EP22: Disability & The Church: The Value and Purpose of Every Individual

Welcome back to another episode of the Grace Church Members

Podcast. I'm your host, Chris Rivers, and

in this episode Jordan Sharipa and I have a discussion with Joe

Clary and Madison Critters about Grace churches, mosaic ministry,

mosaic disciples, individuals, and families with disabilities.

We have a great discussion around biblical principles,

personal stories, and we discussed three critical ideas

to engaging friends and families with disabilities.

Okay, let's jump into this interview.

Yeah, well Gentleman Madison, you both play a unique

discipleship role in our church and so maybe you could just

introduce yourselves and give us a brief history and scope of

what you do. Yeah, so Mosaic started in 2004

with just a couple of kids with disabilities, and their families

wanted to to disciple them better.

They realized they were just sitting in the classroom.

Where they really weren't necessarily learning, they

weren't being discipled. And so we started to pull them

out. We started to figure out

different ways to give them access to the gospel, and it

grew from there. And now, almost 20 years later,

we see it moving from a couple kids to around 200.

I want to say kids, it's kids, students and adults.

So that that's the whole ministry overall.

And so we have seen God just be faithful in some ways.

And the way in which he has grown it, one of the ways he's

continue to be faithful is the volunteers.

Because our volunteers are amazing and are the heartbeat of

what we're doing. Because they are the ones that

are that oneonone disciplining of the individual with

disability. Yeah.

And we have Mosaic at all of our campuses.

We're able to serve children at all of them.

And then we have students and adults for Mosaic at some of

them. And so it's a really neat

opportunity that we have to be able to disciple these

individuals. It's been humbling to see how

the ministry has grown and just to be a part of it.

I mean, I think that it has changed my life in a way I

didn't really expect to. A lot of times you expect to do

a lot of the disciplin, but we get a lot in return.

That's good. So as we're approaching this

topic, can you just give us a little bit of context on where

and how we see disability in the Bible?

Yeah. So I think one of the the first

passages that we really see it here is Second Samuel 9.

And just to give you a background about this passage,

So it's a story about Mufiba Chef.

So most people really don't know a lot about Mufiba Chef or

really hurt him. But back in that time, this

story was countercultural. I mean it definitely went

against the flow and it was probably mind blowing about what

happened here. So if in these times, if you

were disabled or you had any kind of disease like leprosy or

you had anything different about you, you were on the outside of

the city, You were, you're in a town, you're you weren't really

a part of society, you are a silo that was outside.

And so we pick up here in the story with David, and David is

looking to honor Jonathan or one of Jonathan's relatives.

Jonathan is already dead at this point.

And so he asked the servant, he says, hey, is there anybody that

that we can honor? And the servant goes, well,

there's mafibba chef, but he's lame, almost saying hey, there

is somebody, but he is lame, which kind of is a little bit of

outcast at that point. And so they go out and get

mafibba chef. Now they say that he was living

with his uncle at the time. But his uncle was part of this

one town. But then the town in which they

had to go get him was outside of that.

We don't know the exact location, but it was not where

it says he was staying with with his family.

And it just shows that the culture is just saying, hey, if

you have, if you're different, you're on the outside.

And so they bring him before David and he falls down to

David's feet. And David's like, hey, get up.

And he says, hey, I want to honor you.

And if you think about this, he was Jonathan's son.

Heir to the throne here. And he's he's living in a city

that no one never heard of. We really don't know the exact

location, but somewhere outside. And David brings him in.

He really shows the heart of God.

He says, I'm going to show kindness towards you and the

rest of your life you're going to eat at my table, which means

he's sitting with the King's sons.

He's now an heir to the throne and really shows the heart of

God. In a really unique way and I can

just imagine sitting back. I'd love to be a fly on the wall

when David says this and all these people are like, no, no,

no, no, hold on a second. The fibbous just outcasts like

he he doesn't deserve to sit here.

And maybe even some of David's sons are like, what is he doing

here at the table where the the royalty sits, the heirs to the

throne sit and just really shows the heart of God in a very

unique way where he's saying, hey, I look past disability.

I created you. You were an image bearer.

You're made in my image. And just talks about the

sanctity of life there, that that the fact that that he was

created, he was not discarded and God knew what he was doing.

And the heart of God is just pretty phenomenal in this

passage. So that was Second Samuel 9.

Do you have another example from scripture?

And then how you have seen these verses represented in

individuals? In First Corinthians where it

talks about how they're different parts of the body.

And Ephesians 4 also speaks to this very similarly, where it

says that the parts that seem to be weaker are actually

indispensable. And we the culture would look

down and they would say hey these parts are these

individuals are are weak, they are not part of our body.

And that is the exact opposite. I mean, we could sit here and

talk about stories. Of how our individuals with

disabilities or and just individuals with disabilities

are a part of the body of Christ and sometimes they are siloed.

And I'm so thankful for our leadership here.

I'm so thankful for just the opportunity where we get to

experience their gifts. I mean one of which one of my

good friends, Elijah, he taught me way more than I ever taught

him. But I mean just a couple basic

ones, he. He knew what it was to

persevere. I mean, he was in a wheelchair,

he was in and out of homes. He was constant in the hospital

for bed sores and just different sickens, ailments that his body

cannot keep up with. We always had conversations

about he, his eyes were set on on seeing Jesus one day and he's

there and he's, he's with him. And I'm jealous of that.

But I pray to God that I have the perseverance that that he

has that he had. Where no matter what, he'd say,

hey, I'm in. I'm in miserable pain right now,

but God is still good to me. I'm still breathing and it's a

blessing. And he said.

But my hope and my sights are set on above.

And so I I think it's just a piece of the body about how how

all that plays into me. I mean, I can give you another

story. I mean, I think we have a couple

of individuals that Bailey and Dakota, just two individuals at

our church that are part of our body.

They taught me how to unashamingly share the gospel

with anybody. Like, they'll just walk up to

you and they have no shame. They're like hey.

First of all, I have autism and you know about Jesus, and it is

one of the most beautiful things that they are comfortable and

the way that God has made them. And they know the gifts that God

has given them, and they are using them to advance the

gospel, where we have another individual who is nonverbal but

probably invites more people to church than I ever have.

And it isn't just encouraging to see all the gifts that God has

given them and how that has been beneficial to our church.

I I mean, I see that here at Grace Church.

And I mean, not only have these individuals had an impact on me,

but so many others, and it has been a great blessing.

No, that's so good. Madison, you were going to talk

to us about John, Chapter 9. Yes.

John 9 · chapter mention

Yeah. So in John nine we see.

Jesus heals a man who is blind from birth and so it has a lot

of principles we can take away from it.

And so in John 9 went through two we see Jesus was walking

along and he saw a man who had been blind from birth.

And his disciples say, hey rabbi, why was this man born

blind? Was it because of his sins or

his parents sins? And so in these verses we see

Jesus saw the man first. It wasn't the disciples, but it

was Jesus, and he was the one that originally acknowledged

him. This man that was born blind

like Joe said earlier was probably an outcast in the

society. He was more than likely probably

just sat on the side of the road every day and was passed by a

lot and not probably acknowledged frequently.

After Jesus seized the man. The disciples asked this

question which is an insensitive question and they did it out of

misunderstanding for disability. I mean, they back in their time,

I mean probably believe that disability was evil and was

produced by evil and so God could have nothing to do.

With evil. And so this man did not come

from God and it was probably caused by his sins or his

parents sins or wherever evil came from.

And so we see this isn't the cause and Exodus for 11.

I mean we know that disability is not a consequence of sin, but

as a consequence and reality of living in a fallen and broken

world. And even the disciples love

Jesus. And still they asked this

insensitive question, not trying to trick him, but just out of

misunderstanding and not knowing.

Why really? Essentially.

And so even in their insensitive question Jesus showed them so

much grace and he answered with the purpose of why the man was

born blind and not the cause of it.

And so in verse three we see Jesus said this man was born

blind not because of his sins or his parents sins.

This happened so the power of God could be displayed in him.

So we see here this man was disabled by divine design.

This man was disabled by design Design.

Which is a hard concept for all of us to grasp and something

that a lot of us have a hard time thinking about.

God doesn't make mistakes and did not make a mistake when

creating this man to be born blind.

He knew that when he was going to be born, he was going to be

blind and he did not discard him.

So this man was born blind so the power of God could be seen

through him, and was born so God's glory could be displayed

in him and through him. And so we were all made in God's

image, we all have inherent value, and we all reflect him in

our way. And so we can really see this in

John 9. In John 9, the disciples did not

see this man is valuable or recognize his purpose, and Jesus

was the one that pointed them towards what the purpose of this

was. And so we want to be a people as

Grace Church, as the church in general who value all

individuals of all abilities and see them how God does as

integral parts of the church and body of believers.

Yeah that's good. If we were to just, I know

there's tons of questions we want to ask.

But if we were to just. I love the theological summary

of why you guys are doing what you're doing in this ministry.

Is there a mission statement for Mosaic?

Like what are you trying to accomplish in Mosaic?

The mission of Mosaic is to equip and disciple individuals

with disabilities. More into the life of the

Church. Yeah, and I do think those

passages really help us see that.

Tell us, how in the world did you guys get involved in this?

Yeah. So when I was growing up, I grew

up in Charleston. We had a great family that was

not family, but more like family than anything.

And they had a daughter who was physical and intellectually

disabled. And so I we grew up with her.

We went on vacations with them and they lived in our

neighborhood. And so I had a lot of just

exposure to being around Melissa there and I became comfortable

with being uncomfortable. And I think that's one of the

things that I learned along the way.

Obviously first engaging that as a young kid you only know how to

act. But being around the family and

and us being like siblings was a really cool thing and.

She passed away at the age of 18, which was really hard.

And I mean, I think it was just something that had an impact on

me as I was growing up. And then my sister, my older

sister used to babysit 2 twins with autism.

And so I just got to experience them, be around them, love on

them. She would always bring them up

their house, we'd play with them and just experience disability

in in different ways. And so I I wouldn't say I've

grown up in disability, but I've been around disability since I

was a kid. And my sister also has a son

with autism, which has impacted our family in a really great

way. And I think God has used that in

a way that to kind of help and put a passion in my life towards

some of the things. You know, I think we're we're

both where we went to college, not for disabilities coming out.

I really was looking to go more toward the medical field and got

open a door in the field of behavior analysis, serving

children with autism. And so I worked there for 10

years before coming to the church.

And have the opportunity to be here and really disciple.

So I've been a part of the Mosaic ministry for a while

before coming on. Staff got to serve there, but

really jumping in has been a really unique experience and

being involved with families and serving them here is.

So that's kind of my bringing, how, how I got into it and just

how the love and care has been there.

Joe, if someone said Can you disciple someone with

disabilities, what would you say to them?

Obviously you can disciple anybody and and I think one of

the biggest things is, is that everybody wants to know outcomes

like how do you know? And and one of the big things

that I just strongly encourage people is like, hey, you present

the gospel in ways just for anybody to understand.

I mean that that is our goal, to be able to present the gospel to

the people around us, no matter what ability, so that they can

understand it. And so the great thing is, is

that the work doesn't rely on me.

It's the Holy Spirit. And so, but it is our our job to

disciple. And so we that's what we're

doing. We are presenting the gospel on

ways in which people can understand, so they can have

access to the gospel and be able to respond in the ways in which

they can do. We know whether someone is a

true believer or not. We don't know for typically

available peers around alone. I mean, you do to a certain

degree, but you don't officially know, right?

And so we just know that we have to do Our Calling, which is to

make disciples and equip people to be followers of Jesus.

Madison, what about you? What is your background and how

did that lead you to Mosaic? Yeah, that's a funny story.

I mean, I went to Clemson for Health Science and wanted to go

into the medical field or go get my law degree and went and got

my masters in bioethics and ended up working for the camp we

have in Allendale through Grace and.

I just got pulled into Mosaic as a job cuz I didn't have one for

August. That was me forced her into

this. Job and so I had no background

in working with individuals with special needs and disabilities.

I mean I went to like one Special Olympics in high school,

but I wouldn't count that as having any form of training.

And so really about four years ago, I.

Jumped into Mosaic and started working with our individuals and

our families and our leads, and it's been an ongoing learning

process. And if that's ever changing and

more people are coming and you're learning different things

and so really just on the ground going.

But that's how I got involved. Yeah.

It seems like parents with disabilities also benefit from

the discipleship that you guys provide.

Could you unpack that a little bit too?

Yeah, I mean, I think one of the main misconceptions in churches

in general. Is that we are just to watch the

individuals with disabilities so the parents can be discipled.

And that is that that is a hard thing for people to say and they

actually don't realize what they're saying.

That is a secondary effect of what we're doing.

So we are disciplining the individuals with disabilities

but also allowing the caregivers to be discipled as well.

And so we we it's a it's a secondary effect of Mosaic, but

we also provide different discipleship opportunities for

the caregivers of our individuals with disabilities

here at the church. And so we're equipping them to

be able to understand disability, which a lot of

people don't understand disability where it relates in

the Bible and that's why we even are very.

Strong in in presenting what we believe the Bible says in the

way that God true the heart of God and disability.

And there are some principles that you guys use and have

shared with us. Could you maybe unpack some of

those and help us understand how how to, how to help us think

about this? Yeah, the first principle I

said, or I would say would be super helpful for everyone is

that you have to be comfortable with being uncomfortable until

you become comfortable. So you have to be comfortable

with being uncomfortable until you become comfortable.

And now this is an ongoing process.

I mean, we're always stepping into new situations that might

make us more uncomfortable again.

And then we have to learn and process through those and engage

and learn how to become comfortable and learn from those

around us. I mean, there's so many

different situations in Mosaic that.

People might be scared or uncomfortable entering into and

so we just want people to engage in that and really be OK with

being uncomfortable. So like in one instance it might

be walking up to someone and trying to give them a high 5 and

you realize they don't have mobility of their right hand.

So we have two options. We can either engage them or we

can shy away and disengage and really just step into being

uncomfortable and let that control us.

And so like we would say, hey, like give them a pat on the

back. Give them like a side hug.

Give them a fist bump, Like do something to engage them.

And then like next time you would know like for that person,

like, I'm going to be more comfortable going up and talking

to them because I know how to engage them better.

So like another instance could be like going up and like asking

someone how they're doing only to realize that that individual

is nonverbal or doesn't communicate verbally.

So once again, we have two options we can.

Either be uncomfortable and not engage that person and talk to

them, or we can embrace the uncomfortableness and talk to

them anyways and then learn how they communicate.

I mean, just because they can't communicate verbally does not

mean that they can't communicate with us and tell us how they're

feeling. And so like I said earlier,

someone that didn't have experience with disability.

Sometimes this makes you nervous, but it's a learning and

an ongoing process. We just have to be willing to

step into and make ourselves uncomfortable.

I mean, in Mosaic, 95% of our volunteers don't have any formal

training with individuals with disabilities, and so they were

just willing to step in and be comfortable with being

uncomfortable until they become comfortable.

Yeah, all of our volunteers, including myself, just come up

into uncomfortable situations. Yeah, And I mean, Jesus did it

all the time, right? And some awkward situations.

But he engaged, and I think that John 9 passage is one of those.

Because that man was probably it's kind of like the homeless

guy on the corner that no one wants to look or talk to and

Jesus is that one that actually goes over and engages.

And so I I think that's just a great picture of of some of

that. I'm just making that more

typical, right, just making some of that more comfortable and and

and really I think it's it's a part of growth for us as

believers. Man, that's good.

All right, so the first principle Get comfortable with

being uncomfortable until you become comfortable.

So that's the first principle. What's?

The second, the second would be we have to be a people marked by

patients and humility. So this looks different for all

different people. So for like a parent or a

caregiver of an individual with a disability, this means knowing

that you're going to be asked an insensitive question.

When someone's trying to engage with you, we know that they're

not doing out of. Real intent, but probably out of

a misunderstanding. And so to be able to show

humility and be patient with those around us will bridge a

deeper understanding of the gospel for those around us and

really pulling people in to experience what you experience

every day. For those not caring for an

individual with a disability, this just means coming alongside

and engaging families, even when it's uncomfortable.

Just like we talked about on the first part.

I mean, we want our church body to engage our families and say

something and not to be afraid of saying something that's not

correct because we know we're not doing it with ill intent,

but really just to engage the family.

We can learn so much from the families and the individuals

with disabilities. And so it's really at our loss

if we don't engage them and talk with them.

I mean, it would just be like you wanting to get to know

someone but not asking them any questions about who they are,

what they like to do for fun, like what their favorite hobbies

are. And so just like we would want

someone to do that to us, like we should try and get to know

them as well instead of leaving them siloed like another part

and not one of the church body. That's.

Good. And I think it's important like

knowing when we are engaging with families, just like a

principle that I really hadn't heard of before stepping in to

this world was really using person first language.

And so that is stating the person before the disability.

And so when you state disability first, it really gives

disability their identity. And so we want to make sure that

we state the person first because they are not their

disability. And this is just a really great

way to make sure that we're caring for that family.

Well, there's a lot of different opinions and languages and

preferences now a day of how you address disabilities.

And so we always tell our volunteers like what the family

says is like what you should go off of.

But person first language is always like a great rule to

follow. Joe, can you give us an example

of people first language? Yeah, so for people, first

language is stating the person 1st and the disability second.

And so it would. An example of this would be the

boy with autism. And it's actually a way to just

to show families that you're you're loving them, that you're

actually thinking. You're paying attention.

Yeah, yeah. Cuz I feel like a lot of our

families are, and I think like just across the board, families

who have children with disability feel that way.

They feel ostracized, they feel siloed, they feel like they're

not a part of anything. And so we're trying to move

towards them. Bring them in, let them see the

gifts and make them part of the body in which way which Christ

tells us. I mean, I think that's one of

the cool things about Ephesians 4, because it ends and it says,

hey, all these gifts, because they're part of the body just as

much as any, just as much as you and I, and that they make the

body full and complete. So our body's not full and

complete unless we have all people of all abilities.

And so I think that that's an important thing that we need to

consider as we're walking through and thinking to that.

That's good. Well, what's the third

principle? Yeah, really close to what Joe

is just hitting on is discipleship's our number one

goal. And I mean, this goes for

everyone at Grace Church. I mean, Grace Church's statement

is we exist to make mature followers of Jesus Christ, which

includes individuals with disabilities.

And so discipleship looks different for everybody, and

access to the gospel shouldn't depend on our abilities, right?

And so for Mosaic, we work with individuals at our campuses with

different abilities, and we make sure that we are presenting the

gospel in a curriculum in a way that they can understand.

And so sometimes that looks like adding visuals or songs or

picture cards that they can place on boards, so we can gauge

their understanding, so they can learn and repeat the information

so they can really learn. I mean, we always want to assume

competence and give the individual personhood.

So that means like not talking down to someone or doing

something for them immediately. So like if someone's an adult,

we should talk to them like an adult and not baby them.

Or use child as language just because we don't know like where

they are. Like, we need to teach them, and

then we can gauge understanding from there.

And so, I mean, just like Joe said, individuals with

disabilities are a key part of the body of the church.

We're not including them out of kindness.

We're not doing them a favor. It's like not a service project.

They're an integral part of the church, just like it says in

First Corinthians 12. And they bring a strength to the

church that we just don't have, like without them.

And so, like knowing that having a disability isn't a hindrance

to the gospel or spiritual growth they can fully

participate in the body of Christ is just like a beautiful

thing to see. And I mean, from my experience,

I've learned more about joy and patience from some of the

individuals and Mosaic inspire than I have from any of my

friends or teachers. I mean, it's just beautiful to

see how joyful they are and how they can present the gospel in a

way that's truly real to them. And you were telling me a little

bit about one of the examples So share that I thought was really

great. So one of the girls in Mosaic

Inspire. Her name's Morgan.

And so in Mosaic Inspire right now they are working out,

writing out their life stories. And so part of that is

identifying what our sin struggle is.

I mean, I just went through it in a community group myself.

And it's, it's a process. I'll say that.

Yeah. And so Morgan and I and her mom

went to dinner. And for context, Morgan has a

mitochondrial disorder. And so she is blind and deaf.

And so we were just talking at dinner and then not on topic.

She said, so Madison, what are your sin struggles lately?

And I said, well, Morgan, thank you for asking that.

But I was, like, able to share with her.

I was like hey like sometimes I like have a real problem with

control and like trying to control like situations around

me because I want pretty perceived in a certain way.

She was like, you know I have that same sin struggle.

Like I sometimes try and control things around me because I want

to get my way. And so we are really able to

like talk and connect on that level of just hey like let's

share, share this. And so I mean it was super

impactful. I don't know if I've ever had

anyone just come up to me like hey, what's the sin you're

struggling with lately? And so, I mean it was just

beautiful to see how blunt and honest and how self aware she

really was of like her, like herself and like how she is

affecting those around her, yeah.

That's awesome. Well, for someone who's

listening to this and is maybe thinking, you know, they're

learning, they're wanting to know more about this, how would

you encourage them to if they're potentially wanting to serve or

to be involved with this ministry or to support you guys

and? What you're doing?

Yeah, I mean, come and volunteer.

I mean, we have many opportunities.

Even if you're like, hey, I don't want to volunteer on a

regular weekly basis. We have a lot of other things

going on where we love you just to get some exposure and be a

part of the family. And I think one of those is

respite nights. So once a month during the

school year, we provide families the opportunity to drop off all

of their kids and go on a date or just go spend time by

themselves, whatever, whatever best fits them.

And so it's a great opportunity for people to come and serve.

Be a part of that. Jump in and have a ton of fun.

If you're gonna come, you better be ready to have a lot of fun.

And so sometimes we're singing karaoke, sometimes we're playing

games, sometimes we have big blow ups and we eat good food,

and it's a great time for fellowship.

Fellowship and community is one of the one of the cool things

that goes on in our respite nights and supper clubs.

And I would say just step in. We have a lead for Mosaic, every

single one of our campuses, who knows all of our families very

well. And so just step in and ask your

lead like, hey, how can I serve these families well this, this

week, this year or what? What do they need help with?

And so I think that's a great way as well.

Can you tell us what else is going on right now on Mosaic?

Any updates? Any new things going on?

Yeah. So we have a lot of really cool

things going on. And so I kind of take us a

little bit of a step back to kind of show the history.

And so as the ministry has grown, we started with kids,

then we started to move to students and then we started

having adults as everyone obviously continues to age.

And so in that we saw that majority of our adults that are

out of school, there's nothing for them to do.

There's not a whole lot, let's say there's there's not a whole

lot of meaningful opportunities for our adults with

disabilities. And that's the problem that we

discovered in our church. And we're like, hey, we are

responsible. Like I have to stand before God

one day and he's going to hold the account of how I discipled

the individuals that he's entrusted to to us as a church.

And so we were like, hey, the problem is, is that we?

These individuals are just sitting at home, most likely and

most for the most part. And so we started Mosaic

Inspire, which is an adult discipleship program that meets

during the week where we are discipling and equipping adults

with disabilities more into the life of the church and the

community. So they're being discycled.

They do daily devotions, like Madison said, They're working on

their testimonies about how to share that.

We're partnering with different people in the community.

We're going and serving. They're doing different things

like Meals on Wheels or baking meals for people that have had

going through hard situations. They're serving in the church in

a lot of different ways by helping out through our Care and

Recovery Ministries, helping out at Front Porch.

I mean, we'd sit here all day naming the things that that

Mosaic inspired does. And I think it has become a

really cool thing because we are seeing more of their gifts come

out and more of their gifts being used for the edification

of the church. And I think it's a really unique

and really cool experience. So if you ever want to be come

see us, come be a part of that, I'd love to just come and talk

with you and for you guys to to come be a part of it.

And the other thing is, another way which we have found that we

can disciple people is through employment.

So a lot of our individuals don't have opportunities to be

employed and so we opened Inspire Coffee House.

And so we have great people, we have great coffee and it's a

really fun environment and so people can come and enjoy a cup

of coffee where our individuals, they're in the workplace and an

encouraging place and they're being.

Discipled and this is at Front Porch On in Cleveland St.

Greenville. Correct, Yes.

So it is in the clubhouse there and we'd love for you to come

and join us. It is the best coffee around and

it is the best people around. I mean, hands down, I mean, I'm

one of those oatmeal cream pies. I gloat over this and so I have

to. Yeah, I learned a lot of lessons

about self-control when it comes to the goodies that we have over

there. But just going and spending

time, I mean, it's such a blessing just to be able to to

hear what guys do in their life and then.

I mean, I walked the other day and one of the girls was like,

hey, I was lying just so, you know, and and I got caught and

I'm sorry. And I was like, well, tell me

about that. She's like, I went and

apologize. I'm like that's the fate, That's

the Holy Spirit inside of you. And so we were able to be

encouraged. And so they're being discipled

by the staff that are there. And I think it's a really

encouraging thing just to kind of see and.

I mean we're we're continuing to expand.

We know that there's a lot of room to grow.

One of those is the cycling parents.

We know that there's some more things that we'd like to to move

towards and provide opportunities to disciple them.

Better housing, gosh that that is a is a big need right now for

adults with disabilities because a lot of them are going to

outlive their parents. And what does it look like for

the people that don't have people to care for them, We as a

church. They're saying, hey, they are a

member of our church and we have a responsibility for them and so

we're taking some steps. We're moving in that direction.

I'm encouraged. We still have a long way to go

and a lot of things to figure it out.

And but one of the things is I'm so thankful for the leadership

of the church. I think you hear it from the

stage and what the verses that really come to mind that I feel

like we are living out well is Luke 14.

Where Jesus is talking about throwing a banquet and he said

hey don't invite the people that can repair you.

Invite the people that cannot repay you and you be rewarded.

When I come again in resurrection and Jesus is very

clear about that and and then in Matthew 25 is probably a more

stern spoke to to the fire there where he's it's it's judgment

and he says that they're standing before the king and

he's dividing the goats amongst the sheep.

And he says the sheep, the people who are mine, are the

ones who take care of the weak and the vulnerable.

And I don't. I I see that that that's the one

of the heartbeats of our church. Not only just the mosaic, but I

mean you can see it across all of our care, recovery Mosaic, I

mean all of our ministries. You see us stepping into places

where people would not step into.

And we're we're trying to reach people for the gospel not for a

return of financial gain or anything like that.

But I think it is one of the most unique places because I

mean part of my role in the past was serving in the care and

covered ministry and I thought that I loved it and and I I feel

like that that's very similar in Mosaic as well.

The people that have been ostracized to a certain degree

and the gifts that they have and how that that's that's what our

our call to do is. Yeah, well, it has been great to

hear from both of you and see your passion and know this is an

audio podcast. But I mean if people could see

like you guys are excited about this and I'm real grateful for

y'all and it's great to hear y'all stories and how this is

getting kicked off and continues to grow.

I mean thank you for the principles.

I feel like all three of those are pertinent for me in my life

and. I think just it's amazing.

I mean, people with disabilities may seem weak, but they are

indispensable to the body. And I think that's something for

us to take away and think about and just that they can teach us.

People with disabilities can teach us more about the gospel

than we think. And so I'm really grateful for

you guys and. I look forward to see what

happens around the corner as y'all continue to steward this

ministry. So thanks.

Thanks for the opportunity to be here.

And if you ever want to talk about it, we'd love to have a

conversation. So reach out to us.

That's great all. Right.

Bye guys. Thanks for coming.

Yeah, Well, as we wrap up today's episode, we want to

thank you for joining us. If you have questions or want

access to additional resources, be sure to check out the podcast

page located in the show Notes. Thanks for joining us today and

we look forward to joining you on the next episode.