Today, we're pleased to share with you an audio essay written and read by Sandra Peoples,

entitled, Ten Things You Should Know About Disability.

Sandra is the author of Accessible Church, a gospel-centered vision for including people

with disabilities and their families from Crossway.

Ten things you should know about disability ministry written and read by Sandra Peoples.

Number one, it starts with a theology of disability, understanding that every person is made in the

image of God and has the potential to have a relationship with him.

Passages throughout Scripture talk about God's purposeful design for each person, like Exodus 4, verse 11.

Then the Lord said to Moses, who has made man's mouth?

Who makes him mute or deaf or seeing or blind?

Is it not I the Lord? And Psalm 139 verses 13 through 14, for you formed my inward parts. You knitted me together in my mother's womb.

I praise you for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works. My soul knows it very well. Disability isn't a mistake in God's design

or a punishment for sin. It is part of God's plan and purpose for some people. Disability exists because we

live in a fallen world, but it can also be a means by which God displays His glory and grace.

Number two, it has the potential to reach a significant percentage of the population.

Recent U.S. census numbers report that two out of seven families have a member with a disability,

ranging from Alzheimer's to autism. But close to 80% of those impacted by disability do not attend church, according to multiple reports. That makes disability families an unchurched and in many cases unreached people group. They need the hope of the gospel and a gospel center church that welcomes them.

Number three, it acknowledges both the functional and social aspects of disability.

The functional aspect of disability is the impairment itself.

For example, my son with autism is functionally nonverbal.

He can speak fewer than 100 words.

The social aspect of disability is the treatment of the disabled person by society.

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