Nurturing Young Hearts to Include

This episode emphasizes the importance of teaching children and teens about inclusion and understanding of disabilities. We explore strategies for fostering empathy and compassion within church communities while highlighting the need for a collective effort to create inclusive spaces for all.

• Importance of teaching inclusion to kids and teens 
• Initiatives that promote disability awareness 
• Incorporating the gospel into conversations about abilities 
• Annual training opportunities for communities 
• Engaging kids to understand their peers’ experiences 
• Viewing individuals through the lens of God's love 
• Cultivating advocates against bullying and isolation 
• Building a culture of understanding and empathy 
• The role of faith communities in promoting inclusion 

For deeper dives into these topics and more, check out indispensable-people.com and visit Amazon to purchase the books "The Indispensable Kid" and "Gospel Accessibility and Indispensable People."

Chapters

• 0:03 Building Inclusive Spaces for All
• 14:19 Empowering All Abilities in Christ

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:03

Hi, my name is Tracy Correll and welcome to Indispensable People. I'm a wife, mom, teacher, pastor and missionary, and I believe that every person should have the opportunity to know Christ, grow in Him and serve Him with the gifts that he has given, no matter their ability. Over 65 million Americans have a disability. That's 25% of the population. However, over 80% of them are not inside the walls of our church. Let's dive into those hard topics biblical foundations, perceptions and world-changing ideas. Hey, hey, and welcome to this episode of Indispensable People.

Speaker 1: 0:54

Today we're going to talk about kids, teens. We're actually spending more time talking about those without disabilities than those with disabilities, and about a month ago, a friend of mine sent me a video and she had some questions for me, and the video was of a gentleman named Kerry Mago who is diagnosed with autism. He is an adult and he travels and speaks to companies and organizations about inclusion, about inclusion. And the video started with a statement where he says ready, a child with disabilities often spends hours being taught how to interact with others, but why don't we spend time teaching those without disabilities how to interact with them? So my friend sent me this because she wanted to ask what I, as a missionary and as a minister, a pastor through my local church. What do I have to offer families and kids that don't have disabilities? How am I educating them? How am I helping them don't have disabilities? How am I educating them? How am I helping them? So, for example, this particular friend actually serves as a buddy in our home church and she just started, but she has a son with autism and she has worked also in the field and so she has a lot of really great experience, and so she had mentioned that the last time that she served as a buddy, there were two girls who were kind of chatty with each other and then they kept looking back at the person that she was a buddy with and she wasn't mad or upset about the fact that they were kind of curious and asking questions and that kind of thing.

Speaker 1: 2:43

But she was wondering how are we fulfilling those questions? How are we helping those kids to understand? And my answer to her was absolutely yes, we do do things for kids who do not have disabilities and to help them to understand and include those with. You probably have heard me talk on here saying that some of my most favorite buddies are teens and kids, because they are more moldable and they are more willing and they are more open and inclusive than an adult who has already formed, you know, perceptions and things like that. And so I explained to her that, yes, we do a disability awareness thing, and when we speak at churches and they open up the door for us to go in and speak to kids, we absolutely do some disability awareness stuff, help them to understand and give them some tools of what they can do in their schools and their homes and their families and that kind of thing.

Speaker 1: 3:44

And then I thought, but is it enough? Are we really doing enough? And ultimately my answer was no, we're not doing enough. What can we do more? And so I'm actually really, really excited to share that every year we do a statewide training in Youngstown Ohio. We host it at my home church. Anyone, anyone from anywhere, can come, and it is a free training that we offer that has breakouts and just options for you to choose, and there's never the same exact topics that we've done in the past. There's always new or different spins on things that we've done in the past. So even if people have attended previously, they will learn and grow more as they attend from year to year we do a really great giveaway. If the people are registered by a certain date, then they have an opportunity to win a sensory room in a box for their church or wherever the organization that they're a part of, or if it is a family for their child at home, or you know whatever that they might be able to utilize it for, and so there's lots of opportunities for all of those kinds of things.

Speaker 1: 5:11

And so when she questioned me about this, I thought what can we do? Let's grow that training. Let's make a specific alignment for kids and teens so that they can be taught in ways that will impact the generations that they grow up in. Let's catch them now, before they get to those older ages and stages and already have perceptions built, misunderstandings created, not a firm foundation in their biblical knowledge about what people, what God says about people with disabilities.

Speaker 1: 5:49

And in this video that my friend sent to me about this gentleman named Kerry, he said you know, in those therapies and things that he had to grow up learning and doing, you know they taught him how to adapt to the world. That was not created for him. But he said but what about? We build understanding and empathy and inclusion. And then he went on to say that true inclusion is not about teaching people with disabilities to conform to the world that was made without them in mind, but building a world that values differences and where that creates spaces for everyone to be involved.

Speaker 1: 6:30

And so I'm so excited to offer that, to create some spaces for kids to come in to have this experience, to learn about those who are in their classes, those who are in their families, in their schools, on the playgrounds, in their, at their baseball games and basketball teams and gymnastics or dance, or wherever the kids are in their churches all of those kinds of spaces. And let's invade their thinking by opening their mind to understanding the value and worth of all people, of all abilities, and so that they can be impacted. And so I want you to think about kids that you've come in contact with, whether they're in your church maybe you're a children's pastor, maybe you're a lead pastor, maybe you're an associate pastor, maybe you're a youth pastor and you're teens and those kinds of things and think about the reactions and the room that they have made or not made for kids who are different than them, and think about how their life would be changed or impacted or opened, and especially the lives that would be changed of those with disabilities who would then be given that open opportunity to that full inclusion. And I've shared before that inclusion is so much more than accessibility. Accessibility is so much more than physical and it's very much a social accessibility and inclusion and social. We build upon that and it leads to the spiritual accessibility and inclusion, the spiritual accessibility and inclusion, and that's what the true body of Christ comes to be. So how can you do this? What does that look like? How does that impact?

Speaker 1: 8:34

And for me, it's helping those kids and those teens break apart scriptures, knowing that each person was made in the image of God, also knowing that it's nothing that that person did or that that family did. And we can go to the book of John and we can hear about the conversations that were happening and asking you know why was that person disabled, and is it because of their sin or their parents' sin? And the response is a resounding no, that it is so that the works of God might be displayed in them. So we can also talk about the biblical mandates of coming alongside of someone, encouraging each other, lifting one another up, bearing each other's burdens, all of those kinds of things and build a strong sense of who God says they are, but then also dive into some disability experiences. It is really easy to search and create some experiences that those without disabilities can step into the shoes of someone with disabilities and build compassion and understanding and that awareness.

Speaker 1: 9:46

And instead of putting up barriers of misunderstanding and lack of understanding, we break those barriers down and build compassion. And instead of barriers we build bridges, also breaking the perceptions and showing that God has a plan and a purpose and that there's value in each and every life. All of those parts and pieces come together and my friend said she sent me the message as we're kind of going back and forth and talking about creating this culture of education. She said also this is a part of building the next generation of disciples. Kids with a strong sense of justice make great allies for our buddies. This is world changing. This is choosing to think about the realms of even bullying in schools and teaching our kids to stand up for others and to not be left alone or be isolated because of their differences, but then to open the door to understanding differences and welcoming differences. And it goes back to a previous episode when we talked about masking that disability. The need for masking becomes a whole lot less when the understanding becomes a whole lot more, when compassion becomes a whole lot more, when we have information available to us that opens our eyes and our perceptions so that we can be inclusive and see the good in the inclusive.

Speaker 1: 11:33

And not because the world tells us that we should include, not because it's the newest wave of thinking. It is because it is rooted in scripture, it is rooted in God's word. And again, the whole title of this, the whole name of this podcast, is Indispensable People, because when speaking about the body of Christ and saying how each part is necessary, the scripture says that those that seem the weakest are actually indispensable, says that those that seem the weakest are actually indispensable. Indispensable that means that we cannot be without that. We would be lacking if we were and if we can help our children and our teens understand the value of each person is not in their abilities, is not in the way they act, is not in the way they talk, is not in the way that they walk. It is not in any of those things, but in the creator that made them, which is the same worth and value that each and every person has that walks on this earth, and if we can help them understand that, if we can help them build a firm foundation and we can help them to be inclusive, not because the world says so, but because God says so, what change can be made? How can our churches become more welcoming and open to those with disabilities and give them a place in the body of Christ, because God has already already placed them and they have a seat at the table, not because of who the world says they are, but because of who God says they are.

Speaker 1: 13:12

And listen, I'll boil it down as simple as what I had told a group of first graders in my first grade class years ago, when there were some picking on, and there was some, you know, kind of coming down on other people, and I sat them in a circle on the floor and I asked them all to go around and tell me one thing that they did really, really well, and then I asked them to tell me one thing that's a really difficult and hard for them. And then we talked about how we're all different, we all play a different piece in the body of Christ and, in the end, if you pick on somebody and you make fun of somebody and you say something is bad about them or is not good enough about them, then you tell God he didn't do a good job. And I don't know about you, but I'm not willing. And if I see people just for their deficits and not for the things of which God has placed in them first of all, I'm opening the door. Here's my deficits, here's my pieces of not being enough and here's the honest to goodness truth. None of us are enough.

Speaker 1: 14:19

And also scripture tells us that in our weakness is where he is strong.

Speaker 1: 14:25

And let's not stifle that because we have fear of the unknown, misunderstandings, perceptions with no boundaries or basis. Let's be sure that the kids and the teens in our lives have a firm foundation of understanding who God is, who he says his people are, and how we can come alongside of other people and how we can come alongside of other people, build true and real friendships and also see each and every person as a co-laborer in Christ. And that is a strong body of Christ, that is an unstoppable body of Christ that impacts eternity and changes people's lives forever. Do I know everything about disability ministry? Do I have all the answers? Have I done everything perfectly? I've absolutely not, but we are going to continue this conversation so that people of all abilities can have the opportunity to know Christ, grow in Him and serve Him with the gifts that he has given them. For deeper dives into these topics and more, check out indispensablepeoplecom and visit Amazon to purchase the books the Indispensable Kid and Gospel, accessibility and the Indispensable People.