Almost two years ago, we felt led to create something. We noticed that too often folks who do not have disabilities do not get many opportunities within the church or faith-based organizations to hang out and develop relationships with those who do.
So, we formed a Life Group at our church called Affinity. Why “affinity?” The definition of affinity is a strong connection or relationship between people or things.
We wondered, if we brought people together for the express purpose of studying God’s Word and building community, if the people — whether they had disabilities or not — would grow an affinity for one another.
While we have seen this group growing in affection for one another, a recent event helped us to know beyond a shadow of a doubt that Affinity is family.
One of our members has only been able to come to us by Zoom because she lives on the opposite side of the country. She found our Life Group in the Autumn of 2020. During the time that most of the world was shut down because of a pandemic in the Spring of 2020, Sondi found our church and found an online Life Group that was meeting by Zoom at that time. By Autumn of that year, Central Virginia was opening up a bit more and our church had opportunities to come to worship services and Life Groups in-person. Unfortunate for one group, but very fortunate for us, they decided to meet only in-person and drop the Zoom opportunity.
That led our Sondi to look for another Life Group at our church that had a hybrid component. The major blessing for us was she found our Affinity.
For almost two years, our group has been growing. We have a solid group of folks who meet up either in-person or by Zoom. The cool thing about always having an online component is that whether you are coming from across the country or in the same town, hybrid will always be available to you.
As the leaders, we have occasions that we have had to travel and be out of town on the weekends for ministry events. But, because we have Zoom, we can still lead the group from out of town. Wonderful folks from inside the class set up the camera and microphone and we do not have to miss being with our group.
Also, some folks have been unable to get into the building because of illness or company, but they can still join us by Zoom.
So, back to our story. Sondi recently completed her undergrad and master’s degree online at a university local to our church and decided to come out for graduation ceremonies.
And thus began evidence of how our group has grown in Affinity and affection for one another. This group of people grabbed every opportunity to find ways to make this trip happen for our beloved Sondi. From finding a place to stay, to a car to drive around town, to rides to and from the airport, to attending graduation, to individual meet-ups for meals and gatherings, to an amazing awesome reunion in person in the building where it all began where we got to study God’s Word together with Sondi in the room — this was love, affection, and affinity displayed. This was testimony of God’s work among those of us who have disabilities and those of us who do not.
And really, when you think about it – we all have special needs and God proves Himself faithful to care for each one of us in special ways — and He often uses each other to do so.
If you would like to intentionally create a Life Group where people with disabilities and those who do not have disabilities have opportunity to get to know each other and grow in Christ’s family and you would like someone to talk it over with, please do not hesitate to contact us at Champions4Parents@gmail.com and let’s get the conversation started.
Much love,
Tom and Julie Meekins
CONNECT WITH US:
We invite you to connect with Tom, Julie, and Amy through:
Email: champions4parents@gmail.com
Phone: 410-746-9010 (Voice or Text)
Facebook: www.facebook.com/Champions4Parents
Don’t forget our website: www.Champions4Parents.com
And check out Amy’s book at www.HeartReCHARGE.com
