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View pointView pointView pointView pointView pointAddressing Disability ina Healing and Reconciling Community

In focusIn focusIn focusIn focusIn focusDisability from the View of Purity

A Letter from Athensto the Christian Churches, Networks andCommunities

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EDAN is a quaterly publication of the WCC programme on persons withdisabilities within the Justice and Peace Creation Team. Issues and viewsin this publication are opinions held by the members and contributors ad

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This issue of our Newsletter is mainly dedicated to thesubject of healing. When healing is seen in the light ofthe Gospel stories and persons with disabilities, whatcomes to mind is the idea of the cure of the personfrom his or her impairment, a very controversial issuein the modern society and one that largely has hadserious negative effects in the relationship betweenpersons with disabilities and the church. A largesection of the population of persons with disabilitieshas a very different viewpoint on this subject of healing.They separate diseases with disability where disabilityis seen as a state of being that one has throughexperience, training and rehabilitation adjusted to. Thisstate of being only raises problems when the societyfails to recognize it as part of the human diversity andinstead creates barriers that impose suffering, negrectand in the extreme cases outright discrimination. Thereis, in this viewpoint therefore no relationship betweenhealing and disability in the way it is seen in the Gospelstories. Healing is instead seen in the light of healthcare, which is a major concern for all peopleirrespective of whether or not they have a disability.

One main concern on the part of persons withdisabilities is the way the society tends to view or treatthose who are “different”. Those with impairment areseen not only as deviants but also as less worth. Theyremain at the exterior end when it comes to provisionof services including health care which is even morenecessary to prevent further weaknesses in additionto those already imposed by the permanent state ofbeing. Worse still, persons with disabilities are rarelyseen as contributors in the welfare of the generalsociety. They are seen as a health burden and as suchkept out of the mainstream effort towards the searchfor health care for all.

I was recently invited to participate at the People’sHealth Movement (PHM) Assembly in Cuenca,Equador where the main theme was “Health as a

human right”. PHM is an International advocacynetwork which campaigns for health for all in the spiritof the UN Alma-ata declaration of 1978 on health forall by 2000. The lobby is very aggressive in itscampaign for among other reasons the fact thatinstead of the achievement of health for all by 2000,what has been experienced from 1978 to dateespecially in the developing countries was a seriousloss of the gains of the 1970’s and 1980’s. This wasbecause of the debt burdens and the co modificationof health brought about by economic globalizationand the World Bank and IMF structural adjustmentprogrammes which called for cuts in the socialspending including health. Brain drain has beenanother major setback where doctors and nursestrained by these countries under very difficulteconomic situation have been migrating from Southto the North in large numbers for economic reasons.

I was requested to address one of the Workshops onBarriers to right to health for persons with disabilitiesin developing countries. At first, I wondered what Iwould say in this respect amidst the most depressivegeneral health situation as presented by the People’sHealth Movement. However, on reflecting on this andrealizing that even the rich North has their own shareof looming health care problems mostly related to thequestion of privatization with serious repercussion onthe most vulnerable section of the society within whichmost persons with disabilities are found, it dawned onme that whether we are talking about the rich north orthe deprived south, different states are and will for along time remain at different levels in their health careservices. Whatever the level in which any country is,we need to ensure that persons with disabilities arecatered for on equitable basis with the rest of the

HealingHealingHealingHealingHealingandHealth……



society. Their unique vulnerability and poor economicstatus should not be used as a measure of there worthand therefore determinant for service provision. Inorder for this equalization of opportunity in accordanceto needs and not perceived worth to take place, certainmeasures will need to be put into action.

In the first place, it will be necessary to put into placelegislations, policies and practice in health provisionwhich will be sensitive to the presence of persons withdisabilities in the society and which will consider themin the planning, delivery and monitoring of theservices. Such measures may need to includeenforcement of a code of ethics for public and privatehealth care providers to promote health care withopenness and respect to human rights and dignity of

persons with disabilities. This may seem an illusionespecially when you consider that in the majority ofthe countries of the South, the general population islargely not provided for in terms of health care. Sincepersons with disabilities are normally considered lastfor any service, their situation is very grave especiallywhere public health services have collapsed owing tothe cuts in social spending conditions imposed bythe World Bank and IMF. Health care services in thesesituations have been left in the private hands as acommodity that has to be paid for individually by thoseable to do so. Being the poorest of the poor, personswith disabilities are largely outside the economic circleof those able to pay. PHM in its advocacy role on healthas a human right is saying no to this exclusion. Theidea of “people” to them includes all, able-bodied anddisabled alike. All need to receive services inaccordance to their needs. This approach gives hopethat in organized societies, order needs to prevail. Thisorder can only be achieved through legislations andpolicies on the basis of which planning and delivery ofservices can follow.

Provision of health services will need to put in toconsideration the fact that whereas a good number ofpersons with disabilities will require services that areno different from those required by the general society,there will be a section of them that will needspecialized and sometimes continuous services owingto the nature of their disabilities. Unfortunately, thissection will also be the least able in as far as payingfor such services is concerned. Whether health servicesare privatized or not, Governments will need to bearthe responsibility of such people on the understandingthat they too have a right to live and to live acomfortable life. PHM Assembly had examples of suchpeople from some of the most developed countrieswhere health care is privatized through insurancecompanies which do not accept such people and this

has led to a lot of suffering. Thiswas an indication that this is notjust a problem of the poorcountries of the South. It is aproblem that will need to beaddressed globally.

It is a fact that development ofhealth care facilities in mostdeveloping countries fall far shortof the growing population. Thesefacilities remain far and wideapart and people have to treklong distances to get to them.Although community action inmany places is addressing this

concern through primary health care, access bothphysical and communication has remained a majorsetback to the provision of their services to personswith disabilities. There are neither respite places wherethose in need could go or counseling services thatwould help these people who are largely lacking inexposure to understand themselves and their healthneeds. Many of their organizations are very weak toprovide possibilities of support groups. It will be veryuseful if the development of health care services putsthese concerns into consideration.

Another observation is that the low numbers of healthcare personnel in these scarce health facilities is largelyoverworked, more often inadequately trained anddemotivated in their work. This has made themindifferent to unique health problems which theycannot immediately address within their limited meansor time. The result has been insensitive attitudesespecially on problems that they feel could be avoided.An example of such insensitive consideration has beennoted in such services as reproductive health care for

Being the poorestof the poor,persons withdisabilities arelargely outsidethe economiccircle of thoseable to pay.

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ADDRESSING DISABILITY IN AHEALING AND RECONCILING

COMMUNITY

This presentation is made within the overalltheme of CWME, which is “Called in Christ tobe reconciling and healing communities”.The emphasis of the plenary is on“community. And the way community life mayor may not have healing and reconcilingquality and effect. I have attempted to explorethis in the light of persons with disabilities inthe contemporary church and society.

The terms “healing” and “reconciling” are all socommon to us especially in the ecumenical fraternityto the extent that it is assumed that they mean thesame and evoke the same positive feelings to all ofus. This is certainly not the case. To the people of SouthAfrica to whom apartheid is still flesh in their memory,and to the peoples of the Sudan who are just emergingout of many years of conflicts that has brought abouta lot of suffering, the terms will have an understandingof bringing hope and sense of creating harmony withneighbors that were once enemies. In societies which


Presentation by Samuel Kabue at the CWME, Athens, GreecePresentation by Samuel Kabue at the CWME, Athens, GreecePresentation by Samuel Kabue at the CWME, Athens, GreecePresentation by Samuel Kabue at the CWME, Athens, GreecePresentation by Samuel Kabue at the CWME, Athens, Greece1111111111ththththth May 2005. May 2005. May 2005. May 2005. May 2005.

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are still hopelessly torn apart by armed conflicts anddominated by the experience of death and suffering,the terms will have no meaning and their use will beconsidered as consistent reminder of the suffering.Even among persons with disabilities in the churchand society, the terms will have very different meaningand experience depending on the circumstances ofdifferent individuals.

As the WCC Interim Statement “A Church of All and forall” rightly points, “No social group is ever the same,and disabled people are no exception to the rule. Wecome from a variety of cultures, and are thus culturallyconditioned in the same manner as every person. Wehave experienced different kinds and levels of medicalcare and differing social attitudes. We have come to

an acceptance of our disabilities by diverse routes.Some of us have been disabled since birth, either bycongenital conditions or by the trauma of birth itself,whilst others have been victims of accidents or havehad disabilities develop later in life.” This makes thetwo terms have very different meaning to differentindividuals contrary to the common view of the societyas observed in the statement that “In the case ofdisability, it is often assumed that healing is either toeradicate the problem as if it were a contagious virus,or that it promotes virtuous suffering or a means toinduce greater faith in God.”

If your disability is as a result of sickness or accident,the term healing come with the yearning and hope forrecovery for as long as you have not accepted that asa new condition in your life. To those who have beendisabled since birth and have gone through thenecessary processes of adjustment, the term healinghas little to do with their disabilities until others remindthem of this understanding. To them, disability andsickness are two very different things and healingapplies to sickness and not to disability.

persons with disabilities. Closely related to this,there is an outcry on the part of persons withdisabilities whether in developing or developedcountries over medical interventions which arecarried out on them without either knowledge,information or consent. This has at times extendedto such practices as forced steralization,amputations and implants carried out on peopleon the pretext that the medical professionals knowbest what is good for the patience. People withdisabilities like all other people have rights to theirbodies and anything done on them will kneed tobe done on their knowledge and consent.

Finally, PHM is calling on the collective action ofall sectors of the society towards a campaign for

health as a human right.Although the language of“right” may not be common inthe church, the church is aninevitable partner in acampaign on health for all.This is especially so when oneconsiders that in some of thedeveloping countries, over 40percent of health care servicesand facilities are initiated,financed, run and managedby the church. It cannottherefore be left out in anydiscussions on legislations

and policies that have to do with the health sector.The inclusive nature of the church gives it acomparative advantage in advocacy for those withspecific health needs and are marginalized in thesociety of whom the most seriously affected arepersons with disabilities. At the same time, it is afact that globalization with its social andeconomic consequences in the world is affectingthe churches financial status negatively makingit difficult to offer the services that they havetraditionally offered. The option left to them hasbeen to levy the service recipients in order tomaintain these facilities but this has in turn meantinevitable exclusion of those unable to pay. Thishas made their services therefore no different fromthose offered through the private sector whichundermines the principle of witness and service.This is a clear justification that the church needsto join in the campaign to make Governments, Bi-lateral development partners and internationalcorporations responsive to the health needs of allpeople including those unable to pay.

Healing Healing Healing Healing Healing and Health……


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to most PWD’s,disability andsickness are twovery differentthings, and healingapplies to sicknessnot to disability.



Let me make it clear at this point that there is no doubtin my mind and to many persons with disabilities whomI know that divine healing is biblical and applicable inthe Christian faith. However, its understanding as itrelates to persons with disabilities is made complexby differing teaching, doctrines and theology. Someof these have made the word healing anathema in theears of persons with disabilities. This is especially thecase where the Disabled people become vulnerableto easy commercial fixes and religious groups, whichoffer miraculous healing in the setting of superficialacceptance and friendship. A few scenarios canillustrate this:

Take the case of a well-known evangelist from abroadthat jets with his whole team of assistants to a city inAfrica. Prior to his arrival, the city is alight with postersand media announcements about his powers to healand inviting all those vexed with all manner ofinfirmities for healing. An entire school for the physicallydisabled turns up at the stadium where the evangelical

crusade is taking place with all the hope for cure. AnAlter call for those with needs is made after the sermonand the enthusiastic ushers push forward all thechildren on their wheelchairs and crutches to the front.A moving prayer is made and everyone is called uponto receive healing by jumping out of the wheelchairs

and throwing off their crutches. The ushers assist thechildren by pulling them off the wheelchairs and takingaway crutches. Although in the confusion some getbadly hurt, no cure takes place and the crowd scattersaway some carrying with them the crutches asevidence of some imagined cure and in the processinflicting more suffering on those poor kids left in thefield unable to move.

Another case is that of a mature Christian with adisability who turns up to such an evangelicalgathering with the simple objective of listening to theword of God from the reputed evangelist and therebyreceives spiritual blessings. An alter call is made forthose who would like to accept the Lord and thosewho have needs requiring prayers. The enthusiasticushers believing, rightly or wrongly that the disabledChristian must have come to seek healing pushes himin the front without any consultation or even consent.No healing takes place and as the crowd scatters awaythe “poor” disabled is left alone, still with his disability,the reason given being that he had no faith.Hypothetical as this may look to you, these are liveexperiences in the part of the world where I come

from and I have personally been a victim of suchcircumstance. As can therefore be seen, whereas

healing can bring joy and relief, it can also bringpain, frustration and serious theological

questions.

One might want to ask, are the healingstories today a matter of faith, reality orimagination? Are some, if not most ofthe evangelists who claim divinehealing especially where it refers to cureor fixing up of impairments that coursedisabilities true to their proclamations

or are they seeking self glory imperviousof the humiliation, embarrassment and

frustration on the part of those who are thesubjects of their attempted healing missions?

Most important, in this modern age of information,communication and technology with all the

assistive devises to enable persons with disabilitiestoo function in the society and to take part in nearly allaspects of societal’s life, is miraculous cure or fixing ofimpairments in the body the central reason forpresenting those who bear these impairments to God?Were this the case, then the soul which is the ultimatesubject of the gospel mission is less important thanthe physical body. People, irrespective of their bodilycondition need to hear and to be reached with thegospel. They need to partake in getting the gospel to


Divine healing becomesvery complex especiallywhere disabled personsbecome vulnerable to easycommercial fixes andreligious groups, whichoffer miraculous healing inthe setting of superficialacceptance and friendship


others. Their impairments can neither be a cause fortheir remission of sin nor excuse for their failure to playtheir part in the extension of the kingdom. This is bestillustrated by the example of Saint Paul who, having abodily condition he calls a thorn in the fresh thattroubled him prayed three times to have it taken away.Instead of a cure, God assured him that His gracewas sufficient to uphold him. In the process, Paul getsthe revelation that Gods strength is perfected inweakness (2 Cor. 12: 7-8). Is that same grace notsufficient to persons with disabilities to March on ascrusaders of the gospels and partakers of theKingdom?

I have mentioned differing teaching, doctrine andtheology. These have at times led to serious andunhelpful paternalistic and patronizing attitudes inthe church. The interpretation and believe amongsome churches that there is relationship betweendisability/sickness and sin has made them developan attitude of pity and sympathy to those disabled orsick. To them, the presence of people with disabilitiesin the church is a sign that the church is unable tocombat the devil that is the source of these infirmities.The response to this is endless prayers for those inthis condition and when these prayers do not yieldthe expected result, the victim is blamed for havingno faith. Consequent relation is that the person inquestion will opt to stay away, not only from thatparticular church but also from the Christian faith. Thisexplains why more often than not, persons withdisabilities feel alienated, marginalized, embarrassedand in some cases offended by the treatment mettedon them by the church.

Whereas we cannot blame a church for theinterpretation of the bible that they may adopt, it isnecessary in this age that a more inclusive and

empowering theology and therefore interpretation ofthe bible be adopted. Although Jesus in his languagein some of the gospel healing stories seems to haveassociated healing with forgiveness of sins, he is atthe same time the one who led the way in departingfrom this line of thoughts. Referring to the man bornblind in John 9: 1-3, contrary to the believe expressedby his disciples that the man must have been blindbecause of either his own sins or those of his parents,Jesus made it clear that his blindness had nothing todo with sins. He was blind so that God’s work may bemade manifest in him. The interpretation to the gospelhealing stories needs to take this line of thought.

The healing stories in the NewTestament and especially thosein the gospel had a hiddendimension that modern societyshould consider as it deals withdisability in the modernconcept of healing andreconciliation. In the first place,Jesus made precedence inincluding the sick and thedisabled as a focus of concernin his ministry. He chose to usehealing to unite them with therest of the society. Prior to histime, they were excluded,

ignored and considered unclean. His reconcilingmission meant good news for the poor, release foroppressed, recovering of sight to the blind andfreedom for the oppressed (Luke 4: 18).

Healing as a means of reconciliation in respect to theministry to persons with disabilities had twocomplementally dimensions. These are cure andrestoration. Restoration has been seen in this contextas what could be defined as healing to distinguish itfrom cure. His mission had to take into considerationthe aspect that the society of the day best understood.That was the cure though it was only a means to theend and not necessarily the end. What was and still ismost important in our reconciliation message is theacceptance, inclusion and restoration into themainstream of the society. In order to understand thisaspect of the mission, let us take a few examples.

When the blind Bartimaeus (Mark 10: 46-52) receivedhis sight, we are told that he joined with the rest of thecrowd that followed Jesus. He became one of themand was no longer isolated, excluded and ignored.He was no longer the blind beggar on the roadside.

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Not only was he cured from his blindness, he wasrestored and reconciled with the rest of the societywhich henceforth had rebuked him, screamed at him,spoke at him instead of speaking to him, consideredhim different, inferior and imperfect.

In the story of the physically disabled man at theBeautiful Gate (acts 3: 1-10), it is clear that on gainingstrength in his legs, he entered the temple and joinedwith the rest in worship and praise to God. Prior to that,he was a stranger who, though always in the sight ofthe temple had no business with what went on there.His cure was the means to his reconciliation not onlywith the people but also with God. He became aworshiper like the rest of the community. He was nolonger different as he had been reconciled with hispeople.

In the John 5: 1-18 story of the man who had been at thepool of Bethsaida for thirty-eight years, we are told thathe met with Jesus later after his cure in the temple. Thismight probably be the first time that he had ever beento a temple because prior to that, his disabilityaccording to the Jewish culture and religion made himunclean and therefore unworthy of being in a holy place.Like the other two, he had been restored, set free, madehuman and therefore reconciled with the rest of theJewish people.

There are approximately twenty-six different scriptureson people with such infirmities as paralysis, blindness,deafness or physical disabilities in the Gospel. Thereare, in accordance to the Judeo-Christian culture andpractice of the day some main distinct characteristicsin all of them. They have no names; they are poor,unemployed, beggars or servants. They are patronized,treated with contempt, publicly rebuked andhumiliated. It is from this state of affairs that Jesusdeclares that he came to set the captives free and togive release to the oppressed. His healing mission,though at times within the language of forgiveness ofsin as this is what the Jews understood was preciselyto set free those who had lived in the bondage ofoppression, ridicule and humiliation. He invited themto his banquet table contrary to the expectations of theprevailing norm and practice.

As already mentioned in the WCC Interim statement, atthe beginning of the 21st century, as was the case beforethe Christian era, sectors of the population who areunable to compete or to perform at the levels thatsociety demands are vitiated, despised or, in morecontemporary terms, discarded. Among them, we find

a high proportion of people with sensorial, motor andmental disabilities. We will find them living in any of thegreat cities of the world: men and women of all ages,ethnic backgrounds, colours, cultures and religionswho, because they have a disability, live in abjectpoverty, hunger, dependence, preventable disease andmaltreatment by those who are “able”.

It is the role of the church in this new century to face thereality of humanity in the image of a disabled Jesus onthe cross; the reality of people with disabilities who arerejected and abandoned. It is painful that the churchesthroughout the world have not addressed morevigorously the sufferings of marginalized, poor, blind,deaf, and physically and mentally limited people. Wedo not need pity, or mercy, but compassionateunderstanding and opportunities to develop ourvocations, possibilities and abilities.

In their efforts to attain peace, preserve the environment,ensure the equality of women and the rights of the child,care for the aged, churches and Christians should alsoinclude the struggle for the full realization of disabledpersons in their agendas.

Suffices to mention that over the past twenty years,positive attitudes towards disability and disabledpersons have increased in our churches and Christianinstitutions. While far from being universal, this is awelcome development. But it is important to be awarethat, in some parts of the world and in some churches,there has recently been a return towards over-protection and even disregard of disabled persons. Insome places, evangelical groups have manipulatedus. Even worse than being ignored, manipulatingdisabled people could become the church’s new sin.

In light of the above, it is necessary for the church toconsider defining healing in dealing with persons withdisabilities in the widest possible meaning to ensurethat all aspects of their lives is sensitively and realisticallycovered. One helpful option is to define it in a way thatmakes clear distinction between healing and cure.Healing is understood to be the removal of oppressivesystems, whereas curing has to do with physiologicalreconstruction of the physical body. In this kind oftheology, disability is a social cons tract and healing isthe removal of social barriers. From this perspective,the healing stories in the gospels are primarilyconcerned with the restoration of the person to theircommunities, though for purpose of making it illustrativefor the Jews, it went with cure of physiologicalconditions.

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The prevailing emphasis on physical healing of thebody found in the charismatic theology is not the onlyproblem persons with disability encounter in theChurch. The more liberal theology of the traditionallyknown organized churches too has its share of keepingpersons with disabilities outside. IN the first place, thecharity approach to disability has been the mostnegative aspect in their address to disability concern.They are largely responsible for the growth andmaintenance of a “helping” profession, which relegatespersons with disabilities to a receiving end. Helpingbecomes an excuse for exclusion and this ischaracterized by separate schools, rehabilitationcenters and other caring institutions.

Very few churches have so far developed proceduresfor initiation of persons with disabilities and especiallythe intellectually disabled into sacraments preliquisiteto full church membership. In the process of caring,persons with disabilities are not considered to haveanything to offer in the church. Even those well exposedand willing to serve find it very difficult to beincorporated in to the life of the church. Being educatedin these church run institutions does not seem to makeany difference. They are assumed to be disabled andtherefore needing to be served rather than to serve.Their place is seen to be in the special institutions setaside and not in the central operation of the church. Nowonder that though many persons with disabilities areeducated in these church run institutions, the church isunable to account for their whereabouts after theirschool life. They do not feel welcome and as such theydo not associate with the church. The few bold oneswho persist find their presence largely ignored.

It will be an open fact for instance that whereas most ofsuch churches represented in fora like the CWME or inany international or regional ecumenical for a, therewill already be established mechanism to ensure thatrepresentation of Women, youth and clergy is ensured.We have difficulties to get any persons with disabilitiesin such gatherings because no church want to considerthem in their delegations since, according to them, theydo not fall in the classification they are familiar with ofWomen, youth and clergy. The situation is no differentin the World Council of Churches members, Regionaland National ecumenical organizations. Thus, personswith disabilities are not considered to belong and aretherefore largely not included in the life of the church.

In summing up the fundamental theological principlethat guides the WCC Interim Statement, it is made clearthat the integration of disabled people within the church

gives testimony to God’s love as expressed by all hissons and daughters. It is a continuation of Christ’shealing mission. It can also be an example and aninspiration in those societies in which disabled peoplesuffer from humiliating marginalization.

Whether the church is involved in provision of care,rehabilitation, chaplaincy or ministry to or with disabledpeople, it must recognize the central assumptions ofequality and dignity within the Christian message andpromote it at the fore of all its work.

The church is by definition a place and a process ofcommunion, open to and inviting all people withoutdiscrimination. It is a place of hospitality and a place ofwelcome, in the manner that Abraham and Sarahreceived God’s messengers in the Old Testament (Gen.18). It is an earthly reflection of a divine unity that is atthe same time worshipped as Trinity. It is a communityof people with different yet complementary gifts. StPaul reminds us: “For as in one body we have manymembers, and not all members have the same function,so we, though we are many, are one body in Christ, andindividually we are members one of another...”

It is a vision of wholeness as well as ofhealing, of caring and of sharing at once.Just as the body is one and has many members so i tJust as the body is one and has many members so i tJust as the body is one and has many members so i tJust as the body is one and has many members so i tJust as the body is one and has many members so i t

is with Christ (1 Coris with Christ (1 Coris with Christ (1 Coris with Christ (1 Coris with Christ (1 Cor.12:12)..12:12)..12:12)..12:12)..12:12).

We all accept and proclaim that this is what the churchis and stands for. It is the basis of our unity as Christians.Then why is it that, all too often, certain people amongus and around us (usually those whom we consider asbeing unfamiliar or as strangers, as different or perhapsdisabled) are marginalized and even excluded?Wherever this happens, even by passive omission, thechurch is not being what it is called to become. Thechurch is denying its own reality. In the church, we arecalled to act differently. As St Paul says, the parts of thebody which seem to be weaker (we should notice thathe does not say “actually are weaker”) areindispensable (1 Cor. 2:22).

As the Interim Statement concludes, in our attitudesand actions towards one another, at all times, theguiding principle must be the conviction that we areincomplete, we are less than whole, without the giftsand talents of all people. We are not a full communitywithout one another. Responding to and fully includingpeople with disabilities is not an option for the churchesof Christ. It is the church’s defining characteristic.

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Disability:Disability:Disability:Disability:Disability:Disability:Disability:Disability:Disability:Disability:from the View of PurityBy Prof.Chae Eun HaBy Prof.Chae Eun HaBy Prof.Chae Eun HaBy Prof.Chae Eun HaBy Prof.Chae Eun Ha

Leviticus may be one of the most boringbooks in the Bible. It must be the most likelybook of the Bible that people hesitate to read.It may be also the book most irrelevant to ourtimes, too. Nevertheless it is very influential tous and still affects our attitude and way ofthinking deep down very strongly, especiallyin terms of the so-called impurity and purity,like certain illnesses or diseases anddisability. Isn’t it so absurd and irony? For ourmatter we are going to start with the very textof Lev. 13:45-46 and 21:16-24. Though I

would like to take Lev. chs. 13-14 as a whole,for the time saving I am just taking out onlyLev. 13:45-46 from two chapters and 21:16-24. The former passage is from the largercontext chs. 11-16 about the matter of purity,which is a requisite of proper worship. Chs.13-14 deal with the category of impurity indetail, specifically the issue of the treatmentand purification of people suffering fromcertain skin ailments that were regarded ascontagious. Those who worship God properlywith purity should not have skin disease(chara’at,).

(Looking at the texts of Leviticus 13:45-46,21:16-24)

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In Lev. chs. 21-22 the theme of purity continues, too.Here its concern is mainly on the priesthood. Theyneed to be in a state of ritual purity to perform aproper worship. The sanctity of the priesthood itselfwas indispensable to the fulfillment of Israel’smandate to become a holy nation. In case ofsacrificial animals, whatever was sacrificed to God,had to be suitable, in other words, to be clean orpure without scar or impairment. Thus in 21:16-24and 22:17-25 the physical soundness of sacrificialmaterials as well as the priests, i.e. the absence ofblemishes and disfiguration is required as thenormal criterion of purity to perform a ritual, thoughpriests born with deformities or who had been

injured were not totally deprived of their materialsupport.Our Levitical passages (chs. 13, 14 & 21) are therepresentative ones which justify and support theprejudice and discrimination against people withdiseases or disability. Its spirit flows in the OT. Theone is about the skin disease that turns out to beimpure so that people with that disease are not onlyinappropriate to take part in worship but to beisolated from the community. The other tells thepriesthood’s physical impurity to be disqualified toperform a ritual. These are the basis of ancientIsraelite understanding and attitude in relation topeople with disability in religious leadership. I amgoing to reflect them through the passages.

It is very strange that every creature is divided intoclean and unclean or pure and impure, even thoughGod creates everything good and especially humanbeings are privileged to be like His image. Thismeans every creature has a religious meaning toancient Israelites and even modern Jewish people.

To approach near to God human beings areconditioned to maintain pure. It is usually meantthat they seemingly appear and look healthy andclean, that is, without something like any kind ofdeformity or even a spot. In particular, Lev. chs. 13-14 deal with it named chara’at (t[rc)]) or nega’ ([gn),each of which is translated “leprosy or skin disease”or “plague-spot” respectively. Of many ones the skindisease is seriously taken to be a typical impurity oruncleanness on houses or garments as well as onhuman beings maybe for the prevention of contactinfection.

People with chara’at (t[rc) or nega’ ([gn) were notonly disqualified to worship God in the temple or

any holy places(2 Chr.23:19)1 but isolated orexcluded from thecommunity’s residence.They should have signs tobe easily seen on their body.The person with such aninfectious disease mustwear torn clothes, let his hairbe loose, cover the lowerpart of his face and have tocry out, ‘Unclean! (tame’,amj) Unclean! (tame’, amj).’And also He must liveoutside the camp alone (Lv.13:45-46). They were even

to be killed when they took part in the sacrificialrituals (Lv. 15:31). The reason why they should bekept away from people’s residence or theirmeetings like worshipping must prevent anyonefrom coming near him/her unwittingly and catchingthe infection. For the same reason the lepers in theMiddle Ages had to rattle little bits of wood as theywalked. The priest has a right to diagnose thepatient with the skin diseases and to give him/hermedical treatment and to determine its durationaccording to what he looks. They had to do someactions to remove their uncleanness or impurityjudged by the priest. Lev. 14 hints at the priestlyrationale for excluding the ill or disabled fromworship according to its requirement of a guiltoffering (‘asham, mva). This guilt offering is anessential element of the ritual to return the personhealed of skin disease to full cultic status of purity. Asin offering (hatta’at, taej.,x) implies that moralwrongdoing, desecration of sancta, or anencroachment against the divine presence in thesanctuary, has taken place. This suggests that in

People with diseasesclassified as “unclean”

must be kept inisolation and stay outof their residence at

least until they areclaimed “clean”



general the Bible regarded a “stroke of t[rc”” as apunishment inflicted by God. This shows thatperson with t[rc is certainly understood as God’spunishment. In other words, people with the skindisease are sinners. The people with t[rc wasunderstood as a punishment for an encroachmentagainst God, so the people with t[rc is a sign ofmoral failure.2 This relationship between thediseases and God’s punishment is not only appliedto the skin diseases but also to all kinds of diseaseswith infection. Because of it people with diseasesclassified as “unclean” must be kept in isolation andstay out of their residence at least until they areclaimed “clean”. Therefore people with suchdiseases must ask their forgiveness of sins for theirphysical recovery. We imagine that it is shamefuland unpleasant for ordinary people to stay withimpure people or to be their companion. In biblicaltimes, for example, there were some people whosuffered skin disease or leprosy: Miriam(Num12:10), Uzziah(II King 15:5), and Gehazi(II 5:27). Allof these were hit by t[rc because of their rebellionagainst God’s commands (Num. 12:9-15; Deut24:8-9). Miriam’s appearance is especially a crucialmatter. Numbers 12:10 states that she is t[rcm,,,“like snow.” In Aaron’s prayer (Num. 12:12) hepleads, “Let her not be as one dead, whose flesh ishalf consumed when he comes out of his mother’swomb. J. Milgrom’s3 theories are supported by thispassage: a] that is a result of divine punishment; b]t[rc’s severe impurity is attributable to its death-likeappearance.

Against the priests’ with disability inlight of seemingly visible physicalcondition

Another text, Leviticus 21:16-24 is concerned withthe problem of the priests’ with disability. Visiblephysical perfection is the first and foremostcondition to be qualified to perform priesthood.Leviticus gives a list of the priests with physicaldefects which cannot come near the temple or inthe sanctuary: the blind, the lame, the disfigured,the deformed, a man with a crippled foot or hand,the hunchbacked, the dwarfed, a man with any eyedefect, a man with festering or running sores ordamaged testicles (Lv. 21:18-20). The expression“not to have access” is repeatedly mentioned in Lv.21:17, 18, 21 & 23, which means “forbidden to haveaccess to the altar.” The qualification to be a priestwas from seemingly physical healthiness, not fromintelligent or moral soundness. Appearance is themost important factor for it here. The same principle

that every creature should be clean to be offered toGod is applied in case of priesthood (Lv. Ch. 11). Tobe an actual priest has to have an abled body,meaning no visible or seeable harm or impairment.Even though the priest has a physical imperfection,however, he is not completely excluded from thecommunity or the tent of meeting, but just restrictedto have access to the altar. He is not declaredimpure, he need not dress differently, he need notannounce his impurity, nor does he need to dwelloutside the camp. One thing he is not permitted isto offer sacrifices. It is because he is judged notgood enough to be near to God. But it is allowedthat he eats the food offered to God. This meansthat the priest with disability cannot perform thesacrifice as far as he is physically imperfect. Thatthe priest is not allowed to exert the sacrificialofferings to God means that he is deprived of ameans of living for himself. He maintained just asocial status as priest. While he had no religious andofficial role to play like performing offerings to God,he did not starve because he is allowed to eatsacrificial food. He had to depend on other priestsfor surviving and to ask their sympathy and charity.

This is the general picture of ancient biblicalIsraelite society maybe from the first Temple periodto the New Testament times and of near Easterncountries as well. Is it just the past story passedaway and forgotten? No. Its practice is still going on.There is one thing changed. The medical problemslike the skin diseases or a man with any eye defect,a man with festering or running sores or damagedtesticles, and so on is no longer as strict and asstigmatized as the Bible says. Fortunately they arenot regarded as impure or unclean as it says, eventhough they are not perfectly cured in medicalterms. However, the same rule by the Bible is stilland subtly being applied to people with permanentphysical disabilities up to this time, especially whenthey have a kind of disabled appearance.

It is understandable that in ancient times peoplewith infectious skin diseases were forcefullyexcluded from the people in a way, thinking whenthere was little knowledge about medicalinformation. It may be the same reason that peoplewith cold or flu hesitate to go into their meetingplaces not so as to be infectious to others. However,people with life-long disability or diseases, eventhough they are not infectious, have to suffer fromnot only their physical appearance or pain butsocial or psychological isolation or exclusion duringtheir lifetime. This leads to social prejudice anddiscrimination against them and results in judging



them in God’s name. Worse, they are religiouslyjudged as sinners because their disability isunderstood as God’s judgment. Consequentlypeople with disabilities have to cope with their sinfulconsciousness and social death as well as theirphysical discomfort to survive. They are usuallyaccompanied of ostracism, either limiting socialinteraction and chances or excluding them from thecommunity whether fully or partly. It is the negativepicture that the Bible writer(s) depicts as to peoplewith contagious diseases or priest with disability.Therefore we acknowledge that the Bible hasplayed a big role in supporting the stigmatization,exclusion, and elimination of people withdisabilities.

However, we should not overlook that there are alsoOT passages giving us a different idea. Forexample, in the same book of Leviticus 19:14instructs us: “Do not curse the deaf or put astumbling block in front of the blind, but fear yourGod. I am the Lord.” Lev. 19:18b reminds us, “loveyour neighbor as yourself. I am the Lord.” Theseverses give us a totally different paradigm to follow.What is a stumbling block to us? What does it mean“to love your neighbor as yourself”? Can’t these twoverses be balanced with the Levitical passagesmentioned above? If people with disability have tofight against a lot of bias about them, whethermedically or religiously, all kinds of discriminations,poverty derived from the lack of chances and rightsto live a humanly life or/and exclusion, whetherexplicitly or implicitly, it means that we are stillcaught by Levitical worldview formed older than acouple of thousands years ago. For people withdisability life is even now a battlefield to survive.Before us there are still heaps of obstacles andbarriers to beat physically, socio-economically,

psychologically and religiously. This must be thelast injustice of the world that we Christianswithstand together today.

What is clear is that the idea and justification thatthe Bible, in particular, Leviticus gives us aboutpeople with disability or disease is not all that itreally intends to. Let us read Ex. 22:21-24! Here wemeet the typical three groups of the weak: the alien,the widow and the orphan. God commanded not tomistreat or oppress them. He firmly added that hewould kill you with sword and that your wives wouldbecome widows and your children fatherless, if so.Who are the typical weak in the 21st century? I do

believe that they are peoplewith disability deprived oftheir rights to live a humanlylives. The Bible includingLeviticus gives the messagethat God wants to live inpeace the stronger with theweaker, the male with thefemale and the Jews with theGentiles as well. Then,doesn’t He want people withability to go hand in hand withpeople with disability, doeshe? This is our dreamingworld toward a better society.We expect to have a visible

and promising plan and hope for all of us come truein near future. It is the reason we from all parts ofAsia gather here this morning.

Question and DiscussionQuestion and DiscussionQuestion and DiscussionQuestion and DiscussionQuestion and DiscussionLet us discuss as to both how church in your countryhas ever talked about the passages related withdiseases/disability and how it is understood amongpeople.What differences and similarities exist betweenchurch and society in general in terms of disability?In what light do we have to read Levitical passagesmentioned above for today?

People with life-longdisability or diseases,

even though notinfectious, have to

suffer from not onlytheir physical

appearance or pain butsocial & psychological

isolation.

1 He also stationed doorkeepers at the gates of the Lord ‘stemple so that no one who was in any way unclean mightenter.(NIV 2 Ch 23:19)

2 S. Melcher, Visualizing the perfect cult: the Priestlyrationale for Exclusion,” p. 58, in Human Disability andthe Service of God: Reassessing religious Practice (N.Eiesland and D. Saliers(ed..), Nashville: Abingdon Press,1998.

3 Leviticus 1-16, New York: Doubleday, 1991, pp. 816-26.



Come Holy Spirit, Heal andReconcile: Called in Christ

to be Reconciling andHealing Communities

Dear Sisters and Brothers in Christ,

Greetings from Athens, Greece. We writeto you during the holy time betweenEaster and Pentecost, when the risenChrist prepared his followers for the gift of

the Holy Spirit and called them to carry the good newsto “the ends of the earth” (Acts 1:8), promising to bewith them until “the end of the age” (Matt. 28:20). Here,on the shores of the Aegean Sea, 600 of us havegathered, from 105 countries, hosted by the Churchof Greece and other churches in Greece and calledtogether by the World Council of Churches for the 13thinternational Conference on World Mission andEvangelism, meeting from 9-16 May 2005. And as thesun rose on the conference, a small boat sailed out ofthe dawn, carrying a huge olive-wood cross: a gift

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from the churches in Jerusalem, a sign of both sufferingand hope, made from the fragments of the treesuprooted during the building of the wall separatingPalestinians from Palestinians and from Israelis. Wepray that this cross become a sign of reconciliation.

For the first time, this CWME conference has takenplace in a predominantly Orthodox context. Youngpeople, though far fewer than planned, have playedan important part. For the first time the meetingincluded a significant number of fully participatingdelegates from non WCC member churches, that isthe Roman Catholic Church and some Pentecostaland Evangelical churches and networks. ‘We’,therefore, are a diverse group, from every corner ofthe world and many ethnic and cultural backgrounds,speaking many languages, and representing the majorChristian traditions. Our theme is a prayer: “Come HolySpirit, Heal and Reconcile”.

This letter is an attempt to share with you some of theweek’s insights and challenges, as well as the

experiences of joy and pain it has brought us. In thesedays, we have journeyed together, although we havenot always agreed. We are in mission, all of us, becausewe participate in the mission of God who has sent usinto a fragmented and broken world. We are united inthe belief that we are “called together in Christ to bereconciling and healing communities”. We haveprayed together. We have been particularly helpedby readings of Scripture as we struggled, together, todiscern where the reconciling, healing Spirit is leadingus, in our own contexts, two thousand years after StPaul arrived on these shores carrying the good newsof the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We want to share thatjourney with you, and to invite you to make it your own.

We stand now at a particular moment in the history ofmission. While the centres of power are stillpredominantly in the global North, it is in the Southand the East that the churches are growing mostrapidly, as a result of faithful Christian mission andwitness. The missional character of the Church isexperienced in greater diversity than ever, as theChristian communities continue the search fordistinctive responses to the Gospel. This diversity ischallenging, and it can sometimes make us uneasy.Nevertheless, within it we have discoveredopportunities for a deepening understanding of theHoly Spirit’s creative, life-sustaining, healing andreconciling work. For the power of the Holy Spirittouches us in many ways: in gentleness and truth,comfort and creativity, worship and action, wisdomand innocence, communion and sanctification,liberation and holy contemplation. But there are evilspirits too, active in the world and sadly even in manyof our histories and communities. These are spirits ofviolence, oppression, exclusion, division, corruption,self-seeking, ignorance, failure to live up to our beliefs

and of fearful silence in the faceof injustice. In discerning thework of the Holy Spirit, we haveexperienced the need to returnconstantly to the roots of ourfaith, confessing the TriuneGod, revealed to us in JesusChrist, the Word-made-flesh.

In Athens we were deeply awareof the new challenges thatcome from the need forreconciliation between Eastand West, North and South,and between Christians andpeople of other faiths. We havebecome painfully aware of the

mistakes of the past, and pray that we may learn fromthem. We have become conscious of our own tendencyto reinforce barriers by excluding and marginalisingon grounds such as race, caste, gender, disability orby tolerating the continuation of oppressive practiceswithin our own societies and our own churches. Halfwaythrough the Decade to Overcome Violence, we realiseanew that the call to non-violence and reconciliationstands at the heart of the Gospel message. As a globalgathering, we are challenged by the violence inflictedby the forces of economic globalisation, militarism,and by the plight of the marginalised people,especially the indigenous communities and peoplesuprooted by migration.

...the road toreconciliation and

healing is not an easyone, it involves

listening, truth-telling,repentance,

forgiveness and asincere commitment to

Christ and his justice.



St Paul speaks of the new creation heralded by Christand enabled by the Holy Spirit. “In Christ”, he says,“God was reconciling the world to himself, not countingtheir trespasses against them, and entrusting themessage of reconciliation to us. So we areambassadors for Christ, since God is making hisappeal through us; we entreat you on behalf of Christ,be reconciled to God.” (2 Cor. 5:19-20) It is this “newcreation” that we hold to be the goal of our missionaryendeavour. With Paul, we believe that reconciliationand healing are pivotal to the process by which thatgoal is to be reached. Reconciliation, as the restorationof right relations with God, is the source ofreconciliation with oneself, with other people and withthe whole of creation.

But the road to reconciliation and healing is not aneasy one. It involves listening, truth-telling, repentance,forgiveness and a sincere commitment to Christ andhis justice. For this reason, we have explored a rangeof ways by which the healing power of God is madeavailable to us. These include the healing that takesplace through prayer, ascetical practices and thecharisms of healing, through sacraments and healingservices, through a combination of medical andspiritual, social and systemic approaches, and throughsensing the sustaining presence of the Holy Spirit,even when we accept and continue to struggle withillness and traumas. We celebrated healing servicesand were moved by the stories of Christian health andcounselling professionals and their struggle for moreholistic approaches. We were inspired by the storiesof people living with HIV and AIDS and werechallenged to counter stigma and discrimination andto promote wholeness for those living with HIV andAIDS. We heard testimonies of people healed by thepower of the Holy Spirit, as well as those who have notbeen healed, or have encountered corrupt orexploitative healing practices. We also heard stories

of healing in the midst of struggles forsocial, economic and ecologicaljustice. All true healing comes fromGod. It includes physical, mental,emotional and spiritual healing, and itshares the tension of the coming ofGod’s reign as ‘already here’ and ‘yetto come’. We therefore celebrate truehealing as a living sign of God’s newcreation.

Living in the Holy Spirit, anticipatingthe reign of God, called to be childrenof God’s new Creation, we have also toacknowledge the troubled andconfusing present. It is a source of painto us to recognize that God’s missionis distorted by the divisions and lackof understanding that persists in and

among the churches. In our longing for a fuller andmore authentic participation in God’s mission, wecontinue to carry the pain of our inability to overcomethe barriers that prevent us from celebrating togetherthe most healing and reconciling of sacraments, theEucharist - the Lord’s Supper. The conference theme,therefore, has been a call to a humble acceptance ofour own need for healing and reconciliation.

But God calls us to be a community of hope. “Calledin Christ to be reconciling and healing communities”,we have continued here in Athens the task of definingthe kind of community God desires us to become, acommunity that bears witness to the Gospel in wordand deed; that is alive in worship and learning;proclaims the Gospel of Jesus Christ to all; that offersyoung people leadership roles; that opens its doorsto strangers and welcomes the marginalised withinits own body; that engages with those who suffer, andwith those who struggle for justice and peace; thatprovides services to all who are in need; thatrecognises its own vulnerability and need for healing;and that is faithful in its commitment to the widerCreation. We pray that the Holy Spirit will breathehealing power into our lives, and that together we maymove forward into the blessed peace of the newcreation.

In conclusion, we wish to express our deep gratitudeto all those who made this conference possible. Fromthe country in which St Paul proclaimed the Gospel ofGod’s reconciling love in Jesus Christ, we pray thatthe grace of our Lord Jesus Christ and the love of Godthe Father and the communion of the Holy Spirit bewith all.

Conference on World Mission and EvangelismConference on World Mission and EvangelismConference on World Mission and EvangelismConference on World Mission and EvangelismConference on World Mission and EvangelismAthens, May 18, 2005Athens, May 18, 2005Athens, May 18, 2005Athens, May 18, 2005Athens, May 18, 2005


MINMINMINMINMINISTISTISTISTISTRYRYRYRYRYTO PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES


This statement on ministry to people with disabilities wasadopted by the General Presbytery of the Assemblies of

God on August 11, 2000.

A Biblical PA Biblical PA Biblical PA Biblical PA Biblical Perspectiveerspectiveerspectiveerspectiveerspective A Biblical PA Biblical PA Biblical PA Biblical PA Biblical Perspectiveerspectiveerspectiveerspectiveerspective

ADVOCACYADVOCACYADVOCACYADVOCACYADVOCACY


PPentecostal evangelicals, believing that miracles still

happen today, sometimes have difficulty dealing with

people with permanent disabilities and with those who

are not healed after much prayer. But does our

theology include, along with our belief in supernatural

miracles today, a biblical explanation for those who

are not immediately healed or made whole? We

accept death by old age, and even by accident; but

constant reminders of many with mental and physical

disabilities, who are not restored to full health and

activity, seem to suggest that our belief or our faith is

faulty.

Our theology makes place for pain and suffering,because we have hope for healing and an end to pain.But how does our theology, our faith, and our practicehandle the person who may never walk again or thementally challenged child who may never participatein normal social interaction? A proper understandingof the gospel must boldly proclaim, even though wedo not have all the answers, that the God who createdthe universe and all human life in it is aware of thetension His children feel. He expects us to be peopleof compassion as well as people of power.

God Still Heals and Works MiraclesWe affirm that “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday andtoday and forever” (Hebrews 13:8[1]). He heals today.His miracles confirm His deity, omnipotence, andfaithfulness to His promises. We preach the biblicaltruth of His healing power, even though divine powerdoes not respond immediately to every human pleaand desire. Though His ways are beyond ourunderstanding (Romans 11:33), we trust His decisionsin response to all our prayers.

The New Testament records many miracles andhealings wrought by Jesus. Yet not every disease andinfirmity in His immediate proximity was removed.Scripture records that upon returning to His hometown,“he did not do many miracles there because of theirlack of faith” (Matthew 13:58). In John 5, Jesus healedonly one of many gathered at the pool of Bethesda fora superstitious expectation of physical healing. So ifprayer for healing is not immediately answered, wedo not change our theology to say God no longer heals.We continue to trust Him in anticipation of the daywhen the infirmities of earthly existence drop away inthe perfect light of His eternal presence.

Biblical attitude toward disabilitiesSome speculate that God does not value persons withphysical or mental defects or disabilities, and Heparticularly does not want such persons in spiritualleadership. This erroneous interpretation of God’simpartial love and compassion is drawn by some fromLeviticus 21:17-23: “For the generations to come noneof your descendants [Aaron’s] who has a defect maycome near to offer the food of his God. No man whohas any defect may come near: no man who is blindor lame, disfigured or deformed; no man with acrippled foot or hand, or who is hunchbacked ordwarfed, or who has any eye defect, or who hasfestering or running sores or damaged testicles. Nodescendant of Aaron the priest who has any defect isto come near to present the offerings made to theLord by fire. He has a defect; he must not come nearto offer the food of his God. He may eat the most holyfood of his God, as well as the holy food; yet becauseof his defect, he must not go near the curtain orapproach the altar, and so desecrate my sanctuary. Iam the Lord, who makes them holy.”

The Aaronic priesthood as a group anticipated theperfect, sinless High Priest. “Because Jesus livesforever, he has a permanent priesthood. Therefore heis able to save completely those who come to Godthrough him, because he always lives to intercede forthem. Such a high priest meets our need–one who isholy, blameless, pure, set apart from sinners, exaltedabove the heavens. Unlike the other high priests, hedoes not need to offer sacrifices day after day, first forhis own sins, and then for the sins of the people. Hesacrificed for their sins once for all when he offeredhimself” (Hebrews 7:24-27).

Now that the perfect High Priest has come to die forus, there is no longer need for physically perfect priestswho foreshadowed the coming of the great High Priest.Yet even apart from the restriction on impaired priestsparticipating in ceremonies that looked toward thefuture, the priests with disabilities were still priestswhose every need was taken care of by divinecommand: “He may eat the most holy food of his God,as well as the holy food” (Leviticus 21:22).

After Moses met with God at the burning bush, thecall to leadership followed immediately: “So now, go.I am sending you to Pharaoh to bring my people theIsraelites out of Egypt” (Exodus 3:10). Moses, aftergiving several reasons why he was not the man for thejob, complained, “O Lord, I have never been eloquent,



neither in the past nor since you have spoken to yourservant. I am slow of speech and tongue” (Exodus4:10).

Stephen, the New Testament martyr, referred to Mosesas being “powerful in speech” (Acts 7:22). So Moseswas either unaware of his strength of speech, or hewas downplaying his abilities. Through a series ofquestions, God reminded Moses that He determineshuman abilities and disabilities. Was Moses’ claim tobe “slow of speech and tongue” a disability or a lackof confidence in his God-given ability? Either way, Godhad the answer: “Who gave man his mouth? Whomakes him deaf or mute? Who gives him sight ormakes him blind? Is it not I, the Lord?” (Exodus 4:11).

Some say that God is responsible for sin in the worldand for the physical defects and disabilities humanshave. But the suffering Job spoke truth, “Far be it fromGod to do evil, , , , , from the Almighty to do wrong” (Job34:10). God neither creates evil nor sends it on anyone.When He has to punish, it is loving correction (Hebrews12:5,6). God was saying to Moses, “As Creator of alllife, even in a fallen world of sin and disabilities, I takeloving responsibility for everyone. So, Moses, if youhave a disability, I can take care of that too.”

God imparts ability, and He knows about disabilitybecause He at least allows it. God could have said toMoses what He later said to Paul: “My grace is sufficientfor you, for my power is made perfect in weakness” (2Corinthians 12:9).

We find additional confirmation in other Scripturepassages. The Israelites were admonished to show

kindness to those who were deaf and blind (Leviticus19:14; Deuteronomy 27:18). Those who minister tothe weak and helpless are blessed (Psalm 41:1). Jesuswelcomed people with all manner of disabilities intothe kingdom of God, even though they would havebeen excluded from service under the Old Testament(Matthew 4:23ff; 15:30). He instructed how to treatpeople with disabilities: “Then Jesus said to his host,‘When you give a luncheon or dinner, do not inviteyour friends, your brothers or relatives, or your richneighbors; if you do, they may invite you back and soyou will be repaid. But when you give a banquet, invitethe poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, and you willbe blessed. Although they cannot repay you, you willbe repaid at the resurrection of the righteous’” (Luke14:12-14, italics added). Countless healings in the Old

and New Testaments provideproof of the compassionatenature of God, in spite of thefact that not all il lnesses,diseases, or disabilities wereremoved.

Mental DisabilitiesSecular society has found waysto accommodate those withphysical disabilities better thanthose who are mentallyimpaired. The church of JesusChrist, the earthlyrepresentative of spiritual

reality, should be the leader in providing opportunityfor all people to connect with the Spirit of God. We donot fully understand the age of accountability and itsapplication to persons with mental disabilities. We donot understand how a person with a mental disabilityrelates to God. But we must give opportunity for theSpirit of God to speak to such a person at his or herlevel of comprehension.

Recent special education approaches indicate thatindividuals with moderate levels of mental disabilitiescan be mainstreamed in traditional schools and canparticipate in emotional and social experiences withtheir peers. Some demonstrate an unusual level ofcreativity in artistic expression. Many grasp spiritualrealities and participate in worship and other churchactivities, especially in smaller groups. The churchshould provide such activities for those who can beintroduced to genuine encounters with God’spresence.

...if our prayers forhealing is notimmediately

answered, we do notchange our theologyto say God no longer

heals.



The primary key to understanding and working withpeople with mental disabilit ies is buildingrelationships with them. Developing friendship andtrust encourages them to open up to the love of God.Such ministry fulfills the words of Jesus: “I was hungryand you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty andyou gave me something to drink, I was a stranger andyou invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothedme, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prisonand you came to visit me” (Matthew 25:35,36). Hecould well have added, “I was different, yet you lovedme.”

Call to a Compassionate ChurchMinistry to people with disabilities. The biblicalcommand to “serve one another in love” (Galatians5:13) includes everyone. To view people withdisabilities as flawed and defective, and possibly adivine mistake, is wrong for a church with Christlikecompassion. People with disabilities are platforms forthe demonstration of His power to heal or His power touse weakness to display His strength. The church oftenministers well to persons with acute illnesses andinjuries, where the natural healing process and/or themiracle of divine healing seems a possibility. But insituations where disability is long term or permanent,faith is challenged. Our faith and practice must includea compassionate hand extended to those withdisabilities.

The challenges to church leadership are: (1) affirmingand ministering to those with disabilities, while (2)encouraging congregational acceptance of them into

church life and activity. If weare to fulfi l l the GreatCommission to preach thegospel to “every creature”(Mark 16:15, NKJV), wecannot overlook thissegment of society.

Ministry to people withdisabilities is challenging.Volunteers grow wearywhen there are limitedpositive responses.Medication, therapy, pain,and slow deterioration maypersist. Yet, we mustremember that God’s lovefor us persists even thoughour failures and

disobedience keep recurring. When His love consumesand motivates us, our ministry to people withdisabilities is ministry as to Christ himself.

The church’s compassion may cost money to modifyphysical facilit ies. Federal, state, and localgovernments have standards that allow the physicallyhandicapped access to public facilities. Suchrequirements should be considered minimal. Ourresponsibility, as representatives of the kingdom ofGod, is to include those with disabilities in churchfunctions and worship. Reserving easily accessiblepews or aisle seats for people with physical limitationswill say, “We want you to worship with us.” Usherstrained to show kindness to worshipers with physicaland mental disabilities and to their caregiversdemonstrates the seriousness of the church’s concern.

Though salvation is the greatest need of every person,the Great Commission includes more thanevangelizing. Discipling and equipping people withdisabilities to use their gifts to build up the body ofChrist is also a response to the church’s commission..

Ministry of caregiving. Caregivers need our thanks.Sometimes those they care for don’t have the abilityto say thank you. It is easy to become weary serving afamily member who has a terminal illness or apermanent disability. Knowing that God is all-powerful, caregivers may be tempted to blame theOne who can make that person well, but doesn’t. Yetuntil He answers, they must trust the God whocompassionately loves both the caregiver and the onewith a disability.




Word to caregivers. Be proud to be seen in public andin a worship service with your family member or friendwith a disability. Scripture commands us, “Carry eachother’s burdens” (Galatians 6:2). You do that whenyou give love and compassionate care to one whocannot return the kindness. Others may not be quickto help you bear your burden of caring for one of God’sspecial people, but our Heavenly Father, who showscompassion for them, understands and will bless yourministry.

Word to People with DisabilitiesIf you comprehend what has happened to you, youprobably have asked, “Why me, Lord?” Students ofthe Scriptures have searched the Bible for the answerto that question. And since the Bible does not give afinal answer, neither can we. Some have tried to

penetrate the mystery of suffering, but in doing so havegone beyond God’s Word. There are examples inScripture of people suffering because of sin in theirlives. But righteous people suffer too. Others havesuggested that God has a special love for those withlong-term pain and suffering, knowing they can handlewhat others could not. But the love of God to everyperson is beyond comprehension or deserving.

A mother with disabilities, whose children are servingGod, said, “My greatest desire of seeing my entirefamily following Jesus has been answered, eventhough my prayer for physical healing has not yet beenanswered. It may be that their commitment has insome way been linked with my suffering and how Ihave handled it. God has given me the first desire ofmy heart.”

Reserving easilyaccessible pews or

aisle seats for peoplewith physical

limitations will say,“We want you to

worship with us.”

The answer the Bible gives concerning your pain andsuffering is that we all live in a fallen, sin-cursed world.God did not make it that way. We have made it thatway, from Adam and Eve to the present, “for all havesinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans3:23). The bigger question is, “Why do we not all suffermore than we do?”

God calls you to come to Him with your disability, justas He invites everyone to come to Him. He says toeach of us, “Come to me, all you who are weary andburdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke uponyou and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble inheart, and you will find rest for your souls” (Matthew11:28,29). His first concern for every person is the soul:Is it right with God in preparation for eternal wholenessin His presence? A lifetime with a disability followedby an eternity with God is to be preferred to a lifetime

with health and wealth followedby an eternity separated fromGod. Seek to know Godintimately until He speakspeace to your heart. As youseek God, invest your time,talents, and energies in servingothers. Jesus said, “Freely youhave received, freely give”(Matthew 10:8).Conclusion

People with disabilities areessential to the wholeness ofthe Christian community. In aculture that worships physical

perfection, devalues human life, and takes pride indisposability, the church must protect the helpless,vulnerable, disenfranchised, including people withdisabilities. They are people created in God’s image,possessing dignity, value, and purpose.

The church must extend open arms of invitation andfellowship. Those with mental disabilities can respondto the presence of the Holy Spirit. Paul reported theanswer he received when he asked that his thorn inthe flesh be removed: “[The Lord] said to me, ‘Mygrace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfectin weakness’”(2 Corinthians 12:9). We can trust Godto reveal His power through the weakness of thosewith disabilities

Position Papers are official documents of thePosition Papers are official documents of thePosition Papers are official documents of thePosition Papers are official documents of thePosition Papers are official documents of theChurch that have been approved by its highestChurch that have been approved by its highestChurch that have been approved by its highestChurch that have been approved by its highestChurch that have been approved by its highestlegislative bodies.legislative bodies.legislative bodies.legislative bodies.legislative bodies.


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Disability, Spirituality,and HealingAUTHOR’S BACKGROUND

The Rev. Nancy Lane received the Ph.D. in Religionand Psychology from The Union Institute, Cincinnati,Ohio, and was a Visiting Scholar at Oxford University,England, where she studied the meaning of healingand suffering.

Ordained in the EpiscopalChurch in 1984, she served asa diocesan staff officer andDirector of the Office ofAccessAbility for the Diocese ofCentral New York. Dr. Lane laterbecame the Executive Directorof Disability Awareness: AnEmpowering Ministry. She isknown as an national andinternational speaker on issuesof accessibility and disability inthe Church and the community.

Dr. Lane is a Jungian-basedpsychologist, with expertise intreating women with disabilities, battered women andwomen suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder(PTSD). She is also trained in Spiritual Direction.

Dr. Lane has written a number of articles on thespirituality of living with disability and is author of a bookon the spiritual and theological implications of the abuseof power toward women with disabilities.

INTRODUCTIONThe materials in this resource book have arisen frommy fifteen years of ministry concerned with theinclusion of people with disabilities in the Christianchurch. Consequently, the resources reflect a Christianperspective. However, I believe that people of otherfaiths can use some of the resources as springboardsfor exploring the issues of disability and accessibilityin their faith community. Further, it is not necessary tobe a Christian to be engaged in theological reflectionon the issues of healing and suffering, the meaning of

By Rev. Nancy Lane, Ph.D.

This book, writtenby someone whohas spent manyyears as a parishpriest is full ofreflections andsuggestions.

life, and the presence or absence of God in ourexperiences.

I also have the experience of living with cerebral palsysince my birth. This experience has been rich with theblessings of those who see and accept me as a person

who is also gifted and able. Life has been blessedwith loving parents, two lovely daughters, and life-longfriends. I have been able to achieve most of my goals—from being a pianist, a dancer, a serious cook andgastronome, mother and grandmother—to being ascholar, a writer, and a priest of the Church.Nevertheless, I have also encountered years ofdiscrimination and exclusion in and by the institutionalchurch. In my early work as a diocesan staff officerand in the years since then as a volunteer director forDisability Awareness, I answered hundreds of lettersand calls from people with disabilities who have beenexcluded from the church because of negativeattitudes, “victim theology” and architectural andcommunication barriers. They wrote of the spiritualwounds engendered by exclusion and despaired ofGod’s presence to them. Like them, I have had towrestle with this same pain of exclusion—of beingdenied the sacraments, access to colleagues and aworshipping community, and prevented from being


EDAN DIRECTORYDr. Aruna GnanadasonCoordinator,Justice Peace and Creation TeamWorld Council of Churches150 route de FerneyP.O. Box 2100CH-1211 Geneva 2SWITZERLANDSWITZERLANDSWITZERLANDSWITZERLANDSWITZERLANDTel: +41 22 791 6026Fax: +41 22 791 6409

EDAN Reference GroupEDAN Reference GroupEDAN Reference GroupEDAN Reference GroupEDAN Reference Group

Carolyn ThompsonDisability Project CoordinatorCommission for Persons withdisabilities51 Inman Street, 2nd floorCambridge MA 02139UNITED STATES OF AMERICATel: (Office) 617-349-4692Fax: 617-349-4766Email: [email protected]

Rev. Arne FritzsonSvartriksslingan 9416739 BronnaSWEDENSWEDENSWEDENSWEDENSWEDENTelfax 46 8 808189Email: [email protected]

Rev. Noel Fernandez Collot,Chicho Valdes 423,Entre 3y4Ciego de Avila,65100 Cb,CUBACUBACUBACUBACUBATelfax: 53-33-27129Email: [email protected]

Samuel KabueEDANP.O. Box 22,00300, NairobiKENYKENYKENYKENYKENYAAAAATel: 254 66 73403Fax: 254 66 73066Email: [email protected] or

[email protected]

EDAN RegionalEDAN RegionalEDAN RegionalEDAN RegionalEDAN RegionalCoordinatorsCoordinatorsCoordinatorsCoordinatorsCoordinators

Asia:Ying-Bo Joseph Tsai3F-2, No. 2, Lane 3,Der-An Street, Lyn-YaDistrict, 802, KaohsiungTAIWANTAIWANTAIWANTAIWANTAIWANTel: (Off) 886-7-2261360(Home)886-7-7169916Fax: 886-7-2261394Email: [email protected]

Africa:Rev. Dr. Abraham Adu BerinyuuCentre for Peace & SustainableDemocratic CultureP.O. Box 1276 Tamale,GHANAGHANAGHANAGHANAGHANATelfax: 233-71-22748Email: [email protected]

deployed as a priest for the last ten years. It was withinthis context that I eventually pulled together thematerial on “Spiritual Abuse” which is among thehandouts. The materials gathered there show that myexperience is not unusual; others have written aboutthe pain of exclusion and have repeatedly called thechurch to become welcoming and inclusive. It is myhope that the resources included here will be used toopen the mind, hearts, and doors of faith communitiesto people with disabilities.

The handouts which are included in this resource areintended for both people with disabilities and peoplewanting to minister with them. The handouts areusually used in conjunction with my seminary course,workshops, retreats, or lectures. However, most of themcan also stand alone as useful resources. Thehandouts on forgiveness were written in the context ofthe article A Theology of Anger When Living With aDisability. They are also useful in addressing the variousissues outlined in The Grief Cycle. This will be seenmore specifically in the handouts which give a definitionof healing and a definition of spirituality as used in mywriting.

A persistent theological and biblical theme that affectspeople with disabilities and their families is that

suffering, in whatever form, is “God’s will.” I havediscussed this briefly in the article “Victim Theology,”where I have also mentioned how study of the sufferingof God has been very helpful in attempting tounderstand the incomprehensible mysteries ofsuffering and evil in the world.

You will note that the articles and the handouts reflectthe historical, biblical, psychological and medicaldistinction between cure and healing. Recent scientificstudies on the bodymind/soulbodymind/soulbodymind/soulbodymind/soulbodymind/soul unity confirm thisdistinction. As you live with a disability or chronicillness or minister to those who do, reflect carefully onthis distinction. When you pray for healing of your selfor others, be open to what it means to be healed. Themajority of people living with disability do not want orask for “fixed” bodies; they pray for healing—of thewounds engendered by discrimination, the barriersof exclusion, the pain of abuse, and the negativeattitudes of our communities and churches. One canlive with a disability or chronic illness and know healing.

I pray that readers will find these resources of use intheir own spiritual journey as well as in working tocreate an inclusive, welcoming, and accessible faithcommunity.

EDANEDANEDANEDANEDANDIRECTORYDIRECTORYDIRECTORYDIRECTORYDIRECTORY


EDANEDANEDANEDANEDANDIRECTORYDIRECTORYDIRECTORYDIRECTORYDIRECTORY

Europe:Rev. Arne FritzsonSvartriksslingan 9416739 BronnaSWEDENSWEDENSWEDENSWEDENSWEDENTelfax 46 8 808189Email: [email protected]

Latin America:Rev. Noel Fernandez Collot,Chicho Valdes 423,Entre 3y4Ciego de Avila,65100 Cb,CUBACUBACUBACUBACUBATelfax: 53-33-27129Email: [email protected]

Pacific:Ye Ja LeeKorean Differently Abled Women’sUnitedRoom 808A Christian Building136-46 Yunchi-Dong,Chong Ro-Ku, Seoul110-470KOREATel: (Office) 82-2-3675-9935Home 82-2-932-1081Fax: 82-2-3675-9934Email: [email protected]

Carribean:Rev. Dr. Gordon CowansKnox CollegeP.O. Box 1735 SpaldingClarendonJAMAICA WJAMAICA WJAMAICA WJAMAICA WJAMAICA W.I..I..I..I..I.Tel: 987 8015Home: 987 8080Phone/fax 987 8045Email: [email protected]

or [email protected]

North America:Rev. Kathy N. Reeves405 South Euclid Avenue,Oak park Illinois 60302UNITED STATES OFUNITED STATES OFUNITED STATES OFUNITED STATES OFUNITED STATES OFAMERICAAMERICAAMERICAAMERICAAMERICATel: (Office) 708 848 7360Home: 708 386 6421Fax: 708 848 7104Email: [email protected]

Middle East (outgoing)Elie Samir RahbanyBatroun, Street Stouh,Imm. KhalilSaliba Nader, North Lebanon.LEBANONLEBANONLEBANONLEBANONLEBANONE-mail:[email protected]

Other Network MembersOther Network MembersOther Network MembersOther Network MembersOther Network Members

Razaka-Manantenasoa RalphineLot VA 58 Andafiavaratra Haute-Ville101 - AntananarivoMADAGASCARMADAGASCARMADAGASCARMADAGASCARMADAGASCARPhone and Fax: + 261 20Phone and Fax: + 261 20Phone and Fax: + 261 20Phone and Fax: + 261 20Phone and Fax: + 261 2022344582234458223445822344582234458e-mail:e-mail:e-mail:e-mail:e-mail: [email protected]

Réverende Micheline KambaKasongo13, rue de Busu-melo No. 13,c/Kasa-vubu B.P. 303Kinshasa 1RÉPUBLIQUERÉPUBLIQUERÉPUBLIQUERÉPUBLIQUERÉPUBLIQUEDÉMOCRATIQUE DUDÉMOCRATIQUE DUDÉMOCRATIQUE DUDÉMOCRATIQUE DUDÉMOCRATIQUE DUCONGOCONGOCONGOCONGOCONGOTel: + 242 8932198/818844809Email: [email protected]

Sarah BabiryeChurch of UgandaPDR OfficeP.O. Box 14123KampalaUGANDAUGANDAUGANDAUGANDAUGANDATel: : : : : 256-41-272906 or 342637Fax: 256-41-343757Email: [email protected]

Simone PoortmanMadoerahof 83742 SH Baarn,THE NETHERLANDSTel: +31 3554 20840Email: [email protected]

Rev. John Naude20 Ribble Close, WellingboroughNorthants. NN8 5XJENGLANDENGLANDENGLANDENGLANDENGLANDTel: 44 1933 679688Email: [email protected]

Bill Gaventa,The Boggs CenterRobert Wood Johnson MedicalSchool, UMDJP.O. Box 2688New Brunswick, N.J. 08903Tel 732-235-9304Email: [email protected]

Network PartnersNetwork PartnersNetwork PartnersNetwork PartnersNetwork Partners

World Alliance of ReformedChurches,150 route de Ferney,P.O. Box 2100,1211 Geneva 2,SWITZERLANDSWITZERLANDSWITZERLANDSWITZERLANDSWITZERLANDPhone: +41 22 791 6237Fax: +41 22 791 6505Email: [email protected]

The United Church of Canada3250 Bloor Street WestSuite 400 Etobicoke, OntarioM8X 2Y4CANADACANADACANADACANADACANADATel:001 416 2315931Website: www.uccan.org

The Lutheran World Federation,150 route de Ferney,P.O. Box 2100,1211 Geneva 2,SWITZERLANDSWITZERLANDSWITZERLANDSWITZERLANDSWITZERLANDPhone: +41 22 791 6363Fax: +41 22 798 8616Email: [email protected] :880-0451-3272

ICCO – Interchurch Organizationfor Development CooperationZusterplein 22A3703 CB ZeistNETHERLANDSNETHERLANDSNETHERLANDSNETHERLANDSNETHERLANDSEmail: [email protected]


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