Disability in the Bible

Does the Bible discriminate against disabled people, or are people who live with disability close to God’s heart?

How did Jesus treat disabled people in the Bible, and in light of this, how should we respond as a Christian community to disabled people in church? Through the Roof’s Ros Dakin considers these questions in her article, ‘A Biblical View of Disability’ featured on the bethinking.org website, run by UCCF. You can read the full article at the Bethinking website.

Eldoret 2015 - As it happened!

Here are the day by day reports of the first half of our recent distribution in Eldoret, Kenya, written by team-member, Josh. Photos of the trip are on our Facebook page, and you can read stories of changed lives in the next issue of our Vital Link newsletter, due out in August.

Day 1: Running on African time.

After an extremely tiring and sleepless night flight the team was slightly disappointed to find that the taxi driver was running on "African Time" and completely failed to turn up. Thankfully the connecting flight was also running on "African Time" so we made it to Eldoret! We're really excited about seeing the first group of people tomorrow and can't wait to get stuck in!
Now for a good night's sleep!

Day 2: Giving away the Bugatti

Thankfully we slept much better last night. After a great breakfast we launched straight into preparing some chairs ready for the day! One girl had been able to only lie down for 14 years and had some very specialist needs. We found the perfect chair for her and after a very long while of adjustments she was rolling out in a top-notch, state of the art chair with a huge smile on her face that cheered us all up!

Day 3: A Slower Start

Church officially started at 11am but we were not surprised to see the previous service end a little later due to some more African timing! It was not quite what we expected, but after the 20 minutes of very energetic singing and dancing we had more of an idea of what it would be like! We spent 3 hours this afternoon preparing wheelchairs for our trip tomorrow to a small town called Kapsabet.

Day 4: A Trip to Town

We had an early start today and got stuck into loading the trailer full of wheelchairs!
A couple of hours later we were on the bumpy road to Kapsabet ready to supply some wheels!
A woman came to us crawling with knee pads made from old walking boots. She hasn't been able to walk for a number of years and today we gave her back the blessing of mobility with a wonderful wheelchair. She rolled out of the church with a massive smile on her face.
Tomorrow we're doing another distribution at the Rehabilitation centre and we're expecting 35 adults and children.

Day 5: Today has been our most productive day yet!

The team managed to help 43 people today! That's double the amount of people we have seen the previous 2 days. Understandably the therapists are weary and ready for a good night's sleep!
The last person we saw was a teenage girl with hydrocephalus and scoliosis so bad that if it got any worse her lungs were likely to collapse! It took one of the therapists 2 hours to make sure she was comfortably in the right chair.
Helping her was a great reminder of why we came out here. It was amazing to save her life and it left us all really inspired.

Please Don't Drop Wheelchairs at Storage King

Thank you for all of your wheelchair donations to the work of Wheels for the World. Unfortunately, we're currently unable to accept any more chairs at the Storage King, Epsom facility. Please don't drop any more wheelchairs or mobility aids there! If you have any wheelchairs to donate, please contact the office on 01372 749955, and we'll arrange a time for a drop-off at the Aldershot Warehouse. Please note that we cannot accept powered or electric wheelchairs; non-folding wheelchairs or walkers; commodes or any other rehab equipment. Thank you!

Wheels to Eldoret - 1st to 10th May

Our Wheels for the World team will be running a distribution in Eldoret, Kenya from the 1st to the 10th May 2015. We're working in partnership with David and Lisa Cooke (follow this link to visit their website. Please pray for the team, and keep checking back, as we'll have blog entries from them as internet connection allows.

**UPDATE** - Blog entries from the trip can be found <A HREF="https://throughtheroof.org/eldoret-2015-as-it-happened/" TITLE="follow this link to read blog entries from the trip">by following this link</A>.

'Victory' - Our Easter 2015 Come Fishing

Here's the latest episode of 'Come Fishing', from Jenny Edwards MBE. Each episode contains news, stories, music, and inspiration. We hope you enjoy it!

Election fever! (Ros' Blog)

Unless, like Richard III, you live buried under a car park, you can’t have avoided noticing that we are in the run-up to the general election on May 7th. There have been TV debates, debates about TV debates and media reporting of debates about TV debates, until we are in danger of losing sight of the real issues that matter at this election.

Through the Roof is apolitical. We are not about to tell you whom to vote for! There are some online tools available to help you make up your mind. The current issue of IDEA - the magazine of the Evangelical Alliance – contains much material to help you understand where the parties stand on issues of concern to Christians, and you can download this from http://eauk.org/idea/mar-apr-2015-issuu.cfm.

Another useful source of help is an online tool called Vote for Policies. This enables you to read various policies on a wide range of topics, without knowing which party’s policy you are reading. You can choose the topics you want to read, and the level of detail that you read. You select the ones that most reflect your own views and at the end it tells you which parties most closely match your opinions. Probably it won’t be 100% one party – when I tried it I came out at 60% for one party, and 20% each for two others. You can find this tool here: https://voteforpolicies.org.uk/.

I contacted the Conservative, Labour, Liberal Democrat and Green Parties, all of whom told me that their manifestos will be produced in all accessible formats, including for people with learning disabilities. I also contacted UKIP. They were unable to say either when their manifesto would be produced (although they were hopeful that it would be by the 10th April) nor whether it would be in any accessible formats – it will be a case of checking their website from time to time to see whether it has been published, and in what formats.

Whatever happens, I hope you will make an effort to vote, especially if you are a woman – our grandmothers and great-grandmothers made great sacrifices, including in some cases their lives, so that we women could have the vote. There is still (just!) time to apply for a postal vote if you can’t get out to a polling station (follow this link for details) – your local Electoral Registration Office needs to receive your application for a postal vote by 5pm on 26th April. Or you can appoint a proxy to vote on your behalf (follow this link for details of appointing a proxy) and you have until the end of April to apply for this. If you are not registered to vote at all, the deadline for registering is 20th April.

For Christians, especially those concerned about the wellbeing of disabled people, there are some principles we can apply when choosing how to cast our vote. The Bible is very clear that we have a responsibility to speak up for those who cannot speak up for themselves: “Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves, for the rights of all who are destitute. Speak up and judge fairly; defend the rights of the poor and needy.” (Proverbs 31. 8-9) We need to make sure the voices of the marginalised are listened to – any party which does not take their needs into account is not worthy of our vote.

We should look for a government that will act justly, and will uphold God’s laws, so that His blessing will be on our country. “For the LORD loves the just and will not forsake his faithful ones. They will be protected forever, but the offspring of the wicked will be cut off; the righteous will inherit the land and dwell in it forever.” (Psalm 37. 28-29) “He has showed you, O man, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.” (Micah 6.8)

We should look for leaders whose motive is not self-aggrandisement, but to serve the people who elected them: “But Jesus called them to him and said, ‘You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. It shall not be so among you. But whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be your slave, even as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.’” (Matthew 20. 25-28)

A good government will care for the needs of the poor. I found at least 70 Bible passages spelling out our responsibility to the poorest people in our community. Here are just a couple of them: “There will always be poor people in the land. Therefore I command you to be open-handed toward your brothers and toward the poor and needy in your land.” (Deuteronomy 15. 11) “Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.” (James 1.27)

Leaders who share God’s heart for the people will never seek to benefit from oppression: “Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel; prophesy and say to them: ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: woe to you shepherds of Israel who only take care of yourselves! Should not shepherds take care of the flock? You eat the curds, clothe yourselves with the wool and slaughter the choice animals, but you do not take care of the flock. You have not strengthened the weak or healed those who are ill or bound up the injured. You have not brought back the strays or searched for the lost. You have ruled them harshly and brutally.’” (Ezekiel 34. 1-4)

A godly government will protect our right to worship God, and to teach our children to do the same. “And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise.” (Deuteronomy 6. 6-7) Yes, even when the things which the Word of God tells us to teach our children go against the received wisdom or some of the societal norms of our day.

And finally, although the Old Testament kings were charged with defending and protecting their nation, in the New Testament Jesus also urges us to be peacemakers; and so we should look for parties and leaders who will seek to make peace in the world: “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.” (Matthew 5.9) “But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere.” (James 3.17)

So I hope you will exercise your right to vote – especially if you are disabled, as statistics show that disabled people are less likely to vote, whereas disabled people’s lives are affected to a very great extent by the decisions made in Parliament. Above all, once the election is over and the next government begins its term of office, let’s keep in mind the words of Paul: “I urge, then, first of all, that petitions, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for all people – for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. This is good, and pleases God our Saviour, who wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth.” (1 Timothy 2. 1-4)

Buried Treasure (Ros' Blog)

There’s a story which Jesus told, that is often used in an evangelistic context. It’s a very short story, and is found in Matthew 13. 44: “The Kingdom of Heaven is like a treasure that a man discovered hidden in a field. In his excitement, he hid it again and sold everything he owned to get enough money to buy the field.” (NLT)

I have often heard this story used to make an appeal to people to give their lives to Christ. Once you find Him, the priceless treasure, you will realise that it is worth surrendering your whole life in order to possess Christ and be possessed by Him. And this is true.

But suppose Jesus, as He was telling the story, had a very different perspective in mind? Suppose He was thinking of the field as the world He had come to, and the man who buys it as Himself? On that reading of the story, we are the treasure which He considered it worth giving up all He had to possess.

Sadly, we live in a society which makes disabled people feel that they are at worst a burden, and at least less productive than other citizens. This chips away at a person’s self-worth until someone with a disability can feel of less worth than someone who has no physical or intellectual impairments.

But once you see yourself as a priceless treasure for which God Himself was prepared to give up everything, suddenly your “net worth” is no longer measured by your economic productivity or your sporting prowess. And this is as it should be. If an item is worth whatever people will pay for it then knowing that God, incarnate in the person of Jesus, paid everything He owned for you, makes you someone of incalculable worth.

If the Queen were to hand over all her houses, lands and wealth in order to possess one object, think how valuable that object would be. So I would like to encourage you to see yourself as more valuable than anything else in the Universe, because Jesus Christ considered it worth giving up everything He had to be able to redeem you.

“What shall we say about such wonderful things as these? If God is for us, who can ever be against us? Since he did not spare even his own Son but gave him up for us all, won’t he also give us everything else?” (Romans 8. 31-32, NLT)

Bringing Hope and Opportunities - The Spring 2015 Vital Link

Our Spring 2015 Vital Link is now available for download. This packed issue features a report from work in Moldova, details of our new Roofbreakers initiative, news from the 50th Wheels for the World distribution, and much more.

Follow this link to download the Spring 2015 Vital Link Newsletter as a PDF [5MB]

- Please 'Right-Click' and save the file.

Please get in touch (on 01372 749955 or by following this link to email us) if you have any problems downloading this, or if you’d like to receive future newsletters by post or email.

Welcome Brian!

Here's Brian Gault in action, inspiring 200 school pupils and waving his autobiography around! Brian's spoken at three local schools today, and answered dozens of questions from pupils about his life, faith, and work. You can see Brian this Saturday 14th at 7.30pm at King's Centre, Chessington KT9 2GZ or Sunday 6.30pm at Morden Park Baptist Church SM4 4SP.

Find out more about Brian by following this link.

'Diversion - Road Closed': Our March 2015 Come Fishing.

Here's the latest episode of 'Come Fishing', from Jenny Edwards MBE. Each episode contains news, stories, music, and inspiration. We hope you enjoy it!