55 and Growing

The beginning of the “Celebrating 55” series

To prepare for this blog, I began researching what the world was like for people with intellectual disabilities pre-1958, the year Shepherds arrived on the scene.

I came across words like, “idiocy, allowed to die of exposure, asylums, eugenic sterilization, eliminating the possibility of people with intellectual disabilities, imbeciles, removed from society, euthanasia, defective, source of sorrow to their parents” and now my heart hurts and the taco salad I ate for lunch isn’t sitting too well in my stomach.

Maybe looking back isn’t such a good idea…

But looking back is what enables a person to see the growth - the awareness that grows from the ignorance, the love that grows from the fear, the light that grows to illuminate the darkness.

It was into this darkness created by fear and ignorance that God chose to begin a good work. He was taking back a place in His world for His children with intellectual disabilities. 

LeJeune

He was moving in a mighty way…

In the 1950’s, the ARC was formed to lobby on behalf of children with disabilities. The United States had legislation in place that allowed higher functioning children with intellectual disabilities to be educated. Lejeune discovered the genetic cause of Down syndrome which helped erase some of the stigma attached to children with Trisomy 21. Awareness of the inhumane conditions in institutions grew and became an international concern, leading to movements like “normalization.” 

And God placed a vision in the hearts and minds of a Sunday school class to provide love, care and compassion to children with intellectual disabilities and their families. 

Hmmm… the latter seems kind of small on the international scale doesn’t it? How does a modest-sized group of people impact a world where the norm regarding intellectual disabilities involved using words like “moron” in polite society? A world where human value was measured by IQ, productivity and finances? A world where the “defectives” were locked up and hidden away, or worse?

How did this class have the confidence to believe that they could make even a tiny, little dent in a belief system that defined approximately 200 million people across the globe as “embarrassments to humanity?”

You already know the answer, don’t you?

They placed their faith in God, and He took their willing hearts, their talents and abilities, their earnest desire to serve Him, and He blessed it and called it good. We called it Shepherds Ministries.  

Shepherds celebrates 55 years of service to people with intellectual disabilities this year.

It’s been quite a journey.

Worldwide, we’ve seen schools swing open their doors to educate children with intellectual disabilities. We’ve heard the call to end the “R” word. We’ve watched as people with intellectual disabilities starred in popular television shows. We cheered as people with disabilities fought for rights and won. 

And on our campus in Union Grove, WI, we’ve loved, supported and encouraged the people God placed in our care.

We’ve built homes, workshops and schools as God provided the funds.

We’ve developed programs as God showed us the need.

We’ve taught our philosophy of Appropriate Independence to volunteers, youth groups and churches.

With God’s help, we have brought compassion and dignity to hundreds of people on our campus, and untold numbers of people around the world.

Through all the building and growing and serving, we’ve learned so much about people with intellectual disabilities, and it’s what we’ve learned that I want to share with you in a series of blogs I’ll simply call “Celebrating 55.”

Because, as we now know, with learning comes growth - the kind of growth that draws us out of the darkness of ignorance and fear and into a place filled with awareness and understanding; a place where all people can find acceptance, respect and purpose.