Loma Linda, California, USA, July 12, 2019 [CD-EUDNews. C.Cozzi]. One of the novelties of the 3rd Global Conference on Health and Lifestyle, held at the Adventist University of Loma Linda, California, with 800 participants, is the partnership between Health Ministries and Possibility Ministries, the department of the General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists (GC) that deals with ministries for people with disabilities and the Deaf. This ministry is led by Larry Evans, Assistant to the GC President for Possibility Ministries, who, during the conference, presented a topic that seemed to be a heartfelt call to be respectful of those forced to live with a disability that makes them seemingly different.
Dr. Peter Landless, GC Health Ministry director and organizer of the Global Conference, welcomed Dr. Evans on the stage while remarking on the historical nature of the moment: including this new ministry in the whole organization.
In his presentation, Dr. Evans invited the participants to reflect on the need to recover the dignity and possibility for each person.
"In the world there are more than 1.2 billion people with disabilities," said Evans, "but by looking within each of ourselves, we would find that we all have some form of disability. In one way or another, we all need attention and respect.”
Dr. Evans recalled three points that should help all of us to reflect when we encounter people with disabilities:
1. we can be very inhumane and cruel toward those who are different than we perceive ourselves to be
2. we confuse dignity with respect. They aren’t the same. Self-identity is critical.
3. we can make a difference, but something needs to change, including us.
Dr. Evans highlighted that in order to discover our true identity, we must first find the truth outside of ourselves rather than within ourselves.
“We find our identity, our value, our worth in Jesus who is both our Creator and our Redeemer. This has a direct bearing on how we identify others; how we value others regardless of what the eye may see, what the ear may or may not hear, or what the mind may be able to comprehend,” Dr. Evans explained.
Interesting to note that during the post-industrial period, when the law in some countries restricted people with disabilities from mingling with the general public, in 1874, the Seventh-day Adventist Church, inspired by Ellen White, American writer and one of the Adventist pioneers, promoted a special attention for widows and orphans, the blind, the deaf, the lame, and persons afflicted in a variety of ways. “[These people] are placed in close Christian relationship to His [God’s] church; it is to prove His people and develop their true character,” Dr. Evans quoted White.
The value of a person, his/her dignity, should not be based on what he/she is able to do, or may have done in the past. Rather, the value of a person should be seen in what God has done, is doing and could do, if given an opportunity.
Finally, quoting a Bible verse from First John (1 John 3.16-18 NLT), Dr. Evans concluded his presentation with an appeal: “Let us not merely say that we love each other; let us show the truth by our actions”.
The challenge is open. Maybe, as a Church, we are a little bit behind the reality of a concrete action in favor of those that are living with a disability, but we are trying to do our part.
The official organization of ministries like Special Needs Ministries and Adventist Deaf Ministry International are a good starting point, and officially including both in this 3rd Global Conference on Health and Lifestyle is a clear message that the Church wants to pursue this goal to “show the truth by our actions” by giving visibility to this pretty new Possibility Ministry.
