Global Missionaries Serve Persons with Disabilities

Editor's Note: On August 17, the Assemblies of God recognized those of all abilities during Disability Sunday.

As the Assemblies of God World Missions’ first full-time missionaries to persons with disabilities, Thomas R., 60, & Angelia F., 55, Carpenter are helping churches worldwide to welcome this population into church life, where they can give and receive powerfully from the Holy Spirit.

“People with special needs are typically hidden away,” Angelia says. “You’ve got to look for them.”

Disabilities can be defined as any physical or mental condition that renders a person immobile or keeps him or her from being integrated into a community. This can include conditions like Down Syndrome, cerebral palsy, and autism. In certain cultures, persons with disabilities are tucked away, given few resources or opportunities. Few countries outside the United States provide accessibility to those with physical and mental challenges.

By invitation from local churches or missionaries, the Carpenters help train and recruit people to integrate this population in a sustainable way. One way of bringing persons with disabilities and their families out of the shadows is to put on camps lasting anywhere from one day to a week, which are “as fun and accessible and filled with Jesus as we can make them,” says Angelia. Activities — all tailored to the abilities of attendees — include things like swimming, playing games, making crafts and putting on a talent show.

“We provide experiences they don’t normally get,” says Thomas.

Entire families often start attending church because of the camps, and they “find a community they didn’t know they could have,” Angelia says. “They need it so badly. It encourages them to see and relate with other parents with children with similar challenges.”

In one country, the Carpenters not only established an annual camp for persons with disabilities, but their efforts have gained praise from high-level governmental leaders who want them to multiply their efforts across the country.

The Carpenters first ministered to persons with disabilities while serving as children’s evangelists in the U.S. thirty years ago. Upon accepting an invitation to speak at a camp for persons with disabilities, they “were so in awe at the gifts and abilities of people with profound special needs,” says Thomas. “A young man with Down’s gave a message in tongues and another gave interpretation, and it was on point. You go, what did I just see?”

Angelia adds, “From that very first camp, it captured our hearts. We knew the rest of our ministry would include people with special needs.”

Since then, this ministry has been a focus of their efforts while they also served variously in churches and leadership in the Arkansas District. In 2017, they joined CompassionLink as disabilities coordinators, serving what some call the world’s largest unreached people group.

“Many churches have a heart for special needs ministry but don’t know where to start or what to do,” Angelia says. “It’s a challenging field because of the stigma attached to this people group. We come alongside to help to fulfill a church’s vision.”

Leah Baty, an AGWM missionary to Ecuador for 15 years, has worked with the Carpenters since 2018 to launch a ministry for persons with disabilities in Cuenca, Ecuador, a city of some 700,000 people situated in the Andean mountains. There, the Carpenters have taught local pastors about the opportunity to reach persons with disabilities, and how to serve them and their families well.

But what struck Baty most has been the observation that God wants to move on and through people often considered unable to receive His presence in the same measure.

“We have seen their ability to be filled with the Holy Spirit and have encounters with God like anyone else,” Baty says. “You’re thinking, How can a person with Down Syndrome understand this? This is genuine, not something they would know how to imitate. It brings a new perspective on things of the Spirit when you see someone that our mind would think is limited have this incredible encounter with God. It reminds you how personal our God is with every individual on this planet.”

Baty says the ministry in Cuenca has experienced a “ripple effect” among family members, government officials, and dignitaries who are coming to know the Lord through participating in these types of camps or events.

“The Carpenters are amazing people who have helped us reach into an untapped group and inspired our local churches to do this ministry,” she says. “We hope to continue to see this ministry expand in our city.”

Camps for persons with disabilities, which can draw anywhere from half a dozen people to more than 100, always have people receiving Christ for the first time, Thomas says — including family members and caregivers. But founding an annual camp takes time, preparation, advance visits and, most importantly, local commitment. Sustainability comes when people in local churches carry the vision forward with determination.

The Carpenters also serve AGWM missionaries who have children with disabilities by giving respite care so parents and siblings can attend regional conferences and other important events.

“We love loving on our own MKs and ministering to our missionary families,” Angelia says.

The Carpenters’ ultimate goal “is to get persons with disabilities from dark places and closets into the open places where they can minister to the community and be ministered to,” says Thomas. “Those with disabilities are not a mistake. God has a plan for their lives, and his plan is for us to minister one to another, so we look for places where people with special needs can bless other people.”