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Donations
Few things test our faith more than joyful giving. Matthew 6:21 tells us that where our treasures are, our heart will be also. Jesus also said in Matthew 22:37-39 that the greatest commandment was to love the Lord our God with all our heart, with all our soul, and with all our mind. The second greatest commandment is to love our neighbor as we love ourselves. Your giving will assist us in reaching thousands of churches to ....
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A Call To Church Leadership
Calling all churches to discipleship and ministry.
This downloadable eBook is a "free" gift to church leadership and pastors from God’s Special Angels Ministries. This book will answer many initial questions regarding establishing a Special Needs Ministry in your church. Coming soon! Click below to get your copy now!
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Hebrews 11:1 & 11 (NASB) -
(1)Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.
(11)By faith even Sarah herself received ability to conceive, even beyond the proper time of life, since she considered Him faithful who had promised.
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Hello! I'm Lonnie Richardson, the founder of God’s Special Angels Ministries, and I would like to share a few things with the parents of special needs individuals. More likely than not, you have not experienced the joy and peace of God’s kingdom in your everyday life or in a local church setting. I believe that I can make that statement, because I am also the parent of a special needs individual and I also once struggled without peace and joy or the support of a local church. My daughter, Megan, was born with autism. I know how frustrating and difficult it can be to raise a special needs child. I know and understand the heart ache involved in an uncertain future for your child and your family. At one time or another, we have all had questions regarding why I our children were born with special needs. It does not seem fair. It seems at times that caring for special needs child is a great burden. However, I assure you, without any hesitation, that your child is not an accident or a mistake. Your child is not broken as it would seem that society's standard would have you believe. I’ll say it again. Your child is not broken.
The book of Psalms 139:13-16 states, 13. "for you formed my inward parts; you wove me in my mother's womb. 14. I will give thanks to you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; wonderful are your works, and my soul knows it very well. 15. My frame was not hidden from you, when I was made in secret, and skillfully wrought in the depths of the earth; 16. Your eyes have seen my unformed substance; and in your book were all written the days that were ordained for me, when as yet there was not one of them."
In this passage, is a very clear explanation that every person is formed and woven within their mother's womb by God’s own hand. God is a perfect being. God does not make mistakes. God does not experience accidents. "Ooops", is not in God’s vocabulary. Yours special needs child is a specially wrapped gift from God. Your child was created by God to fulfill a very specific purpose in God’s plan. As parents of special needs children, we need to understand God’s sovereignty.
In the book of Isaiah 45:5-7 states, 5. I am the Lord, and there is no other; besides me there is no God. I will gird you, though you have not known me; 6. That men may know from the rising to the setting of the sun that there is no one besides me. I am the Lord, and there is no other, 7. The one forming light and creating darkness, causing well being and creating calamity; I am the Lord who does all these.
God’s sovereignty is over all aspects of our lives, whether we want to admit it or not. God is in control when we get a pay raise. God is in control when we get a new house. God is in control when we get to take that really nice vacation. However, God is in control when a storm blows through our neighborhood that destroys our home while leaving the homes of our neighbors standing. God is in control when someone backs into our new car at the mall. God is in control when we study hard and get good grades, but someone else gets the scholarship. Likewise, God is in control when we are delivered a child specially wrapped. Why does God make our children with special needs, while the child next door is quote "perfectly normal" unquote?
In Romans 11:33 the holy Bible states, "Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and unfathomable are his ways!" Nine initially, that may not mean much to you. However, the answer is held within this piece of Scripture, although it may not be the answer we are looking for. Basically, the Scripture states that God’s wisdom, knowledge, and judgments are unsearchable and unfathomable. In short, no one knows why God has chosen some to be special needs and not others. It is not for us to know why God has chosen our children to be special needs. It is for us to have faith in God’s wisdom and in God’s great overall plan. It is by our faith in Jesus Christ, that we receive our salvation. It is by faith that we must trust God in his infinite wisdom, and accept our children as a perfect creation of God. It is my belief that God gives special needs children to special parents, because He has a greater purpose for that child and your family. It is by our faith and our submission to discipleship that we are to discover where and how we fit in to God’s great plan and purpose in our lives. We are not to question God why our child is specially wrapped.
Isaiah 45:9-10 states, 9. "woe to the one who quarrels with his maker--and earthenware vessel among the vessels of the earth! Will the Clay say to the Potter, 'What are you doing?' Or the thing you are making say, 'he has no hands?' 10. "Woe to him who says to a father, 'What are you begetting?' Or to a woman, 'To what are you giving birth?'"
God is sovereign. God is in control. All things happen, according to God’s will. Are we to be angry with God because our children have special needs? May it never be so! God has a specific purpose for your child in your life. Your special needs child is a gift and not a burden. That care, giving your child will be rewarded. When we accept Jesus Christ as our personal Lord and Savior, we are saved from our sins, the Holy Spirit comes to dwell within us, gives us our spiritual gifts, and our names are written in the Lamb's the book of life never to be erased. We receive at that time our "inner works". Baptism is an outward expression and our declaration to the world of our inner works. What you must realize is that your child's "inner works" were completed at conception. A child with special needs receives special provisions from God when they are conceived. In all actuality, they are already closer to God than you or I can ever hope to be. They are truly God’s special Angels.
I encourage you to not look upon your child is a burden but as a gift. I encourage you to seek a spirit filled church to worship God, gain support, and enjoy Godly Fellowship. I encourage you to pray that the peace of God’s kingdom will descend upon you in your daily lives. I encourage you to pray during difficult times that God will take your difficulty and turn it into insight. When I lost society sees how your lives have been changed by God’s love and grace despite what they perceive as and unthinkable obstacle, they in turn will want what you have, which is Christ Jesus in their lives. Your family will stand as a living testament to God’s love, grace, and mercy. That alone is a powerful testimony regarding the greatness of God. Do not be angry with God. God can and will give you peace, strength, and faith to enrich your lives and the lives of your special needs children. You stand in a position to give others hope. Where faith is hope will be found as well. As long as there is hope there is a reason to carry on not only with your lives and use to spiritual gifts that you have received during your salvation.
The gift of a special needs child is not any form of punishment. To prove you that God is directly associated with the special needs, I direct you to Exodus 4: 10-11. 10. Then Moses said to the Lord, "Please Lord, I have never been eloquent, neither recently nor in time past, nor since you have spoken to your servant; for I am slow of speech and slow of tongue." 11. The Lord said unto him, "Who has made man's mouth? Or who makes him mute or deaf, or seeing or blind? Is it not I, the Lord?"
It is my understanding that Moses, who was a great man of God, was slow in his speech. In fact, it is generally accepted that Moses stuttered terribly. Yet God used him to bring the entire nation of Israel out of Egypt. During the time of Moses there was no training or technology that would assist in overcoming stuttering. Moses was a special needs individual. Yet God used him to set the people of Israel free from Pharoah's slavery. Moses' brother, Aaron, was the testament God used to speak to Pharaoh using the words that God gave Moses to tell Aaron what to say. The only problem with Aaron is that he would do and say pretty much what anyone told him to. Moses sister, Miriam, was a prophetess that was angry because God spoke to Moses instead of her. That's a dysfunctional family. God used a special needs individual, Moses, and the dysfunctional family of Moses to lead the whole nation of Israel out of Egypt.
A special needs child is not a punishment. A special needs child is a gift. The book of John 9:1-3 gives us this beautiful example. "1. As he passed by, he saw a man blind from birth. 2. And His disciples asked Him, "Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he would be born blind?" 3. Jesus answered, "It was neither that this man sinned, nor his parents; but it was so that the works of God might be displayed in him."
I have become convinced as a faithful and obedient follower of Christ that my life has changed for the better because I am the parent of a special needs child and because I am faithful and obedient in serving my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. I'm not speaking from what I do not know. I do not believe that you can teach what you don't know. I do not believe that you can lead where you will not go. In my own life. I have experienced many blessings, spiritually, physically, and financially by seeking God first in all things and sincerely living a faithful and obedient life.
You are all in my thoughts and prayers. I yearn for each and everyone of you to know the peace of God’s kingdom as I know it. The healing and blessings are immeasurable. My faith has increased and I trust God with all things. I give all my cares, my concerns, and my worries to the Holy Spirit that lives within me. It is not by my strength, nor by my might that I have overcome the stigma placed on my child by society, but by God’s grace and power.
God bless each and every one of you. I stand firm in my faith that you too can lead a life fulfilled in God’s peace. Your life, your special needs child's life, and the life of their siblings will be greatly enriched when you accept your salvation and submit to discipleship to discover and experience your spiritual gifts in serving God’s great purpose and His Will in your lives and in the lives of others around you.
Lonnie Richardson, God’s Special Angels Ministries
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