramed pillow.It was a nice celebration, but the work continues. We are launching this home in the worst of times with all the budget cuts in the state medicaid funding and the challenging economic conditions everyone is facing. But that's when we most often are able to see God at work - in the worse of times. This home exists today because of many instances of grace making a way where none seemed possible. Hopefully by the end of January all the regulations will have been fulfilled for licensing and the residents can move in.

If you want ot know more about Aldersgate Special Needs Minsitry, then visit the web page by clicking here.

Too Many Houses

I don't own a home, but right now I have too many houses on my hands. The Trinity Trustees, after a review of the parsonage earlier this year, decided it was time to buy a newer one. After a special Charge Conference last night, things are moving ahead on the purchase of a beautiful home in a new subdivision.

That means we need to get this home ready for sale, but that's not as simple as it would have been a few weeks ago. Since my wife is changing appointments this year, we have been moving some personal things out of the parsonage at her church so that they can repaint the place and put in new carpeting. The things we moved out we just brought to this parsonage. Now they have to go somewhere else so the Realtors can come in and take photos for the listing. Oh boy.

On top of this, I have two homes to deal with through the Aldersgate Ministry, our ministry for adults with developmental disabilities. One home, in Orangeburg, is completed. So we are working on getting the furniture in and hiring a management group so the four men selected for that home can move in. The other home, in Columbia, is still under construction, and I just learned the contractors put the wrong kind of sprinkler system in it. It has to have a commercial system in the home, so I've got to get that straightened out. This will probably put a 4 to 6 week delay in our plans to open that home, to the dismay of the six women residents greatly anticipating the day they can move in.

It's all nearly enough to drive me crazy, but how can I complain? The church is making sure they have a wonderful home for their minister, we are nearing our ministry goals of providing semi-independent living for adults with developmental disabilities, and my wife no longer has to worry with a parsonage that she only used as a church office. In addition I am aware that so many in our world are homeless.

In the midst of this I recall (with romantic idealism) that when a scribe wanted to follow Jesus, Jesus turned him back saying, "The birds of the air have their nests, but the Son of man has no place to lay his head." (Mt 8) Yes, it is a different world, and it will all get resolved in a couple of months, but right now its just odd to have too many houses on my hands.

Aldersgate at Epworth

One of our Aldersgate Special Needs Ministry board members emailed pictures of the home being built on the Epworth Children's Home campus in Columbia. I was by there two weeks ago to take pictures, and it was still just a concrete pad. Wow! They jumped on it and got busy.

The Aldersgate web page has some updated pictures of the home in Orangeburg. It already has the brick work done. Still hard to believe becoming operational is within sight. Considering the need, a place for 12 people with developmental disabilities to call home is a a very small step, but of course, for each of those 12, it's a tremendous life change and answer to prayer.

God's Perfect Ones

I came across the following quote from Morris West's novel, The Clowns of God. And read it frequently, as another reminder of the importance of the work of our Aldersgate ministry. In the story, the pope is deposed because he reveals that he actually talks to Jesus, not just in prayer, but Jesus who has returned as Mr. Atha, to warn him again about the coming apocalypse. If I remember correctly, Pope Gregory XVII is basically exiled to a mountain-top retreat, where there is a camp for children with developmental disorders. Jesus visits him there for more conversation. He points out a young girl with mental retardation and says to him:


You need a sign. What better one could I give than to make this little one whole and new? I could do it, but I will not. I am the Lord and not a conjuror.

I gave this mite a gift I denied to all of you - eternal innocence. To you she looks imperfect - but to Me she is flawless, like the bud that dies unopened or the fledgling that falls from the nest to be devoured by the ants. She will never offend Me, as all of you have done. She will never pervert or destroy the work of My Father's hands.

She is necessary to you. She will evoke the kindness that will keep you human. Her infirmity will prompt you to gratitude for your own good fortune... More!

She will remind you every day that I am who I am, that My ways are not yours, and that the smallest dust mite whirled in darkest space does not fall out of My hand...I have chosen you. You have not chosen Me. This little one is My sign to you. Treasure her.

Aldersgate construction

The latest picture of our Aldersgate Special Needs Home (for adults with developmental disabilities) being built at The Oaks in Orangeburg.

The walls are up!

Secure walls. Secure dwellings. Well, not secure right now with no roof or anything else, but it won't be long. On my way to Allendale yesterday to visit a family at a funeral home, I stopped by The Oaks in Orangeburg, one of our church's centers for retirement living. I wanted to see the progress on our Aldersgate Special Needs Ministry home. I drove down the long entrance road, lined with the ancient oaks, and there it was. I walked through the studded-out rooms and it hit me, in a few months there will be six adults with developmental disorders calling this home. I was caught by surprise by my emotions and I was glad I was alone. There have been years of meetings and business and now to actually see this dream materializing moved me. But being the male I am, I swallowed my feelings, grabbed my little camera and took some pictures before the evening enveloped us.

Add to this the good news that our Columbia home is back under construction. Held up by a zoning complaint, the hearing last Friday went in our favor, and after this week, that home should be about ready for the roof trusses. There are six females anxiously waiting its completion, and of course, waiting for us to hire and train staff and raise the rest of the operational budget.

To be honest, I have had some jealously toward my colleagues who have been serving on other Boards of Trust for our institutions. Listening to them talk, their experiences have been so different than mine. For a small state, we have some excellent, prestigious colleges and homes. Their trustees have work to do, but there are administrative staffs that prepare everything ahead of time and there are institutional resources that undergird their work. Our Board has had to do everything from scratch, with none of us experienced in creating a service institution. And we still have a long road to go to gain Conference recognition and support. But driving away from the Oaks, I realized my colleagues should be jealous of my trustee experience. To be part of a dedicated group of people who have come together to serve a particular group of people in need has been a rich experience. To be able to walk through the rooms of your shared dreams is amazing. Now with everything else, we'll have to watch out for tidal waves of joy.

Special Needs Ministry

While in Atlanta my wife and I went to a special exhibit at the Michael C. Carlos Museum on the Emory campus. There were several Jewish and Christian artifacts from the Holy Land. Since we have been to Israel a few times, we really didn't see anything new, but the exhibit was well done.

What we did see that caught my eye was a projection of various artistic renditions of the Last Supper. One that touched me was done in 1998 by Raouf Mamedov, a film director from Moscow. He used several models with Downs Syndrome to replicate Leonardo Da Vinci's famous "Last Supper." The full scene is made up of five separate photographs.

I don't know Mamedov's reason for using such models, but it spoke to me about how we include (or usually ignore) people with special needs in matters of faith. So many churches have a family with a special needs member, but rarely do churches know how to offer support or how to adapt services and facilities to offer inclusion.

I serve on a Board of Trustees for our Conference's Aldersgate Special Needs Ministry. We have been working for over four years to begin building residential facilities for adults with special needs. I never knew there could be so many barriers, so much red-tape, or so many people who would rather ignore the need.

We finally got our first home underway this week in Columbia, SC. But after months of getting all the right permits, a neighbor filled a complaint, and the Zoning Board issued a stop order on our building permit! The Home Builders Association of Columbia is generously donating the materials and construction of the home, we've gained great community support, and now this!

Just like Raouf Mamedov showed in his photograph, persons with special needs do indeed have a place at the Lord's table. I wonder when we will make sure they have a place in our hearts, our churches, and our communities.

(You can view more of Mamedov's work at the Aidan Gallery website. www.aidan-gallery.ru )