[Faith-Talk] serving and connection

[bookwormahb at earthlink.net]

Hi all,
I'm responding to several posts and Andrew most of all.

Linda, right on! I like your advice to advocate and he needs to explain to
people.
Debbie, you had excellent advice to have him visit someone on his own who is
elderly. I wish I had thought of that. That should be easy to find. At
church or somewhere like at a library. Along those lines, if that nursing
home rejected you and said you had to have someone with you, why not try
somewhere else.
Judy offered to discuss off list and that was nice of her.
Sarah, nice advice too. As long as he has people do things for him, nothing
will change.
Andrew, I echo what Linda and Sarah said about advocacy. Tell them what you
need.
You wrote
" The problem with some places is rather then me finding my way around some
keep ansisting i need to get around with their help in quote un quote church
and stuff like that."

My response is, speak up if you have not already. Tell them something like,
"to get around here, please walk with me and give me directions. Let my cane
find things so I can feel where landmarks are. I have had training with a
cane and feel safe walking. I want to help out here, but first I need to
know my way like everyone else."
Just pray about things and set out to do something small and do it. If you
cannot do it one place, find something else. You might start by helping with
a youth group at the church if there is one. That is small and can be
inside. 
Lead a game like telephone or if you have braille playing cards, do a card
game with a small group.
You can lead auditory games on your own. Moving games like hide and seek are
harder to keep track of people. So, start with something small and where
kids or other participants are sedentary.

I have had rejection in attempting to do community service too, so I see
what Andrew means; it is discouraging. But just keep trying. 
I get excuses from nonprofit organizations often saying they are already
full for what I'm seeking to do; maybe its true, but maybe they are putting
me off. Not sure.
My church activity is okay; no one is discouraging but not encouraging
either; kind of neutral. 
I often feel lonely and like I'm the only low vision person trying to do
something and be involved and its discouraging. Keep looking though and
maybe create your own event at the church or community center if it does not
exist now.

Andrew, I have done a few bible studies on zoom and that went well. So
again, if transportation is an issue, try online groups. IF your church does
not have one, maybe offer to start one.
I'm happy to speak about the Bible studies I've done, but ask in a different
subject line your questions. I do not want to put too much in one email
thread.

Good luck. I'll also send out a list of articles that discuss blind people
serving and making connections with people in their community.

HTH,
Ashley


-----Original Message-----
From: Faith-Talk <faith-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org> On Behalf Of Linda Mentink
via Faith-Talk
Sent: Saturday, August 10, 2024 11:15 AM
To: Deborah via Faith-Talk <faith-talk at nfbnet.org>
Cc: Linda Mentink <lmentink7360 at gmail.com>
Subject: Re: [Faith-Talk] serving and connection

Hi Andrew,

Please allow me to make some observations and suggestions here.

One thing is that you are going a lot by your feelings. Feelings change and
are not reliable because they center on you. You are centering on you. It's
all about you. That's not good, and I'm guessing that people sense that in
you.

Others here have suggested that you reach out to blindness organizations in
Canada, and Joy has given you information. We've suggested that to you here
before, and you always have some excuse or other. As long as you make
excuses, you won't get anywhere.

You must take it to the Lord in prayer and ask Him to help you be more
confident in yourself and in the gifts He's given you. If you don't know
what those gifts are, then take an online test to find that out.

Meet with the church leadership for the purpose of informing them about your
skills and your desire to minister to others, whether that be in the actual
church service or somewhere else in the church's ministry.

Maybe you just need to move to a town or city where transportation is
available and where there are other blind people.

You come across here as a very needy individual, and your disabilities make
that seem worse. Therefore, people do not know how to help you, and maybe
they don't have a lot of time to devote to someone as needy as you. When
they are too helpful, just nicely explain what you need or don't need. As
blind people, we are always educating by what we say and how we act around
others. If you can learn to be more articulate rather than saying "and stuff
like that", that will go a long way in your figuring out a plan. As I said,
pray and seek the Lord. Then set one small goal that is doable. That done,
set another.

I hope something we've said here will help; but nothing will if you don't
make some changes!

Blessings,

Linda
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