Orphans with Intellectual Disabilities
Welcome to the inaugural posting for Special Hope Network. As you may have seen from the About tab, we are a faith-based non-profit that believes we are specifically called to care and to love orphans and vulnerable children who have intellectual and developmental disabilities. On a lighter note, we want to apologize from the beginning that this is the first blog we've ever written, and if it were not for our oldest daughter, we would not have read any others, either! So if there are any blog protocols that we are missing, we beg your indulgence, as we wake up to the ...
Why must we care for orphans with special needs?
We wrestled for some time with the title for this present post, wondering whether we should substitute the "must" for the awkward, but more accurate "get to" regarding our privilege for caring for orphans who have special needs. A privilege, because anytime God calls us to be like Him, it inevitably as David Livingstone, the great missionary to Africa understood, ceases to be a sacrifice. To love those whom God loves is not a must, or at least not a must alone, it is a distinct privilege. It is not something we have to do, it is something we get ...
Why must we care for orphans, Part Two
If my heart was revealed in that moment, one of the places God reveals His is Psalm 22:24, where He states "For He has not despised or abhorred the affliction of the afflicted, and He has not hidden His face from him, but has heard, when he cried to Him." David himself was so struck by this revelation that he prefaces it in verse 23 that all Israel should stand in awe and glorify God, a God who is like this. You see, David was accustomed to the gods of the nations being a lot like the rest of us. ...
Welcome to Special Hope Network!
We are a faith-based non-profit corporation working in Sub-Saharan Africa in order to care for, teach, and love orphans and vulnerable children who have intellectual disabilities, for the sake and in the name of Jesus. We invite you to look around our site. We are constantly updating photos, videos, and our blog. We'll be adding new features specific to projects and countries we are working with on a regular basis. Welcome!More Featured Posts
Open Your Mouth- A Night of Worship and Advocacy
“Open your mouth for those who cannot speak, for the rights of all the unfortunate. Open your mouth; judge righteously, and defend the rights of the afflicted and the needy.” Proverbs 31:8-9 In the midst of the worldwide orphan crisis, God is calling His people to act. Specifically, we believe God is calling His church to action on behalf of orphans with special needs, or intellectual... [Read more]
Today in the Washington Post
Many of you may have read two interesting articles in the Sunday Washington Post today, that directly related to our post on language and how to speak about folks who develop differently than the “norm”, and specifically the use of the word “Retard”. For those of you who didn’t have that chance, I will recap them here for you, and footnote the articles, so you can read... [Read more]
How Lovely is His Dwelling Place
The idea of the Lord’s “dwelling place” is quite nice, isn’t it? I’m sure many of you have heard and sung the contemporary worship song “Better is One Day”… “How lovely is Your dwelling place, oh Lord Almighty My soul longs and even faints for You. One thing I ask and I would seek, to see Your beauty To find you in the place Your glory dwells.” Though... [Read more]
Special Needs and the Language of Disabilities
It is funny to me, as a Mom of children who have special needs, that often folks say to me a phrase that grates on the ear, and yet to someone who isn’t daily dealing with the needs of people with disabilities, the speaker doesn’t even notice! As a Special Needs Teacher, I had situations in the course of recording a student’s progress when I was required to write all the strengths... [Read more]
Who Are You Forgetting?
Over the past 15 years, we have noticed a familiar pattern occurring when people initially meet our children. They usually respond with questions, perhaps some concerns, and a typically fair amount of awkwardness. It could be the way Mollie starts to immediately regale you with the last 20 meals she has enjoyed, all while only communicating by whispering and signing, or perhaps it is Samuel telling... [Read more]