One Value of Diversity

Michelle Porcaro, our early childhood director, recently used 4 illustrations of "different" children as part of our application on Sunday.  We were talking about how Jesus can bring new life to anyone, no matter how they look or act.  The first picture was of an African man dress in tribal wear.  The second was of an Arabic woman in a burka.  The third was of a shaggy, scruffy homeless man.  The fourth was of a child in a wheelchair.  For the first to third pictures, the kids could immediately identify differences in clothing, hair color, facial appearance, jewelry, and (eventually) skin color.  For the fourth picture, none of the kids could identify anything different from the handicapped girl and themselves.  Nothing.  Michelle was amazed, so she didn't bring up the obvious difference that the girl was in a wheelchair.  The point was, these 3-5 year olds saw a handicapped girl as "just like them."  Instead of seeing her as someone different to make fun or ostracize or exclude, they saw her as one of them.  

I don't think this would be possible without regular exposure to handicapped kids.  We have at least 2 regularly-attending girls that use wheelchairs in our pre-school program.  Simply by coming to church, they are teaching and helping shape the perceptions and values of our kids.  And that will be invaluable as our preschoolers grow and learn to extend friendship, compassion, and care to all people - including the handicapped.