By Katie Ginn
We’re all called to be part of the body of Christ – but when your physical body is confined to a wheelchair, or when your child is nonverbal, you tend to think Jesus’ body will be just fine without you.
Your church wants to love you, but they don’t know how. Pitying smiles and variations of “I don’t know how you manage” are often the extent of it.
This is why Joni & Friends exists: to make sure churches are resourced to love the disability community well, in the name of Jesus.
That can look like a nonverbal young man finding a place to volunteer by greeting visitors with a smile at the door. It can look like a church holding a weekly night out for parents of kids with disabilities. The latter is happening at Flowood Baptist Church, where Pastor Bobby McGuffie (featured in our May edition) and his wife are parents to two girls with special needs.
It can also look like an extended time of fun and respite at Joni & Friends’ Family Retreat, coming up July 7-11 and 14-18 at Camp Kamassa in Crystal Springs.
Parents attending the retreat for the first time are often wary about leaving their disabled child alone with a mere volunteer, said Joni & Friends Area Director Azia Smith.
But before families ever arrive at camp, the organization has not only interviewed them about their specific needs, but trained a specific volunteer to meet those needs. That means being able to address individual medical issues and being familiar with each disabled person’s likes, dislikes, and triggers.
When that truth sinks in for parents and caregivers, “you can watch the relaxation happen,” Smith says.
Smith herself is one of these parents. As a single mom of 7-year-old twins, one of whom suffers severe emotional outbursts, “In some settings I get made to feel like my child isn’t meant to be there,” she says.
Then she attended a single parents’ retreat put on by Joni & Friends. She went to enjoy the retreat itself, but she also knew the global nonprofit had a local job opening and prayed about it on the way.
Within 30 seconds of stepping onto the camp property, she knew she wanted that job. “They were going to have to drag me out by my hair,” she jokes.
The two sessions of the Mississippi Family Retreat will be formatted identically, Smith says; families can choose the week that works best for them.
Camp Kamassa, which celebrated its grand opening this year, was built “with the disability community in mind,” Smith says. For instance, there are no wheelchair ramps. Instead, the chairs can simply roll through doorways, with no incline present or needed.
McGuffie said his messages will encourage parents and caregivers that they have been “prepared for such a time as this,” he says. Adopting two special needs children has “radically altered our lifestyle,” he says, “but not for the worse. Don’t see it as a burden, see it as a blessing. You’ve got this organization that’s willing to walk alongside you and encourage you.”
For volunteers, beyond the detailed training and resources, there’s one truth Smith wants them to remember:
“Love is the thing that will translate – always.”
About the Joni & Friends Family Retreat
- When: July 7-11 or 14-18 (choose your own dates pending availability)
- Where: Camp Kamassa, Crystal Springs
- What: Morning worship time, messages from retreat pastor Bobby McGuffie, respite time for parents and caregivers, and too many activities to list, including woodworking, ceramics, and other arts and crafts!
- Who: People of all ages with disabilities (no official diagnosis required), and their families/caregivers. Each week, 115 volunteers will serve approximately 100 people from 35 families.
- How: Cost is $360 per camper, $440 per volunteer. However, thanks to scholarship donations, “most people don’t have to pay the whole cost,” Smith says. Pick a date and apply at https://joniandfriends.org/calendar/category/mississippi/, or email Azia Smith at azia.smith@joniandfriends.org.
