Many of us have little direct experience of day-to-day life in a family with a child with special needs, and may not realize how critical the buddy program here at Bethany is.

My daughters and I do know how every family decision and activity is impacted – and in most cases curtailed – by having a family member with special needs. And we know the consequences this has for many people in their relationship to their church.

We know couples who are never able to worship together, because one of them must remain with their child - and not just for a few colicky months, but for 18 years or more. We know children whose siblings are invisible to their church family, because they have to be left home with a caregiver on Sunday mornings. We know of too many families who have given up altogether on being part of their church community, because that community has not welcomed them with the concrete assistance that they need.

Here at Bethany , our children with special needs have been blessed with a number of wonderful, dedicated buddies over the past several years. The love and support that they show our children are felt by the entire family.

The buddies’ official role is to join our kids on 1 or 2 Sundays per month, and offer them the one-on-one attention they need to feel comfortable, safe and happy, and to be a part of their class; their impact, as purveyors of God’s love here in our church, goes much, much further.

More buddies are needed this year. Would you consider taking on this role?

To learn more about this ministry opportunity and the training that is provided, please contact Dianne Ross at dianner@bethanypc.org or 284-2222 x14.