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Disabilties
Our Mission Statement: "It is our purpose to promote Disabilities Awareness and inclusion of persons with disabilities in all aspects of church life."
History of Disabilities: The Disabilities Ministries began as the Commission For People With Disabilities (NAD) in 1989. It's purpose is to sensitize members of the church regarding issues of people with disabilities. The General Conference Session in Utrecht, the Netherlands in 1995 voted to install Disabilities Coordinators within each church.
Disabilities Ministries educates and sensitizes church members as they reach out to the disabled community. It also encourages the disabled to become an integral part of the body of Christ. It shares the Gospel and empowers individuals in all areas of church life so they can evangelize others, inviting them to accept the love and saving grace of Jesus Christ.
Ellen G. White and her husband both faced health challenges. In her day the words afflicted and lamed were common terms. Today, the term "handicapped" has been replaced with the term "disabled."
"I saw that it is in the providence of God that ... the blind, the deaf, the lamed, and persons afflicted in a variety of ways, have been placed in close Christian relationship to His church; it is to prove His people and develop their true character. This is a test of our character" (Vol. 3 Testimonies, p. 511).