This Fall, our Bethesda team traveled to Santiago, Chile to lead a training for disability ministry leaders with Semejantes (which means “similar” in Spanish), a Chilean Joni & Friends ministry partner. The training was a culmination of a process that began when Miguel Rivera, one of our Spanish World Trainers, introduced members of our Spanish ministry team to Elisa Labbé, Coordinator of Semejantes in Argentina, Chile, and Uruguay.
Elisa quickly caught Bethesda’s vision and was excited to share it with her colleagues. “The methodology of using different communication channels to deliver teaching and encourage participation of the child or young person with disabilities is extraordinary!”
Chile is one of many countries where people affected by disability do not have the kinds of educational options or support they often have in the States. But people with limited education who are affected by disability are still made in God’s image, and able to receive his word, as the team saw firsthand in the training.
People with limited education who are affected by disability are still made in God’s image, and able to receive his word, as the team saw firsthand in the training.
Elisa had brought some of her friends affected by disability along to be “students” for the twelve leaders participating in the seeJesus training. One of the passages they read was John 9:2-3, “The disciples asked, ‘Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind? ‘Neither this man nor his parents sinned,’ said Jesus, ‘but this happened so that the works of God might be displayed in him.’”
These words so amazed Mónica, one of the students, that she, along with her mother, gave her life to Jesus. God’s Word touched them the same way that Jill Miller saw it touch her daughter Kim, leading her to create these adapted studies.
Work is underway to complete translation of all the Bethesda studies into Spanish so these 12 new Bethesda trainers will have a wealth of material to draw from as they minister in Chile.
Elisa writes, “Jesus shared with people in daily life, in the field, on the street and in their homes. He spoke about the love of God in a practical and understandable way, with examples such as the shepherd’s work with sheep, planting or household chores such as searching for a lost coin. We thank God for the visit of the brothers and sisters of Bethesda who use these educational principles to teach the good news of Jesus to people with special educational needs!”
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