{"id":491,"date":"2011-05-17T10:38:15","date_gmt":"2011-05-17T14:38:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/simplelife\/?p=491"},"modified":"2011-05-17T16:26:06","modified_gmt":"2011-05-17T20:26:06","slug":"connections","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/simplelife\/2011\/05\/connections.html","title":{"rendered":"Connections"},"content":{"rendered":"

Because many of our Special Gathering members were not able to attend the memorial service for one of their Bible teachers, \"\"<\/a>we had a short memorial time at our Melbourne Special Gathering on Sunday morning. \u00a0Special Gathering members are mentally challenged adults. \u00a0The mission of our ministry is evangelism and discipleship. \u00a0We don’t do group homes but we have chapel services and Bible classes. \u00a0This teacher, Frank, had taught a Bible class for about ten years. \u00a0His students loved him. \u00a0Therefore, as part of the memorial, our Melbourne members were asked to comment about Frank, sharing a favorite memory.<\/p>\n

Our members spoke about the times they remembered the most. \u00a0I was a bit surprised. \u00a0Several of the members talked about the class he taught. \u00a0However, almost all of our members said, \u201cI went to his house to eat.\u201d \u00a0His last meal, in fact, was shared with five of our Special Gathering members. \u00a0Their van driver lives in Vero but she needed to do some catch-up paper work in Melbourne; and his wife invited the members to come and eat at their home.<\/p>\n

After that meal, Frank took a large downturn; and he was no longer able to eat.<\/p>\n

Over the years, I\u2019ve studied the importance in the Scriptures regarding the meal. \u00a0The Bible indicates that there is a bonding that happens at meal time and with the breaking of bread. \u00a0This unique time does not seem to happen during any other activity.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>The meal plays a significant part in each milestone of developing our Christian faith. \u00a0Only mentioning a few, Abraham shared a meal with the Angel of the Lord before receiving God\u2019s promise to become a great nation. \u00a0The Passover was a Seder meal. \u00a0Moving to the New Testament, the last supper was an important time of communion for Jesus and his disciples. \u00a0Even after his resurrection, we know of two meals that Jesus shared with his followers. \u00a0The last meal was breakfast on the beach and Jesus prepared the food himself.<\/p>\n

I am more and more convinced that to develop a working and compatible relationship with people or family members that we desire to influence for Christ, the meal will help. \u00a0Several years ago, our executive director at Special Gathering, Richard Stimson, decided that we should invite our members to come to our homes and have a meal with them\u00a0and their families. \u00a0We invited each family whose child participated to our home. \u00a0We spent time with them. \u00a0Though it has been years, our parents still bring up how much they appreciated coming to our home.<\/p>\n

Of course, inviting people to our homes is not the only way we can create that bond. \u00a0Sharing meals at restaurants, church fellowships and picnics will accomplish the same goal. \u00a0Weekend spiritual retreats are often life changing experiences and I’m convinced that a big part of that transformation is because of eating with other Christians.<\/p>\n

God in his infinite wisdom has made the meal a time of pleasure and bonding that melts heart together in a unique way. \u00a0Connections are made that last a lifetime.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Because many of our Special Gathering members were not able to attend the memorial service for one of their Bible teachers, we had a short memorial time at our Melbourne Special Gathering on Sunday morning. \u00a0Special Gathering members are mentally challenged adults. \u00a0The mission of our ministry is evangelism and discipleship. \u00a0We don’t do group…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":387,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5,20,3,40,10,16,28,12,41],"tags":[690,21,688,696,14,7,699,693,701,691,694,94,19,689,692,700],"class_list":["post-491","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-christianity","category-church","category-developmental-disabilities","category-faith","category-inspirational","category-intellectual-disability","category-mentally-challenged","category-religion","category-spirituality","tag-autism-spectrum","tag-christian","tag-christianity","tag-church","tag-death-and-dying","tag-developmental-disabilities-2","tag-faith","tag-grief","tag-inspiration","tag-inspirational","tag-intellectual-disability","tag-mealtime","tag-mental-retardation","tag-mentally-challenged-community","tag-religion","tag-spirituality"],"yoast_head":"\nConnections - 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=\"Connections - A Simple Life, a Childlike Faith\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Because many of our Special Gathering members were not able to attend the memorial service for one of their Bible teachers, we had a short memorial time at our Melbourne Special Gathering on Sunday morning. \u00a0Special Gathering members are mentally challenged adults. \u00a0The mission of our ministry is evangelism and discipleship. \u00a0We don’t do group…\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/simplelife\/2011\/05\/connections.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"A Simple Life, a Childlike Faith\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2011-05-17T14:38:15+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2011-05-17T20:26:06+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/simplelife\/files\/2011\/05\/Funeral-Basket-of-Flowers-by-ExoticFlowersBoston.jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Linda G. 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