Imagine . . .

Imagine . . . children with special needs having Sunday school classes and rooms designed especially for them.

. . . parents of children with special needs having a place to connect, share, and help one another.

. . . everyone in the family being able to come to church and worship.

. . . parents using their gifts in the church while their children are in special care.

When Jodi and Jeremy Adrian’s third child, Elle, was born with Down’s Syndrome three years ago, their immediate response was that God had placed her in their family for a purpose and would bring something good out of it. Their new daughter, Jodi’s journal that day reflected, would give them “new ministry opportunities.”

Two years later, Imagine Ministries began at Willingdon Church, Burnaby, B.C., during the second and third Sunday services.

Jodi shared her vision for a ministry specifically for children with special needs with Robyn Dueck, then Willingdon’s children’s pastor. Robyn was immediately supportive and presented Jodi’s idea to the church board, where it was approved. The church then made it possible for Jodi to attend a conference geared for churches starting disabilities ministries, held at McLean Bible Church in Virginia.

The program at Willingdon began the next week. When Jodi showed a video about the ministry to the church and started recruiting volunteers, 40 answered her call to be interviewed. Twenty were chosen.

A classroom with developmental toys and crafts is set aside for Imagine Ministries. One-on-one buddies meet the children in the classroom, settle them, and then accompany them to their age-appropriate Sunday school class, integrating them with other children.

Once a month, the children with special needs stay together in their classroom and hear a Bible story with flannelgraphs, crafts, and songs appropriate to their level of understanding. Volunteers make the teaching interactive and interesting. The safe, secure, quiet, and familiar environment in church is a haven for the children.

“I want to be there for the parents, too,” says Jodi, “encouraging, supporting, and connecting them with other parents who have children with special needs. We can even send people from Bible study groups into the home to help. I also want to reassure new parents after their initial shock that these children have value and need to be cherished, and that God has created them just the way they are. Friends and family call me for advice on how to best support these parents.”

Imagine Ministries also plans special events for the children and their families. Jodi is busy arranging a spa day for the mothers in her program and in the wider neighbourhood, and says 50 volunteers from the church and community have come forward to help out.

Jodi has already been asked to advise another church on starting an “Imagine” ministry. The gift of their daughter has indeed been a gift to others as well.

Helen Rose Pauls attends Sardis Community Church, Chilliwack, B.C. See Imagine Ministries for more information; Jodi Adrian can be reached through email.