Title: LUTHERAN TEENS WITH DISABILITIES
OVERCOME LIFE'S OBSTACLES
ELCA NEWS SERVICE
July 26, 1997

LUTHERAN TEENS WITH DISABILITIES OVERCOME
LIFE'S OBSTACLES
97-YG-06-FI

     NEW ORLEANS (ELCA) -- "Jesus Christ is
a role model for suffering,"
the Rev. T. David Diamond, Gloria Dei
Lutheran Church, Huntingdon Valley,
Pa., told a dozen high-school-aged Lutherans
with disabilities.  "His
suffering accomplished something."  Diamond
led the Definitely Abled Youth
Leadership Event (DAYLE) through a series of
Bible studies.
     The Evangelical Lutheran Church in
America hosted the DAYLE here July
20-23 in advance of a Youth Gathering that
brought 35,000 Lutherans here
July 23-27.  The DAYLE built on the
gathering's "Rive of Hope" theme and
added "Make ME a Vessel."
     Participants made a list of their
toughest obstacles, ranging from
"stairs" to "being taken seriously."  Some
suffering is unhealthy, Diamond
said, because it does not lead to something
worthwhile.
     "Healthy suffering helps you overcome,"
he said.  "The worst thing I
had to overcome was not believing in
myself."  Diamond added, "You can
choose to be a lot of ways in this world.
Jesus came to give us life that
we can live it more abundantly."
     The DAYLE gave participants a chance to
get to know each other and
the facilities being used for the ELCA Youth
Gathering before the crowds
arrived.  The teens -- about half of them in
wheelchairs -- toured the
Louisiana Superdome, Ernest N. Morial
Convention Center and a number of the
hotels that were used for the gathering
events to locate access points.
     A person's abilities are more than the
things they can do, said the
Rev. Susan M. Butler, House of Prayer
Lutheran Church, Harvey, La.  She
illustrated her point with a story about her
great aunt Vera, who raised
five children in poverty.  "I have
everything I need," Vera would say, "I'm
just careful about what I need."
     "Love flowed out of her.  She gave
love, because that's all she had
to give," said Butler.  "She loved because
that's who she was."
     "What did she do that made her special?
 She didn't do anything.  It
was what she was," she said.  "People can do
good.  The truly special know
how to be."  Butler added, "Be love, because
you can."
     The DAYLE included a business session
that elected Brenda Auterman of
West Milwaukee, Wis., and Kristen McClean of
Rolling Meadows, Ill., to
three-year terms as Definitely Abled
Representatives to the board of the
Lutheran Youth Organization, the ELCA's
youth organization.  The
participants also passed a resolution asking
the LYO Convention that met
during the gathering to create Definitely
Abled Advisory Committee (DAC).
     The LYO Convention approved the
resolution establishing the DAC on
July 26.
     DAYLE participants made provisions
that, if the convention approved
their resolution, Auterman would be DAC
chair and McClean would be DAC's
liaison to the LYO board.  Kim VanBatavia of
Sioux Falls, S.D., would be
DAC secretary.
     Each of the DAYLE participants was
accompanied by a parent or adult
helper.  Dot Wilson, director of the
Desire/Florida Community Council in
New Orleans, spoke to them all.  She told
the children to trust their
parents, and she told the parents to be
trustworthy.
     Wilson said the community council is
helping parents parent and
giving children the opportunity to play, in
one of the most economically
depressed areas of the city.
     "I want to change the attitudes of the
parents, so they can grasp
their responsibilities as adults."  Wilson
told the adults to teach
children what they've learned while
"weathering a few storms."
     Wilson told the teens that they could
learn a thing or two from the
adults.  "Parents are no different than you.
 They didn't come here grown,"
she said.
     The most important thing children and
adults can share is their faith
in Jesus Christ, Wilson said.  "So many
young people are moving away from
God, and they don't know why things are
wrong."
     Participants also heard from Bishop
Paul J. Blom of the ELCA's Texas-Louisiana
Gulf Coast Synod; the Rev. Kelly Chatman,
ELCA director for youth
ministries; the Rev. William "Bill" Kees,
ELCA director for Youth Gathering
program; and the Rev. Mark R.
Moller-Gunderson, executive director of the
ELCA Division for Congregational Ministries,
which houses the church's
youth ministry offices.
     In addition to Auterman, McClean and
VanBatavia, DAYLE participants
were Nathan Bauer, Zumbrota, Minn.; Bonnie
Carswell, Enola, Pa.; Michael
Davidson, New Orleans; Adam Enabnit,
Rockford, Iowa; Connie Gerding,
Watauga, Texas; Lindsay Groote, Millington,
N.J.; Mariamne Johnson,
Springfield, Ohio; John E.S. "Jess"
Schaeffer, Boyertown, Pa.; and Derek
Schutt, Gresham, Ore.

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For information contact:
Ann Hafften, Director, News and Information
http://www.elca.org/co/news/current.html