wfn.org | ELCA Youth Participate in 'Definitely Abled' Leadership Event

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Title: ELCA Youth Participate in 'Definitely Abled' Leadership Event
ELCA NEWS SERVICE

>July 23, 2009  

ELCA Youth Participate in 'Definitely Abled' Leadership Event
09-156-JB

NEW ORLEANS (ELCA) -- Thirty-one high school youth and young adults,
plus parents, staff and volunteers spent four days in worship, song,
learning activities and discussion in the Definitely Abled Youth
Leadership Event (DAYLE), a program of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in
America (ELCA).

Nearly three years in the making, DAYLE was designed to inspire and
give hope to young Lutherans living with physical and cognitive
disabilities.  It preceded the 2009 ELCA Youth Gathering here.

Most participants will stay for the gathering, July 22-26, which
includes some 37,000 Lutheran teenagers, adult leaders and other
volunteers. "Jesus Justice Jazz" is the theme of activities at the Ernest
N. Morial Convention Center and the Louisiana Superdome. Participants are
also fanning out across the area to nearly 200 community service sites.

This year's DAYLE program, with the theme "Hope," attracted twice as
many participants as the previous 2006 program in San Antonio, said the
Rev. Bill Bixby, director for youth ministry, ELCA Vocation and
Education.

"It was nice to come and meet people who understood that 'the door's
not wide enough' or 'the sidewalk's bumpy.'  They got it," said Amanda
Gipson, Christ Lutheran Church, Cunningham, Pa.

Gipson, who uses a wheelchair, said, "Where I come from, I'm the
only disabled person under 40.  DAYLE has had a big impact on my life
because I heard from adults who used their abilities to improve the
world."

The Rev. Walter Hermanns, Emmaus Lutheran Church, Racine, Wis., is
one of those adults.  He lives with multiple sclerosis.  Hermanns led a
workshop on what it means to be a Lutheran Christian. The church is
growing in its understanding of people with disabilities, he said.  "The
church is people with disabilities as well as people who are 'temporarily
abled,'" he said.

Hermanns said he hoped that his participation would inspire DAYLE
participants to consider church service as a career.

Tim Nikitin, 19, Trinity Lutheran Church, Perkasie, Pa., lives with
several physical challenges and spoke of a difficult year when he was in
high school "to get back on my feet" after surgery to lengthen one of his
legs. Born in Kiev, Ukraine, Nikitin said his biological parents put him
up for adoption because they were unable to meet his needs.  He was
adopted in the United States in the mid-1990s.  Nikitin was uncertain
about whether he wanted to attend the DAYLE but said it taught him to be
a better Christian.

"I like to sit on my bed and talk to God," Nikitin said.  With God,
Nikitin can share secrets, weaknesses, strengths and concerns, he
said. "God is my friend up there.  He's focused in on me, and I'm focused
on him," he said.

Joanna Storm, Good Shepherd Lutheran Church, Madison, Wis., is a
DAYLE alumnus, who helped plan this year's event with the ELCA Definitely
Abled Advisory Committee. The formation of a community through DAYLE is
one of the "amazing" and "touching" parts of the gathering, she said. "To
see (the participants) standing up, taking charge and leading songs is
one of the most thrilling parts of DAYLE," said Storm, who uses a
motorized wheelchair.

DAYLE participants packed gift bags for participants who will run in
an upcoming half-marathon to benefit New Orleans Children's Hospital.
Others toured Blaine Kern's Mardi Gras World, learning about the history
of Mardi Gras and working on a float for the gathering.

In remarks to the DAYLE participants at closing worship, the Rev.
Mark S. Hanson, ELCA presiding bishop, said all 31 participants
were "signs of hope" for the ELCA.  "My prayer is that God will bless you
as you become Jesus to other people, and that you would discover Jesus in
the most surprising places this week."

>---

Information about the 2009 ELCA Youth Gathering is at
http://www.ELCA.org/gathering on the ELCA Web site.

For information contact:

John Brooks, Director (773) 380-2958 or news@elca.org
http://www.elca.org/news
ELCA News Blog: http://www.elca.org/news/blog