wfn.org | DAYLE Spotlights Definitely Abled Youth in Atlanta

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ELCA NEWS SERVICE

July 17, 2003  

DAYLE Spotlights Definitely Abled Youth in Atlanta
03-YG-01-JB

      ATLANTA (ELCA) -- About 40 participants, parents,
caregivers, volunteers and staff gathered to celebrate the
talents and abilities of youth with disabilities at the Omni
Hotel here July 13-16.	The Definitely Abled Youth
Leadership Event (DAYLE) preceded the Evangelical Lutheran
Church in America (ELCA) Youth Gathering.
     The 11 participants, all with physical and
developmental challenges, met for worship, singing, small
group and plenary sessions, and social activities all aimed
at encouraging their full participation during the ELCA
Youth Gathering and in the church.  Parents and caregivers
met with them and in their own group sessions.
     The ELCA Youth Gathering is meeting at the Georgia Dome
and Georgia World Congress Center in two back-to-back
events: July 16-20 and July 23-27.  The Gathering, "Do Life!
Ubuntu," is bringing together some 40,000 high-school age
Lutherans and adults who are engaging in worship, Bible
study, community service and fun. About 23,000 are
participating in the first week. DAYLE is one component of
the entire gathering.
     "These kids are hungry to serve their church," said the
Rev. Lisa Thogmartin-Cleaver, director for disability
ministries, ELCA Division for Church in Society, Chicago.
"Their quickness in 'bonding' is amazing.  Some have said
they are more accepted here than anywhere else."
     Calling the experience "joyful," Cleaver said that
numbers are not that important to DAYLE's success because
the participants get more personal attention during the
experience.
     "I'd like them to go home from this with a better sense
of their giftedness," said Cleaver, who also serves on the
church's youth ministry team. "I think we help them in some
small ways to use those gifts."
    DAYLE is also intended to help the whole church give
greater attention to ministries among people who are
"differently abled," she said.
    DAYLE 2003 surpassed expectations, said Sarah Flatt,
St. Clair Shores, Mich., outgoing chair of the Definitely
Abled Advisory Committee (DAC) of the board of the Lutheran
Youth Organization.  Flatt, 18, graduated from high school
this summer and will attend Saginaw Valley St. University,
Saginaw, Mich.	She is a member of Bethel Lutheran Church,
St. Claire Shores. "There's no doubt in my mind that persons
here with the least ability connected with youth with the
most ability at least 10,000 times," said Flatt.
     In remarks to DAYLE participants July 15, the Rev.
William "Bill" Kees, director of the ELCA Youth Gathering,
reflected on Psalm 22 from the Christian Bible.  The text
reflects on Jesus, while hanging on the cross asks God, "Why
have you forsaken me?"
    "I think about those disabilities that you live with
every day of your life," Kees said.  "I understand why you
would ask, 'Where is God?  Why have you forsaken me?'"
    "Asking, 'Where are you God?' leads us to God," Kees
continued.
    DAYLE is a place where participants can fully become
what they can be, he said, adding that no one can look at
another person without seeing the "face of God."
    The DAYLE participants elected new DAC members, which
will plan the 2006 DAYLE event preceding the 2006 ELCA Youth
Gathering.
    Emily Schmidlin, 16, a high school junior who attends
Trinity Lutheran Church, Kent, Ohio, was elected chair;
Rebecca Rogers, 18, high school senior, Evangelical Lutheran
Church, Frederick, Md., was elected secretary; and, Dayle
Kitch, 16, high school junior, St. John Lutheran Church,
Carroll, Iowa., was elected liaison to the board of the
Lutheran Youth Organization.
    "I want to provide others with the same experience I
got here," said Schmidlin.  "DAYLE is an excellent way for
other people without disabilities to understand the gifts we
have they may not realize we have."
    "Sometimes I feel like I don't belong," Rogers said.
"When I'm with a group of people like this, I don't feel
bad.  This has made me fit in."
     "DAYLE is great way to make a difference," said Kitch,
who noted her name is the same as the DAYLE acronym.  "I
think (serving on DAC) will be a great experience."
     Rogers' mother, Lynn, said the DAYLE experience has
provided her with a chance to talk with other parents and
caregivers. DAYLE is a place "to feel like you belong and
that you're not alone," she said.

VOLUNTEERS, SPEAKERS PARTICIPATE, TOO
     Spending a few days with differently abled people "has
done nothing but make me a better pastor," said the Rev.
Scott A. Moore, First Lutheran Church, Berwyn, Ill.  Moore
was chaplain for DAYLE.
     "Being in this environment gives me a 'rejuvenated
awareness' of being patient," he said. "There's a place for
everyone at the table."
     Two people who volunteered for DAYLE were Larry Olson,
Beresford, S.D., and Hans Peterson, Jordan, Minn., both
members of Dakota Road, a contemporary Christian band.	Both
led the DAYLE participants in singing and worship and
featured original Christian songs.  Dakota Road is playing
at the Youth Gathering's Interaction Center at the Georgia
World Congress Center. "There's a spirit here in which the
participants have a gift for being able to see one another
as children of God," Peterson said.
     "We all need each other, and we're no different," Olson
said.  "I can be myself here.  That's the gift they give me.
The joy here is abounding and it overflows."
    Both were music leaders at DAYLE 2000, and said they
would return again without hesitation.
     The Rev. Michael J. Neils, bishop of the ELCA Grand
Canyon Synod, Phoenix, Ariz., was a DAYLE volunteer.  Neils
explained that the reason he volunteered is that the ELCA
Conference of Bishops made a commitment to support youth and
family ministry.  His wife, Cheryl, is directly involved in
special needs education, he added.
    Neils said he was impressed with DAYLE participants.
"The DAC kids are extraordinary, with great gifts of faith,"
Neils said.  He said he would like to explore how the church
can organize regional and synodical definitely abled events
such as DAYLE.
       Speakers who met with DAYLE participants were:
    + Ken Medema, musician, performer and songwriter.  He
composed the 2003 ELCA Youth Gathering's theme song, "Do
Life! Ubuntu!"	Medema, who is blind, explained how he got
into the music business.  "Nobody does life alone," he told
DAYLE participants.  "We do it together.  We are the body of
Christ together.  This week we will explore what it means to
be in Christ together.	That's what ubuntu means."
    + Paula Sturgeon, speaker and educator, who was born
with physical abnormalities that affect her bone joints.
Sturgeon told her own life story, encouraging DAYLE
participants to focus on their gifts rather than their
disabilities.  "By the grace of God, I'm here and God's
grace is sufficient for me," she said." If you can impact
one life, you will live in the power of God's love."
     + The Rev. Mark B. Brown, Lutheran Office for
Governmental Affairs, Washington, D.C.	Brown spoke to DAYLE
parents about advocacy with schools and government on
disability issues. He reviewed numerous ELCA Churchwide
Assembly actions in which the church has advocated for
disabled people.  One DAYLE parent, Darryl Harvey, Aurora,
Colo., said the church needs to produce or provide resources
to address a variety of disability needs. Such
materials could be placed at resource centers, he said.

     Information from the ELCA Youth Gathering can be found
at http://www.elca.org/gathering/home.html on the Web.

     Photos from DAYLE can be found at
http://www.elca.org/gathering/med-gallery.html on the Web.

For information contact:
John Brooks, Director (773) 380-2958 or NEWS@ELCA.ORG
http://elca.org/news