[nabs-l] having a hard time fitting in at church

Littlefield, Tyler tyler at tysdomain.com
Thu Sep 20 17:08:25 UTC 2012


This article, by far is not what you want people to see. If you want to 
fit in, go make friends. But the tone of this article seems to look upon 
us "pitiful souls" as helpless, people those who are "blessed" by god to 
be "normal," in other words, who should feel sorry for us.
On 9/20/2012 10:44 AM, Andrew Edgcumbe wrote:
> hear is an article that would lend into this thread.
>                              Throw Away Christians
>
>
>                                 By Phil Scovell
>
>
>
>
>            I have discovered a  class, or group, of people, born  again they
>       are,  members of the  Body of Christ,  yet the church  has thrown them
>       away.  Strangely  enough, I have learned  how much God loves  each and
>       every one of these throw away Christians.  It goes without saying, but
>       I  will say it  any way, Jesus  died for them,  shedding His blood for
>       their sins, and was bodily resurrected for them, too.
>
>            These special  groups cover a  wide range of personalities  and a
>       variety  of physical  conditions.   Some are  in wheelchairs  for whom
>       ramps are conveniently constructed in order to get these pitiful souls
>       up and  into the  church building.   Unfortunately, for  these people,
>       none of  the bathrooms have  been modified to handle  wheelchairs, So,
>       extra faith  is required of  these folk to  hold it for  several hours
>       until they get back home or to wherever they live.  These special folk
>       are  such a blessing to the  church, too.  It  makes you thankful that
>       you aren't in a wheelchair.
>
>            Another category of  these special Christians with  special needs
>       are  hard of  hearing.   Little,  if  any, regard  is  given to  their
>       inability to hear through the Public Address system to accommodate the
>       hearing loss these  people have  nor have  any special  accommodations
>       been made to  the amplification system which would allow  them to wear
>       earphones or to even plug in to the system, if using implants, so they
>       could hear better.
>
>            If you are totally deaf, on the other hand, you are in luck.  The
>       larger ministries  have taught sign  language and so the  services are
>       then translated for  the deaf.  If you  so happen to wish  to attend a
>       church without  a translator, then you  are out of luck.   The hard of
>       hearing, and the totally deaf, are such a blessing to the church, too.
>       It makes you thank the Lord for your own hearing ability.
>
>            The elderly have their own Sunday school class.  This is nice, of
>       course, because then  all those  that the  church brings  in from  the
>       nearby nursing home can sit in their own class  without disturbing the
>       mainstream  body of  believers.   Especially if  they smell  funny and
>       those bussed  in from the  nearby nursing home  always do.   Yet, even
>       these elderly people are such a blessing to  the church.  It makes you
>       thankful for the youth we have.
>
>            This  special class and seating arrangement in the church service
>       for the elderly is  very much like Sunday school for  the children, of
>       course, so it  seems logically that the  elderly would have  their own
>       class where they  won't be a bother  to others.  These  same children,
>       since  they are  so disruptive, have  junior church  immediately after
>       Sunday school.   This is their own little church they have while their
>       parents are out in the auditorium having their big church service.  In
>       this way, church workers, who never  get to sit in on a  Sunday school
>       class or church service, get to teach the children for a good three or
>       four hours each Sunday.
>
>            Although it  is rare, some  of the mega churches  have discovered
>       blind people read  Braille instead of print.  Since blind people don't
>       need to see,  their little group of eight  or ten sit on  the back row
>       where those ungodly large Braille hymn books  are easily stored.  This
>       has really brought the blind community together, we are  told, and the
>       church is able  to minister to them  better when they are  all grouped
>       together.     Additionally,  there  is  the   added  blessing  of  the
>       camaraderie which occurs among these,  to be pitied of all handicapped
>       peoples, just because they are now grouped  together.  They are such a
>       blessing and encouragement  to the rest of the church as they sit back
>       on the back  roe with the large  Braille song books and  singing right
>       along with the rest  of the church.  It makes  you thankful you aren't
>       blind.
>
>            Closely related to the blind group of special Christians, are the
>       Path Finders group.   These are the mentally retarded bussed in from a
>       local care  home.   This group also  gets to  sit in  the back of  the
>       church because  they often  become disruptive  during the service  and
>       have to be  taken out by the  special workers.  Thank the  Lord we are
>       not like them and have mental normality.
>
>            Finally,  there  is a  silent  group  of  people who  rarely  are
>       considered.  They don't have their own special hymn books nor are they
>       assigned a  special place  to sit in  the service.   Furthermore, they
>       have no special Sunday school class of their own to attend.  We notice
>       their tears they often  shed during the preaching and teaching  of the
>       Word  but we just figure  they are being  moved by the  Holy Spirit to
>       tears.   We would  never once consider  that something  else might  be
>       wrong.
>
>            We have  also noticed  that this silent  group of  unnamed people
>       often are going forward during  the altar call for specialized prayer.
>       Again, we have  no idea why  but just assume  they have tender  hearts
>       toward the Lord.  We have heard they have some special problems but we
>       have never  talked to  them, other than  to say  hello when  coming or
>       going to the church,  and they look like people who  prefer being left
>       alone anyhow.
>
>            Eventually, your curiosity  gets the best of you  and you ask one
>       of the church  leaders who this silent  group of people are.   You are
>       told that this group has been unofficially classified by the church as
>       "those to whom only the professionals can handle."
>
>       I could continue  with other segments  of society but you  likely have
>       gotten the picture by now.
>
>            Scattered throughout these  various groups, are little  girls who
>       have  been  molested  or  raped  by  family  members  or  friends  and
>       relatives.  Little boys can also be found in  the church who have been
>       sodomized  but as is  the case with  the little girls,  they have been
>       threatened or ignored if they did tell someone about it.  Now, most of
>       those children  are adults.  Some  in this silent group  have suffered
>       from  traumatic   childhood  experiences  and   although  they   daily
>       experience anxiety and  panic attacks, they  have no understanding  of
>       the nature of  the cross they must  carry.  When seeking  counsel from
>       leaders of the church, they  often are referred to "The Professionals"
>       and told they will be placed on the church prayer list.
>
>            Some of these  people suffering from various  forms of depression
>       have  ungodly  nightmares  the would  frighten  the  average Christian
>       beyond emotional stability.   Others cry themselves to  sleep at night
>       because of  the sadness  that tries  to crush  the life  out of  them.
>       Others,  although they  would never  admit such  to anyone,  even hear
>       voices.  Some have not only considered suicide but attempted it.  They
>       never told anyone why they were missing from church for the last three
>       weeks and no one noticed anyhow.  Some of these people in this special
>       silent group, are  told they are in  advanced stages of  emotional and
>       mental  illness.   This group  are  on medications  for sleep  because
>       otherwise they are awake all night.  Others are on antidepressants and
>       antianxiety medications  for  their  depression.   Some  are  on  even
>       stronger  medications  classified  as psychotic  or  psychotropic mind
>       altering  drugs.    These  are  the more  mentally  ill  people,  who,
>       amazingly enough, seem to function  in life relatively normally as far
>       as anyone can  tell.  Holding down  a job, caring for  their families,
>       driving a car, mowing their grass, reading their Bible, serving in the
>       church,  and other  activities  that seem  perfectly  normal, are  all
>       conducted  by these silently hurting  people.  If  people knew, on the
>       other hand, they had done as the church leadership had recommended and
>       gone  to  "The  Professionals"  with  their  problems,  and  were  now
>       diagnosed with  Posttraumatic Stress  Disorder, or  with schizophrenia
>       tendencies, or told  they have Obsessive Compulsive  disorder, General
>       Anxiety   Disorder,  or  they   are  clinically  depressed   or  manic
>       depressive, or  if they have been tested and  found to be bipolar, or,
>       as is  the case  for some  who have  been brave  enough to tell  their
>       doctor that  they heard voices  and now  have been determined  to have
>       Dissociative  Identity Disorder, which  is multiple personalities, the
>       church wouldn't  come near  them.   Well,  they don't  come near  them
>       anyway.   These silently hurting  people are throw aways,  right along
>       with many others, for whom the church chooses not to minister.
>
>            My ministry, on the other hand, is  to these silently hurting and
>       forgotten people.  I pastor them and pray with them.  I  cry for them,
>       making myself available  for them  24-7 and  pray for them  on my  own
>       times alone with  the Lord.  They  call me in the middle  of the night
>       and get me out of bed because they  are afraid.  They call me when I'm
>       eating my breakfast or lunch or supper and I talk to them as they  cry
>       and  tell  me  how frightened  they  are  and how  they  want  to kill
>       themselves.  They  call me as I  listen to my favorite  football games
>       which I  turn off to talk  and pray with them.   Sometimes, those with
>       multiple personalities, call.  It isn't uncommon in such cases for the
>       frightened  alternate personality to  actually do  the calling.   when
>       they call, I  talk to them until  they become peaceful.   Sometimes an
>       alternate personality  emails me.   I email them  back and  attempt to
>       comfort them.   I schedule  regular appointments of prayer  times with
>       them so the Lord can  continue to reach into  their lives of fear  and
>       guilt and shame and loneliness and anxiety and pain to heal them.
>
>            How long do I continue to minister to them?  Until they are whole
>       and healed from everything.   Is that possible?  If it is not, you are
>       serving the wrong  God.  Aren't these  people crazy people?   No, they
>       are hurting people whom  the Lord not only wants  to heal but can  and
>       does.
>
>            If you are  one of the suffering silent  people and need ministry
>       because  you have no one to whom you can  turn, call me.  If you are a
>       pastor and need ministry, call me.  If you are a pastor's wife and are
>       trapped by fear  and there's no  one to tell, call  me.  If you  are a
>       pastor or missionary  or church leader, and find  yourself addicted to
>       pornography, call  me.   If you  are a mixed  up confused  mom who  is
>       hearing voices in  your head and you  want to kill yourself,  call me.
>       If  you are depressed, call me.  If  you've been raped or molested and
>       can't  seem to find  comfort after all  these years, call  me.  Having
>       marital problems?   Call me.  If  you are sexually confused,  call me.
>       If you  have nightmares, if  you are suicidal, or  if you've attempted
>       suicide, call me.   If you've lost a  loved one and the  grief is over
>       powering and it just doesn't get  any better, call me.  If you  are an
>       obsessive compulsive, call me.  If you have committed the unpardonable
>       sin, call  me.  If  you doubt your  salvation, call  me.  If  you have
>       become involved in an affair, call me.  If you are a throw away,  call
>       me.
>
>            No,  I am not a professional but as an intercessor, I know how to
>       pray and The True Lord Jesus  Christ still knows how to heal.   If, on
>       the  other hand,  you require  professional help,  by all  means, find
>       someone to help you make the right medical decisions.
>
>
>       Safe Place Fellowship
>       Phil Scovell
>       Denver, Colorado USA
>       Mountain Time Zone
>       WWW.SafePlaceFellowship.COM
>
>
> On 9/20/12, Sarah <coastergirl92 at gmail.com> wrote:
>> That sounds like a horrible discriminating church if you ask me.
>>
>>   ----- Original Message -----
>> From: Lavonya Gardner <hotdancer1416 at gmail.com
>> To: National Association of Blind Students mailing list
>> <nabs-l at nfbnet.org
>> Date sent: Thu, 20 Sep 2012 08:16:44 -0400
>> Subject: Re: [nabs-l] having a hard time fitting in at church
>>
>> I was told that I  wasn't fowling gods word because I couldn't
>> talk.  And my sensory input is way, causing me to scream if
>> things r too bright, loud, or if touched.  Or handle any change.
>> They thought I was dumb.  They also thought  that I was cursing
>> them out, when I would make sounds or sign, and that my blindness
>> was my punishment for not letting them touch me.
>>
>> Sent from my iPad
>>
>> On Sep 19, 2012, at 16:49, Sophie Trist
>> <sweetpeareader at gmail.com> wrote:
>>
>>   How can they throw you out of a church just because you're
>> autistic? Sounds like discrimination to me!
>>
>>   ----- Original Message -----
>>   From: Lavonya Gardner <hotdancer1416 at gmail.com
>>   To: National Association of Blind Students mailing list
>> <nabs-l at nfbnet.org
>>   Date sent: Wed, 19 Sep 2012 15:16:55 -0400
>>   Subject: Re: [nabs-l] having a hard time fitting in at church
>>
>>   I have been thrown out of 25 churches, due to my autism.  They
>> seem to be fine with me being blind, but autism was not.  So now
>> I attend 2 churches.  1 of them has sometimes 15 blind people at
>> a time.  At the other church, I am the only blind person? I am on
>> the dance team.  I still do not fit in, but I do try to do ad
>> much ad I can, and try and be ne'er people with my interests.
>> Have you tried finding people to talk to that have your
>> interests?
>>
>>   Sent from my iPad
>>
>>   On Sep 19, 2012, at 10:49, Andrew Edgcumbe
>> <andrewjedg at gmail.com> wrote:
>>
>>   Hi nabs students readers
>>
>>   I hope you all are doing well.
>>
>>
>>   Anyway
>>   I am struggling with fitting in at my church and things.
>>
>>   I  been having a hard time finding friends to talk to there and
>> things.
>>
>>   They all seem to talk to each other and just walk away from me
>> and things.
>>   every time after the service is over they just talk to each
>> other's
>>   friends and i am not really talked to much at all i am often
>> left
>>   sitting alone sometimes they walk out of the church pew all
>> together
>>   and things i get left behind allot i don't get included in going
>> out
>>   to lunch and things like that.
>>
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-- 
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Ty
http://tds-solutions.net
The aspen project: a barebones light-weight mud engine:
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He that will not reason is a bigot; he that cannot reason is a fool; he that dares not reason is a slave.





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