Lausanne World Pulse – A Forgotten Barrier: Attitudes toward Disability

By David W. Anderson

  • Born with cerebral palsy, the tightness in Sandra’s muscles made her movements uncoordinated and spastic. Her father did what he believed necessary: he left her on the bank of a river, perhaps with the idea of returning her to the gods.
  • Emmanuel contracted polio at age six, resulting in a mild physical disability. His father, believing Emmanuel useless, put him out of the family to survive on the street.
  • Solange’s knee deformity made walking difficult. Coupling this disability with the mysterious disappearance of eggs, her father believed Solange was actually a snake in the guise of a child.
  • While giving birth to her fourth child, a mild stroke left Amie with hemiplegia, causing a definite limp and limited usefulness of one arm. Since the village “doctor” was unable to cure her (through physical and sexual abuse), her husband kept the children and sent Amie away to fend for herself.

These stories are typical of the experience of many disabled persons in developing nations, and represent a form of spiritual bondage which maintains a wall of separation between the temporarily able-bodied and the disabled. This separation presents a significant barrier to the gospel which must be overcome.

Jesus’ Mission of Freedom
My concept of missions is broad and focuses on the total redemptive and restorative work which Jesus emphasized in Luke 4:18-19 when he read from Isaiah:

The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.

Those hearing Jesus immediately recognized the reference to the Year of Jubilee (Leviticus 25:10-11) in which slaves were freed, debts canceled, property returned to its owner, and the soil was to remain fallow. Jesus was saying that with his coming, the true year of jubilee had begun, a time of hope being offered to those without hope, and freedom proclaimed to those in bondage to sin. It was a time of restoration, renewal, and reconciliation with God and fellow humanity.

These words describe Jesus’ mission as he saw it. It is the same mission he authorized his followers to engage in (Matthew 28:18-20): a rescue mission in which we are charged with doing our part to create a God-centered community that offers salvation, health, physical care, nurturing, economic support, reconciliation, and restoration—in short, shalom.

 

Based as they are on misinformation, attitudes about disability and the disabled reflect fear, embarrassment,

guilt, anger, prejudice, or insensitivity.

It is a task which requires crossing many types of frontiers which present barriers between the people of God and the people of the world. According to Hans Kasdorf,

Once those frontiers have been crossed, the Church witnesses of God’s redemptive, healing, and helping grace on the other side of these frontiers. In this sense, “mission means being sent by God to love, to serve, to preach, to heal.”1

Many barriers to ministry to and with persons with disabilities are architectural, such as multiple steps which make the church building inaccessible and inadequate transportation which keeps persons with disabilities from participating in the local faith community. However, these barriers are often relatively easy to surmount with some creative problem-solving. 

Attitudinal Barriers The more difficult “frontiers” to be crossed are attitudinal. Attitudinal barriers often arise from cultural beliefs and traditional religious thinking, as reflected in the stories of Sandra, Emmanuel, Solange, and Amie. Lacking scientific answers, people in developing nations have devised superstitious or mythological explanations for disability, such as a lack of proper reverence for one’s ancestors, broken taboos, witchcraft, evil spirits, or individual or parental sin. These erroneous views create prejudicial attitudes, which often result in exclusion of the individual by the community (or even by the family).

Dr. David W. Anderson is president of Crossing Bridges, Inc., a ministry focused on disability issues and the Church. In 2007, he retired from Bethel University (St. Paul, Minnesota, USA), where he was professor and director of graduate programs in special education. He has lectured on biblical studies, disability ministry, and special education in Cameroon, Kenya, Ghana, Haiti, England, and Ukraine.