[Faith-Talk] Serving in Church and Related Issues

[David Andrews]

We have members that are lots of different 
things, Democrats, Republicans, Christians, 
Moslems, Buddhists, gays, straights, men, women, 
black, white, Asian, liberal, conservative, 
moderate, and any5thing else you can think of. 
The one thing we all have in common is blindness! 
We don't want to exclude anybody, and if we start 
having too many factions in the NFB, we loose our power.

Dave

At 05:10 PM 11/7/2025, you wrote:
>Because why does the largest group of blind 
>folks on the planet have to hide away its 
>followers in Christ? A “not very active” 
>group could be a very well known & active group 
>if it were to be under NFB. It does indeed 
>matter how small a group can be because that in 
>itself means not enough of the blind community 
>are being made aware. Congrats on helping some 
>women out there but what about the majority of 
>both men & women nationwide? 200 in your area 
>sounds impressive, it honestly does, but what 
>about the 3000 that attend national convention 
>every July? And the other 3000 that weren’t 
>able to make it? Like I said, every soul in the 
>Coastal Bend Chapter that I was apart of really 
>wanted to attend, but no one was able to. 
>Wouldn’t Jesus want his name on a pamphlet at 
>our own Christianity table under the umbrella of 
>NFB? What is the Presidency so ashamed of? Why 
>are we forced to send emails like at some office 
>in the workplace? It’s saddens me. On Fri, Nov 
>7, 2025 at 4:02 PM Judy Jones 
><sonshines59 at gmail.com> wrote: > Ah, PJ, I 
>really like your idea of a Facebook group, for 
>blind Christians, > but why would it have to be 
>under the NFB umbrella, if the goal is 
>bringing > blind Christians together? > > Last 
>year, I started a Faith-Walk Influencers e-mail 
>group on groups.io. > Not very active, but is a 
>place where blind folks can talk about church 
>and > world issues as they relate to the church 
>and Bible. > > A few years ago, God was also 
>leading me to reach out to other women in > some 
>kind of ministry, and I ended up starting the 
>Skagit Women's Bible > Study And Fellowship page 
>and group  on Facebook. I wanted a place for > 
>women to go to learn about Christ if they had no 
>church home, or were > interested in making new 
>Christian friends, not to get them into a 
>church, > but to be a space outside the church 
>where they could still get Bible and > 
>fellowship. > > The group itself now is 198 
>women, and I've gotten to know some wonderful > 
>ladies. The actual studies themselves have been 
>quite small. We've had them > at my house or 
>I've scheduled a conference room at the town 
>library. Not > very many people post, yet it 
>does get likes, views, etc. I have led Bible > 
>studies, others have posted some, and I heard 
>from a new lady a few weeks > ago who is 
>housebound in another town in our county, yet 
>wanting to start > one. Two other ladies have 
>had studies as well. All of them small, but I > 
>told God this belonged to him, so doesn't matter 
>how large or how small, as > long as people are 
>being reached. > > > > > > sent from Judy's 
>Android braille tablet > > ----- Original 
>Message ----- > From: Pj Navarro via Faith-Talk 
><faith-talk at nfbnet.org> > Date: Friday, November 
>07, 2025 01:29 PM > To: "Faith-talk, for the 
>discussion of Blindness in faith and religion" 
>< > faith-talk at nfbnet.org> > CC: Pj Navarro 
><psnj16 at gmail.com> > Subject: Re: [Faith-Talk] 
>Serving in Church and Related Issues > > PJ 
>here, & the only reason I'm here is because 
>Norma Crosby introduced me > to you'all a couple 
>years ago after getting mad at me. Apparently 
>the main > reason we're all stuck in this 
>private conversation of back & forth emails > is 
>because we're not allowed to create a public 
>Facebook group for > Christians in the NFB, 
>which is what i tried to do. It was going to 
>be > a group where hundreds & even thousands can 
>benefit & be inspired by > faith-talk. Don't 
>you'all understand how misleading it is given 
>that my > own local NFB Chapter meetings are 
>held in a church called Love & Grace? In > the 
>beginning of last year, after being elected a 
>board member for the > Coastal Bend Chapter over 
>here in Corpus Christi, Texas, I ended up just > 
>leaving the group soon after due to poor 
>leadership & the small group's > lack of 
>enthusiasm. Not to mention I was continuously 
>excluded from the > messages but that's besides 
>the point. The main point is I tried my best 
>to > fix what's broken in the NFB Andrew, but 
>maybe you have something I lack, > use your 
>perseverance & succeed where I failed. > PS- I 
>tried attending the local White Cane Day March 
>for Independence last > month, yet upon my 
>arrival, why was I not surprised to learn that 
>it was > cancelled on the spot? >  PPS- The main 
>thing our chapter has done was fundraise for 
>everyone's > attendance at national convention, 
>but even with all that money, even my > 
>donations of over $350, not a single member has 
>been able to attend for > years! All of you say 
>we're not forgotten, BUT SOME OF US MOST 
>CERTAINLY > HAVE BEEN! > For Shame, > > On Fri, 
>Nov 7, 2025 at 2:41 PM andrew edgcumbe via 
>Faith-Talk < > faith-talk at nfbnet.org> wrote: > > 
>Hi all > > The other thing is what if those 
>particular churches don't support maybe > > 
>support is the wrong word though but what if  i 
>could say it generally > but > > i am keeping it 
>faith based for this groups sake but  most 
>sighted people > > or pastors or people in 
>leadership may side line blind people and how 
>can > > we show pastors we can do stuff because 
>lets say somebody isn't given > those > > 
>chances to even try and try over and over 
>again. > > Why and i am being kind of whatever 
>don't we have articles describing > what > > 
>blind people can do for or relate to faith 
>community. > > Also there should be you tubes we 
>could send to pastors yes we can > advocate > > 
>all day all we want and not get anywhere. > > 
>Sooner or later NFB if they are aware of these 
>issues and yes churches or > > whatever it is or 
>community  NFB needs to come up with documents > 
>explaining > > or even you tube footage to show 
>churches that we can do things. > > Why isn't 
>more of that stuff being done  in faith based 
>settings or for > > faith based 
>settings. > > > > What if an blind individual 
>doesn't have the tools to work through those > > 
>things by themselves when it comes to 
>churches. > > It is a running theme and we need 
>to think of a way as a collective body > to > > 
>deal with this or things won't get better If we 
>want the better world for > > christians or 
>blind people there needs to be more consistancy 
>and some > > faith based programs that can teach 
>blind people how to minister and how > to > > 
>whatever I am not talking about jobs here i am 
>just talking about > > vollunteer 
>opportunities. > > What good are we doing as an 
>orginization if we don't offer support to > 
>the > > blind population more needs to be done 
>then just say to them go advocate > > some may 
>not have experience some may not be the most 
>experienced blind > > person from a christian 
>point of view. > > After all churches have 
>caused allot of hurt when it comes to 
>disabled > > people.  there is plenty of 
>articles online about even just disability > > 
>people in churches. > > Mom has looked up stuff 
>along those lines because even my Mom has 
>been > > trying to help in find out things 
>to. > > > > Because pastors and ministry leaders 
>in my opinion should get trained on > > 
>disability and blindness that is how I 
>feel. > > > > We need to come up with resources 
>specifficaly for churches to help them > be > > 
>able to serve disabled or blind people that is 
>the opinion I have about > > that. > > > > > > 
>On Fri, Nov 7, 2025 at 3:03 PM Chris Nusbaum 
>via Faith-Talk < > > faith-talk at nfbnet.org> 
>wrote: > > > > > Dear 
>Friends: > > > > > > > > > > > > I have been 
>following with equal parts interest and concern 
>the thread > > > started yesterday by Andrew and 
>PJ, which now contains contributions > 
>from > > > several people who share widely 
>varying perspectives on ministry, the > > > 
>Church > > > (big C and little c), and even 
>faith as a whole. In some ways there is > > 
>too > > > much here to respond to in one 
>message, but I'll try to distill my > > 
>thoughts > > > into something that makes 
>sense. > > > > > > > > > > > > Let me first 
>address Andrew and PJ directly. Andrew, I think 
>you have > > > brought up a problem that far too 
>many of us can relate to. In fact, it > > 
>may > > > be true that there are more blind 
>people who have struggled to be > > 
>accepted > > > in a church than those who have 
>easily been accepted in one. Perhaps > > 
>there > > > are even more blind Christians 
>without a church home than with one. I > > 
>don't > > > know if this is also true of other 
>faiths, but I wouldn't be surprised. > > 
>To > > > my knowledge, no one has done a study 
>on this to come up with any > factual > > > 
>statistics, so anything I say on the subject 
>would be my own > speculation. > > > Either way, 
>it's a theme that comes up frequently on this 
>list, and we > > have > > > had at least 2 panel 
>discussions about it at recent meetings of the 
>NFB > > > Blind Christians Group at our national 
>convention. Furthermore, the > > > underlying 
>purpose of the call we hosted last year with the 
>Prayer and > > > Crisis Referral Network was to 
>introduce our members and friends to a > > > 
>ministry that is already interested in including 
>blind people and is a > > > perfect fit for 
>those who are having trouble finding their place 
>in a > > > church. The same is true of the Phone 
>Faith ministry previously > mentioned > > > 
>in > > > this thread, which I haven't 
>participated in yet but which I probably > > 
>will > > > call into soon now that I've heard 
>more about it. I say all this to > make > > > 
>the > > > point, Andrew and PJ, that you are not 
>alone-not by a long shot. In > > fact, I > > > 
>believe the great challenge for blind people in 
>communities of faith is > > how > > > to balance 
>our desire to be included as equals with our 
>need to > advocate > > > for > > > the 
>accommodations we require. This list, as well as 
>the faith-based > > groups > > > of the 
>Federation, exist as a space where those 
>challenges can be > brought > > > into the open 
>and solutions can be 
>developed. > > > > > > > > > > > > Now that I've 
>addressed the problem, let's see if I can 
>suggest a > > solution > > > or two. Back in 
>2015, I wrote an article for Future Reflections 
>(NFB's > > > magazine for parents and teachers 
>of blind children) titled "Finding My > > > 
>Niche." Since its main focus was after-school 
>extracurricular > > activities, I > > > won't 
>quote it or link to it here; you can look it up 
>if you want to > read > > > it. But the main 
>point of the article applies as much to church 
>life as > > it > > > does to after-school life: 
>If our goal is to be included in the wider > > > 
>community, the first step is to find our 
>niche-the part of that > community > > > that 
>fits our talents and interests. I got involved 
>in the NFB during > > > middle > > > school and 
>became more involved in student leadership as I 
>went through > > > high > > > school and 
>college, partly because I had trouble finding a 
>place in the > > > clubs sponsored by the 
>school, even in the music-related activities > 
>that > > > should have been where I belonged. As 
>I progressed through college, > > > 
>however, > > > I was blessed to find more 
>acceptance in certain small groups there, > 
>and > > > made friends within those groups. I 
>was also in another state, so I > > wasn't > > > 
>as involved in NFB. Now I'm working and have 
>lived in 2 more states, > > > finally > > > 
>coming back to my home state of Maryland. I have 
>been in a variety of > > > churches, sometimes 
>finding a niche, sometimes not. But I'm now back 
>in > > NFB > > > again at various levels. So, 
>apparently, the blind community is my > > > 
>niche-or, > > > at least, one of 
>them. > > > > > > > > > > > > The same, I think, 
>is true of a church. Most churches have many > > 
>ministries > > > and multiple small groups and 
>Bible studies. So, I urge you to try one > > 
>out. > > > If it doesn't work, try another, and 
>another, and so on. Eventually, > you > > > will 
>find your niche. Like any leader, the pastor 
>does not lead a > church > > > alone, nor is it 
>the pastor's responsibility to find a place 
>where each > > > member belongs. The pastor can 
>provide support and solve problems among > > > 
>members, but ultimately one's involvement in a 
>ministry is between that > > > person and the 
>ministry's leadership. So, I urge you: Keep 
>trying until > > you > > > find your niche, even 
>when it gets discouraging (notice I said when, > 
>not > > > if). If it's not at one church, it may 
>be at another. Or it may be on > the > > > 
>Prayer Line (shameless plug), in our Christians 
>Group, or in some other > > > virtual ministry. 
>Whatever it is, as you pray for discernment and 
>keep > > > trying, I believe you will eventually 
>find it. > > > > > > > > > > > > Finally, I want 
>to try to lovingly and prayerfully address 
>the > > expressions > > > of depression 
>expressed in this thread. First, as a brother in 
>Christ > and > > > as > > > a fellow member of 
>our blind community, I'm incredibly sorry to 
>hear > that > > > you are going through this, 
>and my prayers are with you. I also note > 
>that > > > this depression has been solely 
>attributed to the struggles with > church, > > 
>as > > > if your challenges in gaining 
>acceptance in a faith community defines > > 
>your > > > life. If you really feel that you are 
>a "failure," that God has > > "forgotten" > > > 
>you, I wonder if that depression really goes 
>deeper than that. I'll > just > > > leave that 
>there for you to think and pray on. Let me also 
>commend to > you > > > these lyrics from an 
>inspiring contemporary Christian 
>song: > > > > > > > > > > > > "The truth is I am 
>my Father's child. > > > > > > I make Him proud 
>and I make Him smile. > > > > > > I was made in 
>the image of a perfect King, > > > > > > He 
>looks at me and wouldn't change a 
>thing. > > > > > > The truth is I am truly loved 
>by a God who's good when I'm not good > > 
>enough. > > > > > > I don't belong to the lies, 
>I belong to You. > > > > > > And that's the 
>truth." -Megan Woods > > > > > > > > > > > > I 
>have probably gone on too long already, but all 
>of this has been > > weighing > > > heavily on 
>my heart, and I'm grateful for this platform 
>which allows me > > to > > > share it. Thank you 
>all for sharing your hearts with 
>us. > > > > > > > > > > > > With prayers that 
>the "peace that passes all understanding" will 
>remain > > > with > > > each of 
>us, > > > > > > > > > > > > 
>Chris > > > > > > > > > > > > Christopher A. 
>Nusbaum > > > > > > Assistive Technology Trainer 
>for Blind/Low-vision Students and 
>Adults > > > > > > Board Member, Assistive 
>Technology Trainers Division, National > 
>Federation > > > of > > > the Blind > > > > > > 
>Cell: (443) 547-2409 > > > > > > Work: (443) 
>487-6262 > > > > > > Personal 
>email:  <mailto:cnusbaumnfb at gmail.com> 
>cnusbaumnfb at gmail.com > > > > > > Work email: 
>canaccesssolutions at gmail.com > > > 
><mailto:canaccesssolutions at gmail.com>  or 
>cnusbaum at ais-llc.com > > > > > > 
><https://www.linkedin.com/in/chris-nusbaum-274384136> 
>LinkedIn > > > > > > Schedule a meeting with me 
><https://fantastical.app/cnusbaum/cas> > > > > >  
> > > > > > > > "For I know the plans I have for 
>you, declares the Lord. Plans to help > > 
>you > > > and not to harm you; plans to give you 
>a hope and a future." -Jeremiah > > > 
>29:11 > > > > > > > > > > > > 
>_______________________________________________ > 
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