“I began this year in a "mini" group doing a New Testament reading plan, craving more scripture after the Up series in the Fall. When the Psalm 23 series launched, we opened up our group- and to my surprise, it grew from 5 to 12 women. The structure of weekly verses, questions, and the more personal Dive Deeper sections gave us rich opportunities to grow together in faith and fellowship. I experienced joy in learning more about God and the connections between the Old and New Testament that could even be found in Psalm 23, especially the connection between 2 Samuel 7 and the life of Jesus. Sometimes I described my learnings as "fireworks". Together we learned more about God, loving him more deeply, and loving and encouraging one another.”

Volunteering with Potters Wheel for me has been nothing short of life-changing. I started off about 10 years ago as somewhat of a passive observer and now feel totally ingrained in that culture - building relationships with those in the class, teaching and helping to set a course for future events. While there is a wide range of abilities in that class, we regularly reinforce that not only does Jesus love them, but so do their classmates and the larger community. It is of no surprise to me that the program continues to grow - with class sizes regularly exceeding 100 people. I know of no other program in the community that brings this many people with special needs together and does so in such a way that is supportive, allows our students to tout their successes and reinforces that all of those in our special needs community can live and love like Jesus.

"GriefShare brought me back to God because I finally realized that God was with me the entire time while I witnessed the end of life and the beginning of a new life for me and the beginning of eternal peace for my loved one."

“Hand in Hand and Parents Night Out have been incredible additions to our family's support system! When you find out that one of your children is disabled and will therefore be "different" for the rest of their life, you feel like your wheels never stop spinning. As parents, we are always searching for connection with people or groups of people who will embrace our children for who they are. Once we became aware of and connected with Hand in Hand ministries at Ward, we felt comfortable allowing our son to attend Sunday school. Knowing that during services he was not only safe and supervised appropriately, but that he was being loved on, accepted and encouraged to participate, just like any other child would be, has been an enormous blessing. Parents Night Out is something that my husband and I are constantly scouring our emails for :) Being gifted respite PLUS actual quality time with my spouse is something that I could never say "thank you" enough for! The fact that this ministry also embraces our neurotypical child is also an important mention. Providing her with a sense of purpose and allowing her to just be 5 years old and enjoy some time playing with her brother has been beyond precious. We continually brag about our church and its 'special needs ministries' to anyone and everyone in the community who is willing to listen!”