by Tracy Grondziowski
Table of Contents
20 years ago at Allegheny Center Alliance Church (ACAC), Dr Rachel Kittenbrink from Pittsburgh Behavioural Services (PBS) started talking with me about developing a 1-on-1 program for kids with special needs. Back then, I was working as a volunteer advocate for some kids at school, as my child was struggling with dyslexia, and I had a hard time at school myself (I have undiagnosed learning disabilities). I think the main draw for me to say yes to Rachel was seeing families I was ministering to at ACAC over a period of 32 years — seeing what they were going through, and hearing about families who could not take part in our community because of their children.
The program didn’t succeed overnight. We had to change the culture, and we had to change how the people in our community saw the issue: they needed to be educated, and they needed to gain the right awareness. After a while, I got to see the difference it made for those children and families; it was so worth it. We had kids who were once non-verbal now graduating high school and inviting their friends to come celebrate. When you see those big things, you know, “This is right, and God is in this.”
Everything Starts with God’s Call
Two years ago, Pastor Renata from Biblica da Paz in Sao Paulo invited a team to help their church set up a special needs program of their own. I was fortunate enough to be part of that team, and I was able to head back a second time ten months ago, to run further training and join in with the Friends Around the Table gathering (FATT) they were hosting afterward. At that FATT, God made it so clear that I was supposed to take what I had learned in my thirty years of working with kids in special needs global — to share it with other churches around the world.
I fought God hard, at first: “No! You’ve got the wrong person! I’ve got my little home, my grandkids, my life… And besides, I’m not ready.” But God kept graciously repeating, “Tracy, you’re going to have to listen…” It was hard to resist when the people I trusted most — Rachel was at that FATT, and so was Kate Gordon (another person in the core team at PBS) — supported me and confirmed what God was telling me directly: “Yeah, Tracy. You know you’re supposed to do this. This word was so obviously for you.” It was definitely an a-ha moment, and it’s why I made the jump: I left my role at ACAC to partner full-time with PBS as their Development and International Coordinator.
Before I left, ACAC hosted a wonderful time of prayer for me at the church. The congregation prayed for me and the next steps for what would become the global program. One woman in particular came up to me and shared that she had a vision, which she later wrote out for me: “Tracy, I saw you walking around the world with a megaphone in your hand, and you were a voice for kids with special needs and autism.” Once again, God was making it so clear that I was supposed to do this: he was calling me to take everything I knew and share it, to be a voice that others could understand, and to love the kids who needed it most.
"Tracy, I saw you walking around the world with a megaphone in your hand, and you were a voice for kids with special needs and autism."
The Nehemiah Autism Center
A few months ago, I had the chance to go to Ethiopia, to work alongside John and Kim Bennett at the Nehemiah Autism Center (NAC), which was set up by our friend Rahel Abayneh to “ensure that children with autism and related disabilities are provided with the education and skills they need to grow into confident adults and become productive members of society.”
It wasn’t the first time I had worked with Rahel or NAC, but on this occasion, we were running a huge course for pastors and kids leaders from all over the continent of Africa. It was a two-day training because so many people signed up. Going into the training, most of them had no idea: they believed that all children who had autism and other special needs were demon-possessed, so they never thought to welcome them or their families. In practice, this means that thousands upon thousands of families cannot go to church — they can’t attend, they can’t worship together, and they can’t receive the support and love they need. The way I see it, they are basically an ‘unreached people group.’
I wanted to be angry, but I knew it wasn’t their fault. I knew they needed education, and to be shown in the scriptures what God says about these kids, including what God calls sin, and what He does not. I knew they needed to see and hear, “Each child is beautiful. Every child is created in God’s image — we all are. It’s not their fault they have a disability; it’s not because of individual sin. We live in a broken world. If disabilities were caused by sin, then every child would have a disability, because we have all sinned. And, in fact, kids with special needs have special abilities, and we need to start seeing them that way — the Church needs to look at them that way.”
At the end of the training time, we pulled two chairs up to the front and gave an open invitation to anyone interested in starting a special needs program within their church, or even just learning about some simple next steps for greater awareness in their community. We thought two would be enough, but we were wrong. Everyone started grabbing chairs and dragging them up to the front. And they didn’t just sit in them, either: they knelt over their chairs in tears, crying out and repenting for the ways they had treated kids in the past, and begging to be filled with the Holy Spirit, so they could move forward with the next steps.
It was so moving. Besides the people kneeling on the chairs, others gathered around to pray and support one another. Everyone was crying. Believe me when I say it felt like the beginning of a revival in Africa. I get emotional even now thinking about these churches reaching out with healing for all these people, and how much that will grow the church. If you have one child who is now able to come, then usually, the whole family comes too, and they can all experience the healing that comes with being part of a church community. After a training session like that, it just feels like the whole continent is ready.
God didn’t just move in their hearts, either… A woman I had never met before walked up to me during that time. She was a pastor from Ethiopia, and she had a prophecy for me: she saw me walking on clouds all over the world with a microphone in my hand, being a voice for children with special needs. It took everything in me not to just break down in tears there and then, because I was trying to minister to others. The Lord was so kind to reaffirm that calling, in such a clear, specific way. It was incredible.
Let It Go Forth from Here to the Nations
After the big training, we stayed to do some follow-up work with Elsa Daniel, who has been praying about this for nine years. She’s from Ethiopia, but she lives in Phoenix, Arizona, with her family, including a child with special needs. For almost a decade, she has been reaching out to different churches in Africa to help with these programs. Most have said they don’t want anything to do with it, including her home church in Ethiopia; that was a huge disappointment for her.
The two days after the training were for 1-on-1 appointments with individual churches who wanted more information. There was so much we could give them in a smaller setting that would have been impossible in the bigger group: it would be like drinking from a fire hydrant. We sat down with these church leaders to find out about their church, what they do in their kids’ programs right now, and how we might be able to help them. We had a lot of information we could share, but it all depends on where they’re at, because every church is different, and there are no one-size-fits-all solutions.
The last church pastor we met with really wanted to start a special needs program for their whole church denomination. As I asked him questions, it turned out that he was the leader of the same church that had turned Elsa down before — her home church. It was so touching to witness the healing that took place for her when she saw their willingness to say, “Yes, we want you to help us.” Their church is now working on a proposal for us to come back and run diversity awareness training, and to help them with their materials at a national level. Their church has about 12 million people in Ethiopia. You can’t tell me that isn’t God!
I was sitting there, trying to look professional, saying, “Yeah, that sounds great; go ahead and send over a proposal that will impact 12 million people.” But inside, I was going, “Oh, thank you, Jesus! Thank you, thank you, thank you!” When God shows up and demonstrates what He wants, He does it beyond anything you could have imagined. Since that meeting, I’ve been getting prayer requests from this pastor, just building a relationship with him and his people. That’s where it always starts: building relationships and loving people where they are.
Special Needs? Anything is Possible for those Who Believe
When you consider the trauma families have experienced because of their children with special needs, it’s sobering. The cortisol levels of parents who have children with special needs are comparable to those of soldiers with PTSD. So before you even talk about their child, you have to think about their parents’ mental health — so you can see how you need to take a holistic approach to loving and serving these families. It’s not just, “Here’s a thing for your kid.” It’s, “How can we as a church community come around your whole family?”
Did you know that the divorce rate in families with a child with disabilities may be as high as 87%? And that’s before you think about the impact on siblings, too. So we’re not just talking about a little church program for your child, we’re talking about entire families that could be falling apart, who need all the love and support they can get. As a church community, if you know that, and you understand that, then you can do something about it — you can be the “Acts church” by coming alongside those who are struggling, to love them where they are at.
I believe God is going to take this need and use all of it for His glory, all over the world. In Ethiopia, we had people from America, from China, from Brazil — from a whole bunch of places — sharing testimonies, to show that it can work anywhere. And we were all there because of God, and because of His love for the kids. I believe the kids who have disabilities are actually going to be the ones who end up bringing people together. It’s so easy to think they’re the problem, but they’re not. They’re the answer because they have unique abilities, and because we can gather around them to show the love of Jesus. That’s how the Gospel can spread. He’s going to do great things, and we get to tag along and watch Him work. It’s awesome.
The last thing I’ll say here is: no matter what God calls you to, just say yes! He will provide. He is faithful. It might feel like a rollercoaster at times, but just start journaling the words he has spoken to you. In a few years, you’ll be able to look in your notebook to see what’s showed up. If He calls you for something, He will equip you to do it, and He will send the right people to champion and encourage you (like Rachel has done from the very beginning for me). If you don’t think you can — like I didn’t — that’s actually when He’s going to do His best work. The weak are made strong. And that’s what it’s all about, isn’t it? He shines His glory and love through the weakest of people so that all might see His loving-kindness and turn to Him. God has a plan, and He is good.
In the month since this article was written, my husband and I have felt called (with SEAPC and PBS’s backing) to take further steps with God in this calling, and to start another non-profit, the purpose of which will be to equip and support churches worldwide to address the mental health crisis, advocate for individuals with special needs, and minister to missionary families. We would value your prayers.
I became a servant of this gospel by the gift of God’s grace given me through the working of his power. Although I am less than the least of all the Lord’s people, this grace was given me: to preach to the Gentiles the boundless riches of Christ, and to make plain to everyone the administration of this mystery, which for ages past was kept hidden in God, who created all things.
