The church generally refers to missionary work as regional cross-cultural or cross-ethnic groups work. While the church sends a large number of missionaries to do missions work around the world, a large group of people has however been neglected or not even included in the unreached people group. They are the “special children”.
Judging by their peculiar demeanour, most people doubt whether special children can understand the gospel message. Some people also judge that special children do not understand the gospel because of their IQ and defects in the neural system. As churches are set up catering mostly for sound persons, their hardware and software facilities are rather closed and of exclusive architecture. And we are used to church members who behave well. We expect everyone who comes to church to be proper in movement and expression, at least not to shout at will. We also expect the congregations to be serious and solemn during worship, at least not running around or lying on the floor.
When seeing people that behave beyond the norm, most of us would tag them as eccentric, neurotic, disobedient, problematic, idiots or other terms. As a result, parents of special children dare not take their children out of their homes, worrying and fearing that others may cast strange eyes on them and that their children may not be accepted. To these families the discriminatory look or words are like a cold spell in winter, causing uneasiness and even heartbreak.
There was once a parent who brought a special child to a church and when the behaviour of this child disturbed the congregation, the Pastor “invited” this parent and child out of the church. This greatly hurt that family. It also shows that the public lacks the awareness and acceptance of special children.
To care for and to bring the gospel to special children is a formidable “cross-cultural missions” that needs to cross from the normal social culture into the culture of special children. The way that special children express themselves is different from us. For example, in the case of autism, most autistic patients cannot express themselves orally. Even if they can express themselves orally, their logic in communication differs greatly from the general public.
In August 2014, I had the opportunity to attend the Taiwan Special Children’s Family Camp, a camp devoted to evangelise to families with special children. In this camp I experienced the paradise culture, i.e. “special children’s culture.” Why do I describe special children’s culture as paradise culture?
A gentle angel
Wen Wen, a severely autistic boy, is gentle and has a pair of beautiful hands. Knowing him really broadened my horizon and I also witnessed innumerable miracles.
When I first met Wen Wen, from his eyes I could sense his fear and anxiety. He clutched his father’s hands tightly and was tense. As I approached him he caught me with his right hand. His parents were worried that he might hurt me. I was happy though as he started paying attention to me and interacted with me. When his father departed he was extremely upset. From his voice and the tightness of his hand I could feel his tension. He was emotionally very unstable. I tried to calm him and eventually he was calmed.
He held my hand tightly all the while. He needed somebody to be by his side. At times he held a little tighter, it was his way to communicate and to express his feelings. I had to feel his emotion by my hands and to listen carefully with my heart. Later Wen Wen’s mother told me that he was bullied by his secondary classmates by pinching him. From then on Wen Wen’s way of communication with others is to pinch and grasp others.
After listening to Wen Wen’s story, I felt sorry and sad. He went through a lot of grievous experiences. The family had gone through a lot of hardship as well. I thanked God that they had the opportunity to attend this camp and hoped that the camp would bring blessing to this family.
During those few days whenever Wen Wen went to the auditorium where all the activities were held he would sit still for many hours until his parents came to fetch him. I would sit next to him, talked to him and sang hymns for him. That was the first time that someone would listen to my singing for such a long time. In no time Wen Wen began to trust me, he would hold my hand gently, sniff my hair and even smile at me.
When he was resting in the auditorium during the “Journey to Heaven” session, I whispered to him that in heaven he would face grievance no more and nobody would hurt him. He would be happily living with his father, mother, brothers and sisters. At that instant I couldn’t stop myself crying for I felt I was in heaven and Wen Wen was that gentle angel. I felt only love without grievances and trauma and we were surrounded by many lovely angels, singing and hovering freely, so warm and blessed. Heaven is not so far away nor is it futuristic, where there is love that is heaven!
On the third night I witnessed more miracles.
First of all Wen Wen entered the auditorium carrying a joyful and excited smile. His charming smile warmed my heart. I nearly cried seeing him smiling so happily. During the handcraft session, Wen Wen, who had always been so quiet and still, surprised everyone by doing the craft works. He never liked to drink water yet at that instant he began to drink. His mother said that he only did so in a more adaptive environment. In fact, he needed a long time to adapt to the new environment. However, in the camp he adapted to it in 2-3 days. Perhaps he felt love and warmth in this community.
What surprised me most was that he stood up!
To most people standing up is such a small matter. We had tried for some time to get Wen Wen to stand up and walk around. He dared not to try as he was afraid. However that night when we asked him to throw some rubbish away, he did so and then went to the toilet by himself. At that moment another volunteer and I were so excited that we nearly burst into tears! To us that was a miracle! Although it was only one simple action, it was so extraordinary and so touching.
Though Wen Wen is unable to express himself verbally, we can understand his thoughts and inner world by observing his body language and through our physical contact with him. When I shared the love of Christ with him and sang to him, I could feel that he could understand though he could not respond correctly. If I was afraid to be pinched by him and kept a distance from him in the first place, he would have not felt safe in the camp. He would have not accepted me either and I would have not had the chance to share the love of Christ with him.
Holy Inefficiency
In the process of getting along with Wen Wen I came to realize the meaning of “holy inefficiency”. Our society expects high efficiency and to make it to the peak in the shortest possible time. However to get along with Wen Wen one needs to be patient, highly focused, observant and to figure out various ways to interact with him. One may fail in the beginning but he should continue to try his best and not give up. To many people getting to know Wen Wen is so slow and thankless. But the final result can be like magnificent rainbows formed by tear drops.
To care for special children is literally like walking a snail. One has to adjust his own pace to that of the snail. At first you may be impatient and feel bored because of the slow process. After some time you will be beautifully rewarded for it is no longer you who walk the snail but the snail leads you to see the beautiful world you have long neglected.
To experience the beauty of a special child whom God has specially made, one needs to spend a long time to get to know them personally and to build them up individually. This is “holy inefficiency”.
Because of the difference in expression and perspectives, people tend to look at special children differently. But when we step into their world, we are driven to see the wonder of creation and the abundance of God. We get to experience a heavenly joy and affection and that is a world of happiness. The hearts of these special children are purer and more real than us. Their eyes reflect the purest of a human’s mind and the happiness in paradise. No wonder the Bible puts it “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.” (Matt 5: 8)