Reaching Out and Bringing In
Ministry to and with Persons with Disabilities
by
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One intended outcome of this book is that you gain a perspective on what God is doing or desires to do in and through disability and persons affected by disability. Biblically, this is seen in God’s use of Paul and his disabling condition, his thorn. God loves to show his strength, power, love, and grace in and through human weakness. The crucifixion of Jesus Christ is a clear example of God’s use of human frailty and what the world might consider foolishness to save a people and bring them into his kingdom.
It is my prayer that, having worked your way through this book, doing the reflection and “going deeper” activities, and spending time with the Scripture studies, your vision has been enlarged—your vision of what disability is, your vision of what God can do through people who are disabled, your vision of what God wants us to be (whether disabled or temporarily able-bodied), and your vision of hope in the Lord. When we attend to what God reveals, we will be blessed and we will be a blessing to others.
Ministry flows out of our desire to love and serve God. He has chosen us to be his hands and feet and voice in the world, proclaiming through word and deed his truth and his love to all peoples. People with disabilities are everywhere, though we often are “blind” to their presence. Let us be diligent in reaching out to them and bringing them into our fellowship in the family of God. Let us go with the same urgency as the master in Jesus’s parable in Luke 14 who sought to have his banquet hall filled: “Go out quickly to the streets and lanes of the city, and bring in the poor and crippled and blind and lame. . . . Go out to the highways and hedges and compel people to come in, that my house may be filled” (Luke 14:21-23).
My hope is that the church becomes a model for the world, a place where people of all races and cultures, people with abilities and disabilities, find a place to be, to worship in community, to use their gifts to glorify God and to serve one another is love.
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About the Book
“Reaching Out and Bringing In is designed to help pastors and church leaders develop a biblical perspective on disability and the church’s role in ministering to individuals and families affected by disability … a must-read for those who minister to and with persons with disabilities, and even as a Bible study for all Christians.”
—Dana Croxton, founder of Enable Ministries
“Dr. Anderson’s book challenges the church community to reach out to people and families affected by disability, and to consider ways the church can minister to and with people with disabilities. The book includes insightful and relevant questions at the end of each chapter, making it perfect for reading and discussion by church staff, church boards, and in small group or Sunday school settings.”
—Brian Funk, area director, Joni and Friends Eastern Pennsylvania, Lancaster
“Dr. Anderson sounds a wakeup call to the church. The book’s call for personal heart change is coupled with a challenge to the church to greater action and intentional outreach.”
—Vonn Dornbush, DMin, pastor of missions and outreach,
Calvary Church, Roseville, Minnesota
About the Author
David W. Anderson holds a BA in Bible from Gordon College, an MEd in special education from Temple University, an EdD in special education/early childhood education from the University of North Dakota, and a certificate in theological studies from Bethel Seminary. For more than forty years, he has been involved in special education/disability studies. Since 1997, he has taught on disability issues internationally, particularly focusing on disability ministry. He currently lives in Woodinville, Washington, with his wife of forty-eight years. They have three grown daughters and eight grandchildren. He is also the author of Toward a Theology of Special Education, published by WestBow Press.