04 March 2013 St Albans, United Kingdom [Michael Hamilton, tedNEWS] The first and historic meeting of the world co-ordinators of the Special Needs Ministry, set up by the General Conference, convened in São Paulo, Brazil from January 25th through 27th 2013. Representatives from the thirteen world divisions met to discuss and explore strategies for implementing a ministry “whose time has come”. Emphasis was put on the fact that of the thirty-five recorded miracles of Jesus, twenty-seven were to those with special needs.
The seven areas of special needs were identified as cognitive, visual, mobility, auditory, psychiatric, speech, and hidden. It was also identified that one-in-twenty of the population of any group will have a special need, worldwide. Yet this ministry has been largely ignored by the Christian church on the whole and by the Seventh-day Adventist Church in particular. This lack of attention to the spiritual and physical needs of these people discourages many from participating in the life of the church.
The meetings started with seminars aimed at creating awareness among the attendees, of the importance of this ministry. Presentations were given by representatives of various special needs ministries in the Seventh-day Adventist Church. Ray Dabrowski from Christian Record Services displayed resources that aid ministry to those who are blind, and outlined the urgency for this ministry in light of the soon return of Jesus Christ. Larry Evens spoke passionately about the need to build awareness for the ministry to the deaf and hearing impaired. Special guest and Director of Special Needs Ministries in North American Division, Charlotte Thoms, presented a comprehensive understanding of the definition for special needs and how the church can be more proactive in this important ministry.
Within the TED at least four countries have already given attention to this ministry: Latvia, United Kingdom, Hungary and Poland. Within these countries special ministries have been developed to involve the blind, the deaf and others with special needs; however much more needs to be accomplished and more countries need to be involved.
The consultation meetings ended with resolutions to create further awareness in local churches for this ministry and to develop resources that will empower church members, with and without special needs, to effectively share their faith. [tedNEWS]
tedNEWS Staff: Miroslav Pujic, director; Deana Stojkovic, editor
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