[rehab] A faith based rehabilitation center

[Lansaw,Jane (DARS)]

Hi RJ,
No, I haven't heard of a blindness orientation center  with a faith based philosophy.  However every center where I have either worked or been a consumer has encouraged consumers to celebrate their faith openly.  Staff tends to keep their faith low key, preferring to hear it expressed by consumers to assure that multiple faiths are accepted and that no one faith is marginalized.  In Texas we still openly say Christmas and Chonnuka but not in our paperwork.  Consumers are allowed to discuss Jesus and Allah openly in meetings.  Individually, I will use faith based beliefs to help students deal with blindness but only after the student has indicated a faith preference.  For instance, those who share my faith are encouraged to pray about their training and talk with God about their problems.  Though I'm not a Catholic I once encouraged such a student to talk to St. Christopher because he's supposed to be the patron saint of travelers.  Natural that  a travel teacher would feel some affinity to him.  That student insisted on talking to St. Anthony though because she was always lost.  Grin.  

I do believe God directs my work though and I'd like to think that comes through to students who have a good faith foundation of their own.  I never try to convert anyone.  Where appropriate, I do try to let people know that faith can help keep blindness from being the disabling characteristic it is perceived to be.  After all, God doesn't make mistakes and he made us.  He made NFB, Jacobus tenBroek and Louis Braille too.  I like to think he healed Bartemaous  not because he was blind but because he was there, and disabled by his blindness sufficiently to be a good example of God's power.  But that's just me.  I don't preach that to my students.  

Jane

-----Original Message-----
From: rehab [mailto:rehab-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of RJ Sandefur
Sent: Saturday, March 23, 2013 9:44 AM
To: Rehabilitation Counselor Mailing List
Subject: [rehab] A faith based rehabilitation center

Have any one of you heard of a faith based center for the blind? RJ _______________________________________________
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