Laura Lee Wright has graciously agreed to serve as our guest blogger today. Laura Lee is the Access Ministry Team Leader at Northland Church in Orlando. She offers a preview today of her upcoming presentation for Inclusion Fusion on the topic “For Kingdom’s Sake” in which she discusses strategies for engaging kids with disabilities in productive service.

Over the years I have watched disability ministry change. In the beginning, there was an emphasis on physical accessibility to churches and then a need to “watch” children while moms and dads got the privilege of attending worship.  In the last decade, churches throughout the United States have embraced teaching people who live with intellectual disabilities the gospel, and have promoted relationship with King Jesus.  Relationship with Jesus is a wonderful thing but we are called to do much more than just have a relationship.

If coming into relationship was enough, once we made that commitment we would be off to spend our days at the right hand of the Father.  The Bible tells us in Ephesians 2:10, “For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.”  Clearly, the author of Ephesians (the apostle Paul) tells us we were created to do good works or service. The Bible does not tell the world that some of us will engage in service-instead there is a collective “we”.  This means all of us, those without disability as well as those with disability are called into service.

1 Peter 4:10, tells us, “As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another.” We teach our kids with disabilities from early on that service is a part of having a relationship with King Jesus!  Some kids pray, others collect offerings, others attend service days and package food that will be eaten on the African continent! For others, their ministry is to be amongst us.  For Kingdom Sake, how are you teaching others to serve?