Raising children with special needs can be a challenge for many families, at times making it difficult to participate in activities such as church services.
Personally understanding this need, Laura DiFatta, a member of Dawson Memorial Baptist Church, Birmingham, in Birmingham Baptist Association, created a ministry called Hearts and Hands.
Through this ministry, volunteers help these children take part in Sunday School and other activities while their parents and siblings also attend church.
“I have a niece who is disabled and she definitely has a special place in my heart,” DiFatta said.
“God definitely used her as a part of giving me a passion to do this,” she continued. “In June 2002, I had a clear call from God to start this ministry to provide a way for families with a child with special needs to be able to worship in confidence and be comfortable with the fact that their children were being well cared for.”
Led by DiFatta and more than 40 volunteers who act as “buddies,” the ministry is offered Sunday mornings, Wednesday nights and during Vacation Bible School to children who have short-term or long-term cognitive or physical disabilities that require extra assistance in the classroom.
“When we find out a family is interested in coming and bringing their child with special needs, we have a buddy ready, and we try to mainstream the child with their age-appropriate or developmentally appropriate Sunday School class,” DiFatta said.
“We provide an adult buddy to that child the entire time the child is at church, and we partner with the parents by finding out any special information about the child, like how to calm the child if they get upset, their particular likes, dislikes and interests, anything they might need extra help with and anything to watch out for medically,” she said.
“We always have a buddy on call, so if we do have an unexpected visitor, we have someone in place for that child too.”
“In our research, we found that parents of children with special needs often found it difficult to find a church home because people fear the unknown,” said Beth Johns, program manager in the Department of Maternal and Child Health at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) School of Public Health. “We try to assist faith-based programs in finding resources and acquiring information that will help them include families of children with special needs.”
DiFatta is determined to make her church a place of inclusion for all families.
“We called it Hearts and Hands because we love with our hearts so we serve with our hands. God calls us to love others and put that love in action,” she said.
Since serving the first participant in 2003, the ministry has worked so well that church leaders across state and denominational lines have met with DiFatta to organize similar programs.
“I want people to understand that it’s far bigger than just caring for children every Sunday,” she said. “These families have tremendous challenges moment by moment. So, we step out and meet their needs on Sunday morning and they appreciate it so much. Not only do they get Christian fellowship, but while they are at church they are filled with hope and encouragement that comes only from hearing the Word of God.”
While establishing the ministry, DiFatta received organizational help from Ginny Glass, children’s minister and staff liaison for Hearts and Hands.
Glass had also attended seminars to achieve a better understanding of children with special needs and to discover the best worship environment for them.
“The families that participate in Hearts and Hands have come to Dawson because of this ministry. For some it has been the first time they have attended Bible Study or worship since their child with special needs was born,” Glass said.
“It’s an extended arm of the preschool and children’s ministry. We have been very blessed to provide this,” she noted. “We feel it’s going to grow because the need is there.”
“One of my biggest desires is that this kind of ministry (would) spread like wildfire to other churches — Baptist as well as other denominations, that people’s eyes would be open to the need,” DiFatta said. “Jesus would welcome families with these needs in His name. In order for them to feel welcome, they have got to feel confident that we are prepared to take care of their children with special needs.”
DiFatta understands the eternal impact of the ministry and has seen at least “one parent come to salvation in Christ since bringing her child to Hearts and Hands.”
“We don’t often see the eternal rewards, but they are there,” she said.
“Every one of these children we care for have siblings. Maybe one day they will think that these people did this out of love for Christ and they’ll be inspired to live for Him and serve Him too.”
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