ADNet Board Member Appointed

Students Contribute to Disabilities Advocacy

Two students are the recipients of $500 scholarships in the second year of the Student Associates Program of Anabaptist Disabilities Network (ADNet). 

Vanessa Yoder

Vanessa Yoder of Huntingdon, Pennsylvania, and Kathy Dickson of Bluffton, Ohio are pursuing one-year projects that grow out of each student's interests and career path. At the same time contribute to the disabilities advocacy work of ADNet.

Yoder, a member of Maple Grove Mennonite Church in Belleville, Pennsylvania is in her senior year at Geneva College in Beaver Falls, where she is majoring in elementary and special education. She discovered her career interest in working with children with disabilities during a year of living and serving in the Service Adventure in Albuquerque, New Mexico, where she thoroughly enjoyed her work as an assistant to a special education teacher.  Vanessa is coordinating her ADNet work with an honors research project at Geneva College.  She is exploring ways of building understanding of autism among groups of children so that they are more capable of being loving and inclusive towards their peers who live with autism.

Dickson who is Director of Career Development at Bluffton University, is also studying in the Masters of Divinity (M.Div.) program at Methodist Theological School in Delaware, Ohio. Her interest in disabilities has been strongly influenced by her relationship with a beloved aunt who had Down Syndrome. Even after her aunt’s death, the relationship has regularly inspired her to find ways of connecting with individuals with disabilities and their families.  Kathy plans to look for opportunities to contribute to ADNet through theological reflection and writing in conjunction with both her seminary coursework and her employment at Bluffton University.  

Executive Director, Paul Leichty, who works from ADNet's office in Goshen, Indiana is excited about the gifts that these two students bring to their work.  The program is in its second year after being inaugurated with the 2008-09 academic year.  

Leichty announced that applications are being accepted for the 2010-2011 academic year.  In addition, starting in January 2010, ADNet is offering students additional opportunities for focused projects for shorter periods of time.  These projects will meet a specific need outlined by ADNet and will be associated with a particular class project.  Details are on the ADNet website or interested students can contact the ADNet office for more information.  

ADNet is the advocacy ministry for Mennonite and related churches whose mission is to provide resources for families and congregations as they work to include persons with all types of disabilities, including physical, sensory, psychiatric, and intellectual disabilities.  More information is available by calling 1-877-214-9838 or going to www.adnetonline.org.  

Disabilities and Deaf Ministries Partnership

The Boards of Anabaptist Disabilities Network (ADNet) and Anabaptist Deaf Ministries (ABDM) have entered into an agreement for the coming year to raise the visibility and promote the ministries of both organizations in Mennonite and related churches.

Representatives from the ABDM Board met with the ADNet Board at its October 31, 2009 meeting to talk about their common concerns.  Later in the meeting the ADNet Board accepted the proposal which came from the ABDM Board at its meeting earlier in the month. 

The agreement brings clarity and intentional focus to what has been an informal working relationship since ADNet was formed in 2003.  The new understandings mean that ADNet will facilitate a more intentional Deaf Ministries presence with brochures and resources at ADNet's displays at conferences and other church events.  

ADNet and ABDM have shared a post office box and work space in an office provided by College Mennonite Church (CMC) located on the Goshen College Campus.  Under the new arrangements, Sheila Stopher Yoder, one of the co-founders of ADNet, will become the Project Manager of ABDM working 4-8 hours per week from the CMC-based office and using some of ADNet's computer equipment.  Because of Yoder's familiarity with ADNet, she is also providing some volunteer time in office management for the two organizations. 

In turn, Paul Leichty, ADNet Executive Director, will help connect ABDM more fully with the website assistance available through Mennonite.net, for whom he also works as Director of User Services.  ADNet and ABDM will create more visible reciprocal links from their respective websites.

Yoder along with ABDM Board member, Tim Nafziger, explained to the ADNet Board about the two major groups of people that ABDM serves.  Nafziger shared how as the parent of a deaf daughter, he finds friendship and support of other parents in similar circumstances. However, as these children mature and learn American Sign Language (ASL), many, as young adults, identify themselves not as having a disability but as part of the Deaf culture (the capital "D" being intentional).  While churches that minister to families may be able to provide extra services such as ASL interpretation, churches that want to reach out to Deaf adults need to also be aware of the cross-cultural dimensions of their ministry. 

Yoder and Leichty believe that the closer relationship will strengthen the ministries of both organizations.  Says Leichty, "Both of our organizations have the goal of including persons who are often marginalized in the church.  Church-related advocacy organizations such as ADNet and ABDM need to build these partnerships to extend our resources and avoid unnecessary duplication."

Anabaptist Disabilities Network (ADNet) provides encouragement and resources to families and congregations, as they work to include persons with all types of disabilities in the church and community.  ADNet carries on advocacy ministries earlier developed by Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) and MMA (Mennonite Mutual Aid).

Anabaptist Deaf Ministries (ABDM) provides nurture and support to families who have deaf children in Anabaptist-related congregations (Mennonites, Brethren, and others). They also serve as a referral source for Deaf related issues within the Anabaptist Deaf churches and fellowships.  ABDM has its roots in earlier Deaf Ministries programs at Mennonite Board of Missions (now part of Mennonite Mission Network). 

Student Associate Named

Christy Weems, a student at Bethel College in North Newton, Kansas has been named as a Student Associate by Anabaptist Disabilities Network (ADNet) for the 2008-09 academic year.

Weems is a junior elementary education major at Bethel, and a native of Topeka, Kansas.  She is carrying out a project in cooperation with the Conference Resource Library in North Newton to include, among the library's resources, materials to aid in teaching Sunday School students with developmental disabilities.  The library serves the Western District and South Central conferences of Mennonite Church USA.

Christy's project will also contribute to ADNet's work in providing resources for families and churches throughout the country as they work to include persons with all types of disabilities in congregational and community life.  ADNet, based in Goshen, Indiana, serves as advocacy and resource ministry for persons with disabilities and mental illness in Mennonite and related churches throughout the United States.

Weems, who is looking toward a career in elementary education and special education, feels strongly that the faith development of children who have disabilities is very important. "Special needs children deserve the same opportunity to hear the Word just like everyone else," she asserts.  Paul Leichty, ADNet Executive Director, commented, "Christy's work will be very valuable as she finds and starts to evaluate a proliferation of new resources for persons with developmental disabilities."  Adds Marlene Bogard, Director of the Conference Resource Library, "I am happy for the opportunity to work with Christy as she evaluates, creates, and promotes materials for disabled persons or developmentally challenged persons and their families and congregations."

Bethel College is located in North Newton, Kansas and is affiliated with Mennonite Church USA.

Anabaptist Disabilities Network was begun in 2003 to carry on previously started disabilities and mental health advocacy work among Mennonites.  More information about the Student Associate program.

Mennonite Church USA is the largest Mennonite denomination in North America.  The Western District and South Central conferences, two of 21 area conferences throughout the country, include churches in Kansas, Nebraska, Missouri, Arkansas, Oklahoma, and Texas.  South Central conference also includes some churches in Mexico. 

Christy Weems, Student Associate, will work with librarian Marlene Bogard

Photo caption: ADNet Student Associate Christy Weems (left) will work with Marlene Bogard, Director of the Conference Resource Library

ADNet Associate Licensed for Specialized Ministries
by Paul D. Leichty

Christine serves on staff as Program Associate for ADNet, a Goshen based national advocacy ministry on behalf of persons with disabilities and mental illness.   ADNet provides encouragement and resources to help congregations include such persons into the full life of the congregation and community.

As a part-time student at Associated Mennonite Biblical Seminary (AMBS) for eleven years before graduating with an MDiv degree in 2007, Christine gradually claimed her own identity as a person with disabilities and a minister.  She discovered an increasing desire to minister to other persons and families out of the brokenness and healing that she had experienced.  In 2006, she shared her sense of call with ADNet and the result was the formation of ADNet's Associates Program.  In early 2008, Christine was named as a permanent (albeit still volunteer) member of ADNet's staff as a part-time Program Associate.  At the same time, a new, one-year Student Associate Program evolved out the original vision, offering college, seminary, and graduate students a small scholarship in exchange for focusing coursework on material that can benefit ADNet's ministry.

"Christine exceeded all of our original expectations for the Associates Program," explained Paul Leichty, ADNet's Executive Director.  "She and her husband, Bob, have given ADNet and the larger church a tremendous gift by freeing her time for this important ministry."

Guth sought licensing for specialized ministries in order to gain more formal accountability to the wider church for this ministry.  She believes that licensing expresses and invites wider recognition that "the church's mission includes the call for greater inclusion of people with disabilities."  She hopes that the affirmation from the wider church will also facilitate access to greater opportunities for ministry.

In explaining what the relationship with ADNet has meant, she went on to say.  "I am at times utterly astonished that I am doing what I am doing -- that I can write things people find worth reading, that I have found a voice that was suppressed for so long. ADNet provides a context, a home, a grounding for the writing that I am doing, so that I'm not just out there tooting my own horn but can speak prophetically to the church on behalf of its members with disabilities, and on behalf of those with disabilities who have felt shut out of the church."

Christine and her husband, Bob, live in Goshen and are the parents of two young adult sons.  More information about the ministry of Christine and ADNet is found at www.adnetonline.org.

Disabilities Network Appoints Student Associate

Anabaptist Disabilities Network (ADNet) announces the appointment of Devon Lengacher as a Student Associate with ADNet for the academic year 2008- 2009. The Student Associate Program was created by ADNet in 2008 to encourage college and seminary students across the country to pursue one-year projects that would be helpful to both the student's career path as well as ADNet.

Originally from the northern Indiana town of Shipshewana, Lengacher is continuing his studies this fall at Eastern Mennonite Seminary (EMS) in Harrisonburg, Virginia, as a Master of Divinity student with a concentration in pastoral counseling. During the coming year, his second at EMS, he will serve as pastoral intern at The Table, an informal Mennonite congregation that meets on the Eastern Mennonite University (EMU) campus. He considers that his presence in the congregation as a quadriplegic who uses a wheelchair will provide a natural way to raise awareness of the needs of people with disabilities. During his year of service, ADNet will provide avenues through which he can share more widely in the church what he learns through his ministry in Harrisonburg.

Recognizing that a person with his particular disabilities ministering within the Mennonite church is something of a pioneer, Lengacher is grateful to have the support of good mentors. He anticipates graduation from EMS in 2010 and has a professional interest in chaplaincy work.

Lengacher sees the obstacles he has overcome as something God allows him to use in his ministry. "If I can help my fellow believers because of my experiences, then I believe that is what God wants me to do,'' he commented. "There are quite a few seminary students who attend the Table. Bringing conversation about disability into this community will help future leaders be able to reach out to people with disabilities at all levels.''

Raising disability awareness and building support networks seem to come naturally to Lengacher. EMU's Virginia campus has presented its challenges. "The campus is not as wheelchair friendly as it might be because of the terrain. It has a lot of hills,'' he observed. "I get by very carefully,'' he added with a grin. He has found that entering a building at one level and exiting at ground level from a higher floor is one way to tackle the hills, but an older building that had only one automatic door presented another obstacle. Enlisting others to open non-automatic doors for him spread an awareness of the challenges students with disabilities face. In the process of advocating for an additional automatic door, he enlisted the seminary community to help him discern how to move forward while balancing the concerns of students with disabilities with the budget limitations of the university.

Lengacher is the first student appointed by ADNet in the newly formed Student Associate Program. ADNet Student Associates develop an education or outreach project around a particular topic related to disabilities, through a period of study or outreach, integrating their studies with existing course work. Undergraduate or graduate students with an interest in disabilities may apply to ADNet for the program, which will award $500 scholarships to two participants annually. ADNet is accepting applications for the 2008-09 school year through September 15. Apply online at www.adnetonline.org.

Organized in 2003, Anabaptist Disabilities Network is a national inter-Mennonite advocacy ministry dedicated to supporting families and equipping the church to include persons with all types of disabilities. Christine Guth and Rebecca Fast have previously served ADNet as Associates, under an earlier configuration of its Associates program.

Sauder CEO Named to Disabilities Network Board

The Board of Anabaptist Disabilities Network (ADNet) welcomed Kevin Sauder of Archbold, Ohio as a new board member at its October 12-13 meeting in Goshen, Indiana .  Sauder, who is President and CEO of Sauder Woodworking Company, was elected earlier in the fall to fill an existing vacancy. 

Sauder, along with his wife, Sandra, and their two teenage children, are active at Zion Mennonite Church in Archbold.  In expressing his vision for ADNet, he said, “I believe that ADNet can serve a wide range of needs within the church.  Most people have some connection to people with disabilities, but they do not have the tools or knowledge to know how to relate appropriately to them.  We tend to fear differences and exclude unnecessarily.  Activities can be shaped to involve people of all abilities.  Understanding, rather than pity, is important when dealing with issues such as mental illness or autism.  ADNet can make a difference in the lives of many.”

Anabaptist Disabilities Network was founded in 2003 to carry on the advocacy ministries begun earlier at Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) through the Mennonite Mental Health Services (MMHS) and continued from 1995-2002 at Mennonite Mutual Aid (MMA).  ADNet’s office is located at College Mennonite Church on the campus of Goshen College in Goshen, Indiana .