Disabled

A story about a father with a deaf daughter was recently broadcasted on the radio and I followed the story with mixed emotions.  He spoke fondly of his daughter and made a few shocking (to me) statements.

He said that one of the teachers told him that in the 18 years she has taught at this specific school, that he is the second father she has come know who can sign to his daughter.

He also quoted a shocking percentage of parents that are able to sign / communicate to their deaf children.  Apparently only 2% of the deaf community knows Jesus or heard of him, and this is mainly due to the parent’s inability to communicate to them.

Both the churches and community are not equipped either!

It made me realise that not only does the children need to endure the inability to hear but also needs to endure the disability of their parents to communicate to them.  How do they get through life where their parents don’t communicate, share, ‘talk’ …. Or hear about Jesus?

Who is the abled and who is the disabled?

Jesus will not come if the Gospel has not been preached to everyone…  and often we only think of the remote villages in Africa or far away islands!

But I never thought of the unbelievers in my community with disabled children that never comes in contact with other people – what about them, how will they hear the Gospel?

People that do not know Jesus might not suffer from a physical disability but are spiritually disabled. And for that matter a lot of Christians are also spiritually disabled.

Who is the abled and who is the disabled?

When I look at my own life – I realised that even though I am a re-born Christian I have allowed the enemy in more than one way to disable me; through fear, unbelief, pride….

Disabled  =  restricted, hindered, immobilised, stopped, put out of action…

How ‘abled’ are you?