15-Minute Presentation for Church Use

15-minute presentation for Church use

Greetings from the staff; the board and all those served by Bethesda Lutheran Communities. Thank you for allowing me a few minutes of your time today. My name is XXX (include brief bio here).

What is Bethesda? Bethesda has, for the past 114 years, helped to make a difference in the lives of people who have intellectual and developmental disabilities, what we used to call mental retardation. Our official mission statement states that we exist:

To enhance the lives of people who have intellectual and developmental disabilities

Through services that share the goods news of Jesus Christ.

Let’s go back in history for a moment. Bethesda was created in 1904 by members of seven Midwestern Children’s Friend Societies – Lutheran orphanages of the day. They saw people with disabilities that could not be adopted, others that were enduring neglect and abuse in their homes by parents that saw them as a burden or simply didn’t know how to help them or didn’t have the resources to help them. They saw a need and found a solution.

What started as a school for five people with disabilities in Watertown, Wisconsin has since grown into a 13-state network of over 300 program locations serving over 1800 people with disabilities each day.

But ultimately, it is not about buildings – it is about people. Bethesda helps to serve and support people who have intellectual and developmental disabilities in many ways.

Residential Programs:
Group Homes – these are homes where 4-8 people with a disability live and typically receive 24/7 service and supervision by Bethesda staff. This includes all aspects of their daily life: preparing nutritious meals, assisting them with personal cares, providing them with opportunities to engage with their community and make the most of their God-given abilities and talents. Most of our residential programs are Group Homes (also called Adult Family Homes, Community Integrated Living Arrangements, Community Based Residential Facilities, etc. – names change based on state and program requirements).
Host Homes – these are homes where an individual or family opens their home and heart to a person with developmental disabilities to care for him/her. Through these homes, Bethesda helps people with developmental disabilities find a supportive, family-like setting where they can gain independence and form strong, lasting friendships. Our host homes allow people like you to extend their hearts and families and complete their calling to help others. Currently, we operate Host Homes in Colorado and Minnesota, but are looking to increase opportunities to serve people in this way.
Family Caregiver Home – these are homes where a member of the family provides quality, 24-hour care for another family member with a disability. This support happens in their own home and the caregiver earns a professional wage. Bethesda serves as a resource and ally to people with developmental disabilities who wish to remain at home with their families and receive support from a parent, sibling or relative in a familiar setting.
Community Connections: we help people with disabilities be active participants in their communities. This doesn’t just mean shopping or eating in a restaurant or going to watch a ball game. We help them find volunteer opportunities in their church, area schools, nursing homes and businesses. We help people connect with their neighbors, develop friendships and truly enjoy a meaningful life.
Employment: People have jobs – ideally jobs that they can do well, that they enjoy and find fulfilling and that provide an income. People with disabilities also want to work, but often lack the skills needed or have difficulty finding employers willing to hire them because they have a disability. Bethesda helps people with disabilities acquire the skills they need to find community employment and we work with local businesses to encourage them to give people with disabilities a chance to show that they can be a positive asset to their businesses. Bethesda also operates sheltered workshops for those who are still gaining basic work skills or who haven’t yet found an opportunity to work in the community.
Bethesda College: In 2015, Bethesda, in partnership with Concordia College, Mequon, WI, created a college program for people with disabilities. It is a two-year certificate program that focuses on learning life skills and job preparation. These students live on-campus in the dorms and go to class each day, like any other student. In this way, they have a opportunity not only to learn in the classroom, but to learn how to live on their own and to enjoy the college experience. This program has proven to be very successful and will soon be replicated and expanded to other college locations.

Faith Supports and our Spiritual Life services – Helping people with jobs and homes is great and in this way Bethesda is serving God by serving the needs of others. But at the end of the day, the most important service we can provide is to share the good news of Jesus and connect people with disabilities with their local congregation.

To accomplish this, we have a 17-member Religious Life Team at Bethesda. They work across the country to do a number of important tasks:

Working with each person we serve, as well as their families and guardians, to ensure that they have a Faith-Life Plan, that identifies where and how they want to worship their Lord and Savior, what church they want to be connected to, if they have been baptized and confirmed and how they want to use their gifts and abilities as members of that congregation. We then work with local pastors and congregations to ensure that each person’s spiritual needs are being met and that they have opportunities to worship and to live their faith through service opportunities.
Creating devotions, Bible-studies and catechism instruction materials specifically designed to meet the needs of people with disabilities. We use these in all of our program locations and offer to share these resources with families, pastors, teachers and volunteers at local congregations and in the community.
Training our own staff – many of the people we hire are not Lutheran – some may not be Christian. Yet all of them are required to support the faith-life of the people whom we serve each day. We provide training to staff so that they understand their role and find ways to support the faith of the people they work with.
Consulting with congregations – most communities don’t have a Bethesda facility, but all of them have people with disabilities living there. We encourage congregations to welcome people of all abilities into the life of their congregation and specially to reach out to people with disabilities to share the gospel with them as well. We provide a free consulting service to any congregation that comes to us for assistance to start or enhance their outreach to people with disabilities in their congregation or community.

Ultimately, it is not about programs or facilities, but about people. Every day, Bethesda changes people’s lives. I think of Trenton, a man in St. Louis who grew up angry because he felt he had no friends and other kids picked on him. Through Bethesda’s work, we connected him to a local congregation where he was baptized and confirmed and today is a much happier and productive person. Nikki, who was served by Bethesda in Johnson Creek, WI, and expressed a desire to be confirmed. Bethesda worked with her and her pastor and, using Bethesda’s materials, helped to prepare her to take her confirmation vows. Or Rikki, a gentleman from Watertown, WI who developed autism by age 2. His mother struggled to help him receive the services he needed but now, at Bethesda, he has graduated from high school, volunteers in the community, has a part-time job and has almost endless opportunities for the future.

The need continues. Statistically, 2-3% of the population has an intellectual or developmental disability. There are likely people in your congregation, certainly in your community, that could use your help. But what can one person do? Can any of us truly make a meaningful difference?

Bethesda doesn’t do this work alone. We have always depended upon our friends, family members, volunteers and supporters to assist us and to work together with us to carry out this mission of service to God and to people with disabilities. There are many ways you can help us:

Pray– I don’t mention this because I am in a church, but because we truly believe that it has only been by the Lord’s grace and blessing that we have been able to continue this work and impacted so many lives over the past century. It is only with the Lord’s guidance and protection that this ministry will continue and we ask that you pray that the Lord would continue to bless this work.
Volunteer – we have many opportunities to volunteer – through our Thrift Stores (if appropriate to mention) or at one of our facilities as a Home Hero. But even if there is no Bethesda facility close by, you can join our Auxiliary (as for $10 each year, our Auxiliary members are kept informed about Bethesda and join together to support our ministry through the special projects that they sponsor) or our Prayer and Postage program (where we connect you with a person with a disability and simply ask that you include them in your prayers and send occasional cards or letters to brighten their day).
Service Project–you can use your skills to make items we need, like clothing protectors or prayer cloths, make birthday baskets or host a fund raising event at your congregation. We have many ideas to share upon request.
Advocate and share – you can tell your friends about what Bethesda is and does and encourage them to join you in supporting us and getting involved with what we do. You can also learn how you can help to encourage your legislators to make laws that help people with disabilities.
Gift of Financial Support – each year, Bethesda is blessed with thousands of people across the country that provide financial support of our mission and ministry. Your gift of any amount will help us to continue to carry out this vital work. Some people will also set aside a gift to Bethesda as a part of their estate plans or will contact us for more information our “gift for income” plans, such as Charitable Gift Annuities or Trusts.

God has called us to love our neighbors as ourselves and to serve him by serving the needs of one another. These aren’t option encouragements, but commands that the Lord would give to each one of us who are members of his family through faith. Christian service is what defines us – it is a part of who we are as God’s people. So the question I present today is how will you do that better today than you did yesterday? How will you make a difference in someone’s life? Specifically, how will you make a difference in the lives of people with disabilities? Will it be showing kindness to someone with a disability in your congregation, family or neighborhood – spending time talking to them or finding ways to brighten their day? Or perhaps it will be by being a part of Bethesda’s ministry and working together with us, through your volunteer time or financial support, to help us make a difference in the lives of people with disabilities across the country.

The work Bethesda does to help people with intellectual and developmental disabilities is not easy. It is not work that others are often willing or able to do. Bethesda helps people with disabilities because the need is great and we know that we can make a difference in the physical and spiritual lives of people with disabilities across the country. Pray for us and join with us in this important work. Serve the Lord with us as we serve the needs of people with disabilities. Thank you for all that you have done – and will do – to work with Bethesda to help those in need.