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A complete list of posts on the Opening Doors blog

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    • Discovering Discrepancies
      Opening our eyes to the mistreatment of adults with developmental disablities in the legal system, and a challenge to become involved.
    • Drawing on the Investment
      The caregiver of a spouse with memory loss reflects on finding the resources to live each day with love
    • Embodiment in Worship
      Sarah Werner reflects on the church's changing beliefs about physical disabilities and calls us to a more embodied approach to worship.
    • Epiphany: See Our Guide!
      Brandon Grady draws a connection between navigating life as a blind man and searching for Jesus as a magi.
    • Expanding Our Welcome
      Benton Mennonite Church installed a lift and an accessible restroom to become more accessible to people with disabilities.
    • Forgiving God
      When Dayle's sons were diagnosed with Fragile X syndrome, she struggled to let go of the future she had envisioned. Here, she shares her journey to accept and embrace an unexpected life.
    • Friends Lighten the Load
      Gary Long tells about coming to terms with Multiple Sclerosis and the support of church friends.
    • Friendship
      Naomi Epp recounts the ways her friendship with Chantel has been a blessing for both of them.
    • Friendship's Worship Team
      A worship team from Friendship Community involves persons with intellectual disabilities in leading worship in Pennsylvania congregations.
    • From Cure to Community
      YouTube video presentation by Christine Guth: From Cure to Community: Biblical Interpretation that Challenges the Stigma of Mental Illness.
    • From Victim to Victor
      Living with Attention Deficit Disorder, Jack Mace encountered many challenges and negative stigmas. In this article, Jack tells his story of changing his perpsective from victim to victor. Read more.
    • God Can Turn Us to Hope Again
      In the ICU, you wait. Wait for a nurse to come turn you, wait for your next meal to be delivered, wait for pain to subside, wait for independence to return, wait for dignity to be restored.
    • God, I know you're there!
      Learning about prayer and forgiveness through the deep spirituality of friends with developmental disabilities.
    • God's Vision
      February is Low Vision awareness month. Mark Pickens works with churches to change their perspectives of people with disabilities.
    • He has been raised
      The Risen Christ is visible in all people, even those with the most profound disabilities.
    • Hear Then the Parable
      When we enter into authentic friendship with people with disabilities our worldviews and preconceived notions of humanity are confronted and transformed.
    • Hsi-Fu’s Gift
      Getting to know Hsi-Fu is an adventure, and once you form a friendship with him, you know you are holding a rare gem in the palm of your hand.
    • I'm Famous!
      Introducing Ellie Wenger, a teenage girl with Down syndrome who lives a rich life
    • Immanuel: God with Us
      God is with us in our pain, suffering, and isolation. Jesus's incarnation brings us hope.
    • Isolation of Self-Stigma
      Jack Mace falsely believed he was unwanted and disliked by his family due to his ADD. He lost years of relationship due to self-stigma. He tells his story of overcoming stigma and repairing relationships.
    • It's all in the face
      While I see a face with Down syndrome and think of home and life, our culture looks at this face and sees only abnormality.
    • Larry's Place at Race Street House
      Mennonite Churches in Lebanon County, Pennsylvannia joined together to establish a residential home for members of their congregations with disabilities in need of long term care.
    • Learning Wisdom
      Learning wisdom through worship with people who have intellectual disabilities
    • Lessons Learned
      Shelly Kerchner shares her journey through addiction, illness, and disability.
    • Let Them Be Sad
      Thoughts on creating open and vulnerable spaces for comforting those experiencing depression, sadness, and disillusionment.
    • Litany of Dedication
      New Creation Fellowship in Newton, KS, dedicates their new lift, which makes their sanctuary accessible to all.
    • Little Things
      Those who know persons with disabilities know how important little things are – a sound, a movement, a breath. Wilfred Martens tells about the profound gift of a smile where it's least expected.
    • Loneliness: It Affects us All
      M.Div. student Michelle Robichaud offers a few ways churches can support lonely youth who lack a feeling of connection.
    • Love is a Beautiful Thing
      Anita Chapman blesses Columbus Mennonite Church with her joy in living while they look after her ongoing care.
    • Lucy Made of Light
      The author makes a beloved friend at the support group for people living with a mental illness.
    • Making a way where there is no way
      Matt Yeater, a recent graduate of Anabaptist Mennonite Biblical Seminary, has been awarded the 2016 Dr. Jacob Boletin Award by the National Federation of the Blind for his work in making biblical languages accessible to blind people.
    • Making Her Presence Known
      Enabling people with intellectual disabilities to fully express themselves requires turning away from society's discomfort with difference.
    • Making Room for Christmas
      How can we make room for the holy by embracing the unexpected and welcoming one another this holiday season?
    • Mental Health Sunday
      Approximately one in five persons sitting in church Sunday morning struggle with mental health problems. No one should have to whisper about their lives in the church. Plan a Mental Health Sunday. ADN can help.
    • Ministry at L'Arche
      Deborah Ferber reflects on the connection between living at L'Arche and her seminary studies preparing for ministry.
    • My Brother Who Doesn’t Say a Word
      Even though Christopher cannot speak, Deborah has learned that togetherness can happen when they share a meal together, listen to good music together, or laugh at a good joke.
    • Need and Creatureliness
      Many people with developmental disabilities know and befriend their neediness, and thus are able to live in a freedom of the Spirit that can also be transformative for us.
    • New Disabilities:
      Mark Pickens encountered a disability of low vision as a teenager. Though God promises to be with us through life's transitions, life in the wake of a new disability can feel hopeless. Mark shares Ron Kovic's story of moving from despair to blessing.
    • On Learning to Live a Lot
      Life lessons from living with people with developmental disabilities: Learning to live a lot suggests that we haven’t giving up, that we are still breathing and moving forward.
    • Open Hearts, Open Doors
      Good news for people with disabilities is close to the heart of Jesus’ gospel message and the mission of Anabaptist Disabilities Network.
    • Open Roof Fellowship
      Your congregation is invited to join the Open Roof Fellowship if you are a Church of the Brethren congregation committed to and actively engaged in ministry to and with persons with disabilities.
    • Pain is such a pain!
      Pain is an intruder, interrupter, isolator, and driver of guilt and grief. The good news ais that your body is telling you what it needs. The bad news is you have to learn what to do about it and how to adapt.
    • Partners in Ushering
      Mari Janzen took the initiative to make Tom her ushering partner, and together they are learning to know everyone in their large congregation.
    • Perfect in God's Sight
      “Remember, you are perfect in God's sight,” athlete Tim Berta reflects, after surviving a traumatic brain injury.
    • Ready and Able
      Tony Walters, a deacon at Papago Buttes Church of the Brethren who happens to have autism, helps prepare for the congregation's love feasts.
    • Redefining Disability
      At First Mennonite Church, ability or disability seem irrelevant, as persons with disabilities contribute through leadership and other gifts.
    • Reflecting on Disability
      The lived experience of disability nudges us continually toward an inclusion that moves far beyond making our churches physically accessible, to a sense of the table of Christ’s fellowship open for all.
    • Remembering Kent
      Anabaptist Disability Network remembers the life of Kent Gundy of Goshen, Indiana, and reflects on the contributions he made to the organization.
    • Savoring the Present
      Michael and Mary Lehman Yoder share stories of coping with Michael's early-onset Alzheimer's disease.
    • Semester of the Heart
      A story of priorities reoriented by living in community with people who have developmental disabilities
    • Stigmatizing and Separating: A Parent's Plea
      A mother describes the world of stigma and injustice that her daughter with an intellectual disability faces. Stigmas towards those with disabilities need to change, and need begin in the church.
    • Straightening, Raising, and Smoothing
      Isaiah's words are instructive. Prepare the way for the Lord! The path of the Lord is one upon which all people can traverse. It causes no stumbling, no barriers, there is nothing to limit one’s passage. Here God's glory is revealed!
    • Surviving Depression
      Those of us with mental illness deeply need people who will face the abyss with us without flinching, writes Christine Guth.
    • Thank You
      The words “thank you,” coming from a man who rarely speaks, embody God's hospitality and gratitude to a caregiver
    • The Edinburgh Rain
      Even in the wake of mental illness and homeless, each person's unique story of incredible resilience and strength does not change.
    • The Feast of the Incarnation
      Celebrating the Incarnation as a sign that our salvation comes through the earthly and material reality that we are
    • The Kin-dom of Heaven
      Sarah Werner provides an eloquent imagining of what it feels like to be wholly welcomed into God's Community
    • The Lord is My Strength
      ​Erick Sawatzky brought together Anabaptist beliefs and lived experience with disability to suggest elements of an Anabaptist disability theology
    • The Messages of Community
      After spending time with friends with developmental disabilities, the author comes to realize their rare awareness and maturity.
    • The Peace of Christ
      The second week of Advent
    • The Peace of Christ
      Can we open our hearts and lives to the most vulnerable so that they can transform our vision about what it means to be Christian, citizens, and human?
    • The Point of No Return
      Dwight Roth paints a haunting word picture that challenges us to think about who we are and how we show compassion
    • The Third Servant
      When we see a sister or brother who reminds us of the third servant—despondent, suspicious, avoiding all risk—our invitation is to bear that beloved child of God up before the throne of mercy.
    • The Weak are Indispensable!
      Could the Apostle Paul have been thinking about people with disabilities when he wrote, “The members of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable”?
    • The Wisdom of God
      By choosing to become the scapegoat of humanity’s violence, Jesus radically identifies with the suffering “other”
    • Tiny, Little Awkward Steps
      Pastor Nathanael Hofstetter Ressler offers tips for congregations beginning to accommodate for mental illness and support mental health.
    • To stare or to gaze
      How will we look at people with intellectual disabilities? with a stare or with a gaze?
    • Touching Eternity
      Jessica lives with phantom chronic pain. Despite persistent prayer, her aching, burning, and stabbing pain remains. In this powerful article, Jessica reveals how her pain is helping her discover eternity.
    • Tragedy Opens a Door
      Pastor Bob Molsberry reflects on the hit-and-run bicycle accident that has left him using a wheelchair and how this experience contributes to his ministry overseeing congregations in Ohio.
    • Transformation on the Trail
      A parent of an autistic young adult reflects on the changing of seasons and the tug-of-war between joy and sorrow in the heart.
    • Transition to Adulthood
      Kevin Sauder shares about the transition from school to adult life for his son who is on the autism spectrum.
    • Tribute to Aunt Debbie
      A tribute to a beloved aunt, who had many fondly remembered qualities, one of which was that she had Down syndrome.
    • True Prayer
      Today I experienced a real God moment while praying with our core members at L’Arche.
    • Turning the Ground by Standing Still
      Sometimes the real touch from God is not in what doctors know, but in being okay with the unknown, placing ourselves into God’s hands, and allowing Him to turn the soil in our own stillness.
    • Walking with Vets
      Metro Mennonite Church in Oklahoma City supports an active ministry with military veterans
    • We are Able Workcamp
      Jonathan Shively reflects on the blessings and growth of the 2023 workcamp week.
    • We Are Able Workcamp
      A balance of work and play helps create lasting friendships that makes this workcamp a meaningful experience for teens and young adults with developmental disabilities.
    • When Something Goes Right
      When things go right for someone having a violent psychotic break, you can be sure that an engaged community is providing support, both in the moment and behind the scenes.
    • Where's the justice in that?
      Why are so few people with developmental disabilities present in our churches? Next time you go to church, have a look around, note who is in attendance and resolve to do what you can do to bring those who aren’t already there into the fold.
    • Why I Went to a Funeral for Someone I Never Knew
      Contributions made by a person with an intellectual disability often aren't recognized. L’Arche has taught me that God also uses those whom society deems unfit to teach us what humanity, love, laughter, and life are really and truly all about.
    • Will you be my friend?
      For the first time I understood that people with developmental disabilities asked the same questions and shared the same hopes that I did.
    • Worlds Changed by MCS
      Living with Mutiple Chemical Sensitivities requires lifestyle changes and supportive friends who are willing to adapt.
    • Would you sit with me awhile?
      To know pain and suffering is to be human. Sometimes in times of pain, loss, and suffering, what is needed is less advice and more companionship.
    • Wounded and Whole
      Why does the Resurrected Jesus have wounds? Laura Stone muses in her sermon on disability and wholeness. Plus a sneak peek of Laura and Peggy Gilbert's performance poetry.
    • Youth Ministry for All Abilities
      Resources and reflections from The Gathering Place on youth ministry that includes people with disabilities, from eight Anabaptist writers and speakers.

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