{"id":3476,"date":"2014-02-19T17:54:32","date_gmt":"2014-02-19T22:54:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/simplelife\/?p=3476"},"modified":"2014-02-19T17:54:32","modified_gmt":"2014-02-19T22:54:32","slug":"providing-a-safe-harbor","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/simplelife\/2014\/02\/providing-a-safe-harbor.html","title":{"rendered":"Providing a Safe Harbor"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"insecure\"<\/a>One of the most important things a person can provide for any person and especially for a man or woman who is developmentally disabled is a safe harbor\u2013a place where they can securely share their thoughts, feelings and emotions. \u00a0Because of their intellectual development, many people within the mentally challenged community are also stunted in expressing their deep emotions.<\/p>\n

There are only a few vehicles wherein this population where they would be expected or allowed to share their genuine thoughts. \u00a0All of us are heavily invested in teaching this population Scriptural principles. \u00a0Nonetheless, unless the precepts become practical applications in their lives, they will never learn them effectively.<\/p>\n

Therefore, it is vital to give our members the space wherein they are allowed to share their thoughts. \u00a0How we do this is not easy. \u00a0Though the answers regarding a \u201chow to\u201d may seem simplistic.<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. \"wrting<\/a>You must aske targeted and pointed questions.<\/li>\n
  2. You must allow the members to share without interruption.<\/li>\n
  3. You must allow the members time to answer. \u00a0When a question is asked, the leader of the group will often wait a few seconds and then answer the question themselves. \u00a0Waiting is hard but it reaps great dividends.<\/li>\n
  4. You must be sure that the answer to your questions are not to complicated or a vehicle to showcase how smart the examiner is. In other words, don\u2019t ask trick question.<\/li>\n
  5. You must give the members many successes with their answers. \u00a0If a person give a totally off the rail answer, rephrase it until you have found an answer with which they agree.<\/li>\n
  6. When asking an opinion question, be sure that every answer is given validity. \u00a0No opinion is incorrect. \u00a0An opinion is owned by the responder\u2013not the asker.<\/li>\n
  7. Give the answers extra validity by writing the answers down on a board of some type.<\/li>\n
  8. It is most important that the answering party knows without a doubt that the questioner loves him or her. \u00a0It takes time and a great deal of patience to truly show that you love your members.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    It takes an extremely secure person to be able to express their opinions, thoughts and emotions. \u00a0We must understand that most people within the disability community are not secure. \u00a0Many of them know full range of their deficiencies better than anyone else. \u00a0They must be given a safe harbor to insure that they are able to receive the healing that the Holy Spirit wants to give through your ministry.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    One of the most important things a person can provide for any person and especially for a man or woman who is developmentally disabled is a safe harbor\u2013a place where they can securely share their thoughts, feelings and emotions. \u00a0Because of their intellectual development, many people within the mentally challenged community are also stunted in…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":387,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5,20,3,669,40,49,16,8,4,41],"tags":[690,21,688,696,7,388,699,715,701,13,694,689,692,6,687,700],"class_list":["post-3476","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-christianity","category-church","category-developmental-disabilities","category-disability-ministry-2","category-faith","category-inspiration","category-intellectual-disability","category-mentally-challenged-community","category-simple-truths","category-spirituality","tag-autism-spectrum","tag-christian","tag-christianity","tag-church","tag-developmental-disabilities-2","tag-disability-ministry","tag-faith","tag-hope","tag-inspiration","tag-intellectual-disabilities","tag-intellectual-disability","tag-mentally-challenged-community","tag-religion","tag-simple-scriptural-truths","tag-simple-truths","tag-spirituality"],"yoast_head":"\nProviding a Safe Harbor - A Simple Life, a Childlike Faith<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, nofollow\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Providing a Safe Harbor - A Simple Life, a Childlike Faith\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"One of the most important things a person can provide for any person and especially for a man or woman who is developmentally disabled is a safe harbor\u2013a place where they can securely share their thoughts, feelings and emotions. \u00a0Because of their intellectual development, many people within the mentally challenged community are also stunted in…\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/simplelife\/2014\/02\/providing-a-safe-harbor.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"A Simple Life, a Childlike Faith\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2014-02-19T22:54:32+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/specialgathering.files.wordpress.com\/2014\/02\/insecure.jpg?w=300&h=300\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Linda G. Howard\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Providing a Safe Harbor - A Simple Life, a Childlike Faith","robots":{"index":"noindex","follow":"nofollow"},"og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Providing a Safe Harbor - A Simple Life, a Childlike Faith","og_description":"One of the most important things a person can provide for any person and especially for a man or woman who is developmentally disabled is a safe harbor\u2013a place where they can securely share their thoughts, feelings and emotions. \u00a0Because of their intellectual development, many people within the mentally challenged community are also stunted in…","og_url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/simplelife\/2014\/02\/providing-a-safe-harbor.html","og_site_name":"A Simple Life, a Childlike Faith","article_published_time":"2014-02-19T22:54:32+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"http:\/\/specialgathering.files.wordpress.com\/2014\/02\/insecure.jpg?w=300&h=300"}],"author":"Linda G. 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