God Values Everyone—Do We?

Helping my wife in her work with the disabled has taught both of us many lessons.

by Rex Sexton

Mission Possible is a Vancouver, Washington, employment agency for people with disabilities. My wife, Patricia, is the director. During the past 10 years she and her staff have placed hundreds of people with disabilities into paying jobs in the surrounding communities. They have served people who face every type of disability you could imagine. These include people with head injuries and amputations, the mobility- challenged and developmentally delayed, and those afflicted with every sort of dread disease and syndrome common today.

Recently the staff members hosted their monthly activity for disabled clients. This activity has grown in interest each month, and the attendance averages 60 with the interested parents who come along. The activities are designed to develop friendships and social skills. We often go for miniature golf, pizza and games, or bowling. The overwhelming favorite activity for this group is, believe it or not, karaoke! However, this time it was bowling.

The teens and young adults really enjoy bowling, and some are getting pretty good at it. They all understand that they’re a bit different from “normal people,” but they build a camaraderie as they spend time together.

Sometimes winning is everything

As it happened, Patty and a few others were bowling on the same alley as Jake (not his real name). Jake is blind, has cerebral palsy and is confined to a wheelchair. To bowl, others help him line up his wheelchair and tell him to throw the bowling ball forward down the lane. They use the alley with special inflatable bumpers in the gutters so that there are no gutter balls. The ball often bounces from side to side as it goes down the alley. Everyone cheers, and it’s great fun.

As they were playing, Jake was doing quite well. After seven frames his score was over 60 and he was leading the other four bowlers on his lane. Everyone was cheering for him and he was smiling. Patty bowled after Jake and rolled a strike (not normal for her, but with bumpers anything is possible!).

Read the full article at www.gnmagazine.org/issues/gn47/godvalues.htm

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