wfn.org | TCN: Rainer Schmidt redefines “disability”, clarifies “healing”

["Taiwan Church News" <enews@pctpress.org>]

>      Taiwan Church News

>3008 Edition

>October 19~25, 2009

Rainer Schmidt redefines “disability”, clarifies  “healing”

>Reported by Chiou Kuo-rong, Chen Yi-hsuan

>Written by Lydia Ma

After much anticipation, Paralympic table tennis gold-medalist and  German pastor Rainer

Schmidt finally arrived to Taipei on October 15 to host a series  of seminars across Taiwan.

Schmidt’s tour in Taiwan included speaking engagements,  interviews, and table tennis

tournaments. Despite a hectic schedule and long hours spent on the  road between seminars,

Schmidt never showed signs of tiredness and remained cheerful and  witty wherever he went.

During his forum on “How to understand instances of  miraculous healing in the Bible” on

October 17 at Shuang-Lien Presbyterian Church, Schmidt emphasized  that whenever

individuals reach the end of life, they will find that health is  not as important as having company

or people who care about them by their side. The desire to be  surrounded by loved ones also

reflects our need to know that God is by our side.

On the other hand, Christians who are ill and yet haven’t  reached the end of their lives desire

miraculous physical healing through prayer more than those who are  terminally ill. In some

cases, these Christians will go anywhere to attend different kinds  of conferences in search of

>miraculous healing.

In response to such trends, Schmidt said, “I believe there  are people in this world who have

the gift of healing, like Jesus did.” But he also listed  examples of friends in Germany who went

to miraculous healing conferences only to experience temporary  relief instead of permanent

healing. In the end, the cancer or tumor got worse despite  attending such conferences, forcing

his friends to undergo surgery to remove a tumor or cure a  disease.

 From such experiences, Schmidt observed that patients usually go  through a period of doubt

as they ponder about God’s will and why they must suffer.  However, once a surgery heals their

disease, their faith is strengthened when they see how God worked  in mysterious ways to

>accomplish His good and perfect will.

Schmidt admitted he believes in healing through prayer alone, but  he also thinks that such

instances are God’s special grace because most healings are  not accomplished by prayer

alone, but rather, by a combination of prayer and medical  treatment. Furthermore, Schmidt

firmly believes support and encouragement from family members also  play a crucial part in the

>healing process.

Schmidt said though most people may not possess the gift of  healing, everyone can offer

encouraging words and show their love through action. Encouraging  words and kind deeds

>are also instruments God uses to heal people.

“Is it God’s will that some people are born with  disabilities?” Schmidt asked his listeners. He

answered his own question using the Bible and his own life  experiences. “Yes, God allows

people with disabilities to be born, but He doesn’t want to  see these people destroy their own

lives just because they have disabilities,” said Schmidt.

He went on to explain that though everyone possesses talents and  disabilities, many

disabilities are self-imposed by people who have closed their  hearts and rendered

themselves captive in the process. In God’s view, all of  creation is beautiful and that is why

Jesus emphasized on restoring the broken relationship between God  and humans instead of

>physical healing.

In terms of helping disabled people become whole again, Schmidt  believes they must be

saved first and then be healed. Jesus emphasized on reconciliation  between people and God,

others, and themselves, which can be summarized by his command to  love others as we love

>ourselves.

“I’d hope for people to have friends and families who  love them more than I’d hope for them to

have a perfect, healthy body. I also pray that people will not  walk away from God simply

because nobody was there to love them,” he said.

In response, Shuang-Lien Presbyterian Church’s Rev. Chen  Wen-Chin praised Schmidt for

clarifying the difference between spiritual healing (salvation)  and physical healing. He also

emphasized that he personally believed in God’s miraculous  healing. However, his primary

concern was that many Christians are so determined about being  healed by a miracle alone

that they fail to see God has already provided other ways for them  to be healed.

“The fact that my arms are much shorter is obvious to  everyone. This physical disability is

plainly visible, but I also have other disabilities that are not  as obvious, including

colorblindness and difficulty with Taiwanese language,”  Schmidt said half-jokingly during

another seminar on the same topic at Tainan Theological College.  “Have you ever prayed to

God for physical healing?” he asked the audience.

Schmidt said he had never felt he had a disability until he was  six years old. When he was

young, he used to play, go fishing, and kick ball with other kids  of his age. Whenever he

couldn’t scale a wall like others, his playmates would help  him out. “I never felt there was

anything missing, so, I never prayed for healing,” he said.

However, after he was sent to a special education school for  children with special needs at the

age of six and saw that all his classmates were physically  disabled and later lost touch with his

former playmates little by little, he began to realize he had  physical disabilities. It was then that

he began to pray for God’s miraculous healing.

Schmidt then referred to a story in the Bible about a woman who  had been bleeding for twelve

years who came to Jesus for healing. Schmidt reflected that though  her physical healing was

important, her spiritual healing was even more so. In this story,  Jesus told the woman to go in

peace. The kind of peace Jesus was referring to wasn’t merely  reconciliation between the

woman and God, but also reconciliation between her and her  community. In telling her to go in

peace, Jesus was also asking her community to accept her.

“Disabilities serve the purpose of reflecting God’s  glory because God’s power and strength

are made even more obvious in weak people,” said Schmidt. If  we love people who seem

disabled, we are also loving others the way God loves them.

During the question-and-answer period at the end of the seminar,  Professor Wang Jen-wen

asked Schmidt about the proper way of interacting with disabled  people and Schmidt used

>one personal story to illustrate his answer.

Once upon a time, Schmidt went to a buffet and tried to fill his  plate with food. Regardless of

how hard he tried, he just couldn’t pick up food. One  well-meaning fellow came by and tried to

help him. However, instead of asking what Schmidt wanted to eat,  the fellow grabbed a bunch

>of vegetables to fill his plate.

“Sometimes, when we see someone with physical disabilities,  we tend to assume that this

person is also mentally challenged. In reality, this person,  though physically disabled, has a

perfectly sound mind and consciousness,” emphasized Schmidt.  He reminded his listeners

that as they have compassion on people with disabilities, they  must also be careful because

everyone wants to be treated with dignity and respect.

The seminar at Tainan Theological College concluded with a  friendly match between Schmidt

and a few pastors who were also table-tennis lovers.

>********************

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