You might be surprised who isn’t coming to church because of their challenges.

The physical challenges are easy to see.  What about the invisible – the cognitive, the mental, the internal ailments that have no outward sign?  I have a wonderful picture of a 1 and 3 year old – sweet looking babies – and they weren’t about to attend church.  Big brother was just diagnosed with Autism and the tiny military chapel up the road the family was attending did not have enough support for the nursery to handle his challenges.  So mom and dad took turns attending church.

The statistics from the 2010 national census show that almost 1 in 5 people have a disability.  Twenty percent!  These individuals may have:

• Progressive hearing or sight challenges
• Been born with Spina Bifida
• Recently home from a warzone and dealing with a traumatic physical injury or PTSD
• An advanced of Dementia
• Any variety of cognitive delay
• And the list can go on and on and on…

This is an unreached and unengaged people group in our back yards.