How the Church Can Celebrate People with Disabilities

Hannah Snoots director of Special Abilities Ministry at Calvary Community Church in California, joins the podcast to share her story of finding joy, peace, and purpose in the midst of navigating disability. As a single mother raising two daughters with special needs, Hannah leans on the Lord for strength and hope. And having found belonging and love through her local church, Hannah encourages all churches—and believers—to embrace and celebrate people living with disabilities. Connect with Hannah on Instagram @Hannah Jane (@hannahjanesstory) • Instagram photos and videos.

One in five people in the United States have a disability. Many believers living with disability can’t find a church home. You can help Joni and Friends change that! Joni and Friends exists to glorify God as we communicate the Gospel and mobilize the global church to evangelize, disciple, and serve people living with disability.

Calvary Community Church in Westlake Village, CA understands the importance of loving and celebrating people with disabilities. As Hannah can attest, when the church provides respite, love, acceptance, and resources for families with disabilities, God changes lives! 

Joni and Friends can help you and your church take next steps to welcome integrate people with disabilities:

Church Training ResourcesVideos and Quick Steps to help you get started

KEY QUESTIONS:

Do you believe that God can bring beauty from the ashes of your hardships?Do you lean into God and his church when life gets hard?What next step can you/your church take to celebrate people living with disabilities?

 

KEY SCRIPTURES:

Luke 14:21, 23: “Go out quickly in the streets and alleys of the town and bring in the poor, the crippled, the blind and the lame…. Go out to the roads and country lanes and compel them to come in, so that my house will be full.” (NIV)2 Corinthians 1:3–5: “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God. For just as we share abundantly in the sufferings of Christ, so also our comfort abounds through Christ.”

 

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Find more encouragement on Joni Eareckson Tada's Sharing Hope podcast  and daily devotional.
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Joni and Friends envisions a world where every person with a disability finds hope, dignity, and their place in the body of Christ. Founded by  Joni Eareckson Tada, we provide Christ-centered care through  Joni's House, Wheels for the World, and Retreats and Getaways, and offer disability ministry training.