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Following David’s Example
Special Deeds
In 2 Samuel 9, David pledges to care for Jonathan’s crippled son Mephibosheth and invites him to eat at the royal table. Today, Mephibosheth Ministries extends similar love and care to hundreds of disabled children and adults in central Indiana.
The ministry launched in affiliation with Cicero (Indiana) Christian Church and became an independent nonprofit organization in 2001. Today the ministry’s staff and volunteers provide an adult program with opportunities to practice daily life skills, a “Genesis Enabling Garden” with landscaping features appealing to each of the senses, field trips, cooking classes, Bible studies, and summer camp programs.
Becky Moore, Mephibosheth’s executive director, looks forward to the ministry’s newest initiative: developing three duplexes in Cicero where higher-functioning adults can live semi-independently.
Adults participating in the program also lead worship at Cicero Christian on “Disability Awareness Sunday” in November and are encouraged to participate fully in the church’s weekly worship services and Sunday school classes.
“I have seen hearts and attitudes of our congregation change and embrace the people we serve,” Moore said in a recent interview with the Indianapolis Star. “We were finally a ‘complete’ church where all of God’s people come together to worship, because without our group, we were missing a vital part of the body of Christ.”
www.mm-abilities.org
Big Break
In 2004 CHRISTIAN STANDARD shared an article about the successful “Daybreak” ministry at Southeast Christian Church (Louisville, Kentucky). The program, offering single moms of all ages opportunities for encouragement and life skills training, continues to bless many women throughout Louisville. Now, Daybreak’s leaders have created a set of DVDs to help other churches reach their own single moms.
A Daybreak session includes time for instruction and relationship-building; each of the eight weekly gatherings offers training in skills like budgeting, goal-setting, and parenting followed by time for participants to meet with an encourager who provides guidance throughout the series.
The DVDs package each week’s teaching into 35-40 minute segments; the set also includes a student workbook and a coordinator’s guide.
Karen Aroh, Daybreak’s coordinator, hopes the “turnkey” nature of the DVDs will allow other churches to share the classroom information without having to reinvent the curriculum, but the segmented format also allows churches to mix and match the videos with live speakers.
“The DVDs include 14 topics,” Aroh says. “We recommend churches present two topics each night, then conclude with the one-on-one time that makes the program so powerful.”
To receive a free five-minute DVD sharing more information and testimonies from participants, or to order the complete set for $75, call (502) 253-8400.
The original feature on Daybreak is at www.christianstandard.com/pdfs/553.pdf.
www.southeastchristian.org
Jennifer Taylor, one of CHRISTIAN STANDARD's contributing editors, lives in Nashville, Tennessee.
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