[Faith-talk] church youth group

Wed Nov 16 13:56:36 UTC 2016

It’s not your job to make other people comfortable with your disability; that’s not your problem.  We shouldn’t always have to jump through hoops for others; I don’t do it.  I quit doing it years ago. However, use humor if you think that will work. Decide how important this group is to you. What people aren’t telling you is that church, I’ve found, is one of the most judgmental places you can go.  Remember, it’s there in front of God and all those who are watching, where people come face to face with their sins.  And friend, to most of them, those of us with disability, in our case, the Blind, are the embodiment of sin, which means you, are all those negative versus in the bible pertaining to disability, blindness, and sin.  Not trying to discourage you, I sincerely hope you are able to get yourself included.  You might be in the wrong church.  But, if you’d like to stay, then maybe try finding one person, possibly someone who you can discern who is a ring leader, one of the alphas, and asking if you done something to give offense.  When they ask why, or stand there looking stupid, say something like because when I say anything, I’m ignored.  If you haven’t done anything to offend anyone, they should not be mistreating you; they aren’t doing that to anyone else.  Or, skip the asking if you’ve given offense, and just straight ask why you are being ignored.  Personally, if I really wanted to be a part of the group, and mind you, I don’t usually care because one group is just about like another, I’d ask the group as a whole, but I’m also crazy. You have the right to be included in a group as much as anyone else, so seize the opportunity to initiate such a dialogue, and it might work.  Give them the chance to ask questions if you want.  
Personally, I usually drift when a group and I don’t click; finding it not worth the trouble, but you may feel differently.

Justin

-----Original Message-----
From: Faith-Talk [mailto:faith-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of David Moore via Faith-Talk
Sent: Tuesday, November 15, 2016 4:36 PM
To: debby via Faith-Talk <faith-talk at nfbnet.org>
Cc: jesusloves1966 at gmail.com
Subject: Re: [Faith-talk] church youth group

Hi,
I have found that creating humor and breaking the ice really helped me in the dorm as well, and all throughout life. Humor is the best way to get sighted people comfortable with your blindness by far LOLOLOL!
David Moore

Sent from Mail for Windows 10

From: debby via Faith-Talk
Sent: Monday, November 14, 2016 11:20 PM
To: Ana Martinez via Faith-Talk
Cc: debby
Subject: Re: [Faith-talk] church youth group

Hi Ana, sometimes humor helps. The more comfortable you feel in your own skin the more at ease you will be a# to make others. Remember that probably none of the kids in that group have been around anybody who's blind before. Keep joining conversations, and use humor. Sometimes I make jokes about sightlings needing light, or being light dependent. It makes people laugh and breaks the ice. Let me tell you a short story--this really happened to me. When I was in college, it was very awkward in the dorm. People didn't talk to me, and it was very awkward. One night I got a little mixed up and one of the girls showed me to my room door. She showed me the light switch and actually turned the light on. Su.enly it occurred to her that I might not need the light. Su.enly she and I buhst out laughing. Doors opened and we kept repeating the story. Pretty soon everybody on my floor was standing in the hall laughing. That broke the ice and we all started talking to each other. Best of luck, and don't give up yet. I'll be praying.    Debby

On Nov 13, 2016 6:40 PM, Ana Martinez via Faith-Talk <faith-talk at nfbnet.org> wrote:
>
> hey guys, hope everyone had a good weekend. I have a question and I'm not sure if it's OK to ask it in here, so in my church there is a youth group for college age students. I've been involved with it for the last 2 months, I've done some social activities with the group and I go to mass with them every Sunday. for some reason I feel that I don't belong there though, nobody talks to me unless I talk to them first. and whenever I try to join a conversation everyone gets quiet and I feel that they are stareing at me, has any of you had this experience? how can I fix this? thanks☺️
>
> Sent from my iPhone
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