[Faith-talk] some good news on church connection, for a change

[Justin Williams]

Well done. Outstandign.
 Justin 

-----Original Message-----
From: Faith-Talk [mailto:faith-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Christine Olivares via Faith-Talk
Sent: Thursday, October 6, 2016 12:27 AM
To: Faith-talk, for the discussion of Blindness in faith and religion <faith-talk at nfbnet.org>
Cc: Christine Olivares <rafael4490 at gmail.com>
Subject: Re: [Faith-talk] some good news on church connection, for a change

I attend the local Episcopal church and do the music ministry. No one ever tells me I can or cannot do anything. In fact, our priest already has referred congregants to me as I do massage therapy donation-based, even though she has never had one of my massages before. I didn’t know she was doing this until I was approached by a congregant.

Also, there is a man who goes to the church who has some mental and physical disabilities. He was kicked out of every church except this one. He is welcomed with open arms, and helps out with coffee hour every week. So yes, I would say our church does a great job with inclusivity.

Christine
> On Oct 5, 2016, at 10:52 PM, debby via Faith-Talk <faith-talk at nfbnet.org> wrote:
> 
> I was asked to teach third grade. I can't believe it still that Father Tom just out of the blue asked me. We are still scrambling to get all the materials and stuff, but I am enjoying it so much! You just never know when God will open a door. Just be ready to walk through it.    Blessings,    Debby
> 
> On Oct 5, 2016 9:36 AM, Sandra Streeter via Faith-Talk <faith-talk at nfbnet.org <mailto:faith-talk at nfbnet.org>> wrote:
>> 
>> I am on a bit of a pink, fluffy cloud when I think about assisting with my church yard sale this past weekend. I had my usual “bagging station”, where I was to hold open the flimsy shopping bags for customers while another worker put their stuff in, and that was fine, because I and everyone concerned have a track record for successfully serving customers. What was really cool, though, was cleaning up after: I went into the room where most of the clothing was hanging on racks and asked the coordinator if there was anything I could do, and she was a little reluctant: “Oh, just taking stuff off hangers,” and I said, “Well, like I said before, when you’ve been blind most of your life, you develop strategies...” (more on the previous conversation later). She gave in then, and I went immediately to task—at first, folding the items and putting them in large trash bags, and then she told the several of us that we could just toss them in without worrying about folding, and I grinned and went, “O-o-oh, NOW you tell us!” So, work went much quicker after that! But what really impressed me is, the coordinator had had a history of low confidence in recruiting me for stuff, and for general capability—like, when she had taken a chair away and said, “Don’t sit down, you won’t find anything there!”, and I already knew she had taken it away, so I made that comment about strategies, after saying, “Oh, I wasn’t going to sit, I knew the chair was gone.” So, I was pleasantly surprised that she eventually warmed up to the idea of my getting into more of the physical labor of dismantling the yard sale set-up. It restores my faith in humanity to get that kind of breath of fresh air once in a while. I’d love to hear about other incidents where you felt others really respected you in church and put you to task, even despite initial misgivings.
>> 
>> Sandra
>> "It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is 
>> essential is invisible to the eye." - Antoine de Saint-Exupery The 
>> Little Prince
>> 
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