Special Needs Camps

The numbers are staggering and sad. In India, more than 26 million children and adults are living with disabilities. Support services that are readily available in other countries simply don’t exist in India.

Historically, substantial physical or spiritual assistance has not been offered to children with special needs. To meet this need, God called LCMI to begin reaching out to those with special needs and to their families through Special Needs camps.

Our goal is to minister to the special needs campers and to their families. It is important that we share with them that every person is made in the image of God, and is valuable in His eyes. For many of them, it is the first time they hear that they are special. Parents share that they are amazed by the love being shown to them and their children, in a country that follows traditions that exclude them and treat them as outcasts.

One of the objectives of our Special Needs Camps is to teach the care-givers practical ways to care for the children such as hygiene practices, and to provide needed medical supplies and equipment. A wheelchair, walker or crutches could give such a person mobility and dignity, but these relatively inexpensive devices aren’t available to many people who need them.

We conducted our first Special Needs Camp in India in 2009. The parents of the children who attended and the leaders of our mobilizing churches considered the camp an oasis. We have now expanded into doing mobile Special Needs camps all over India and are hoping to launch SNC in Nepal soon, God willing! Through these camps, we have come to realize that the church in India is not equipped to minister to those with special needs. We have created a seminar called “Hole in the Church” to share with churches and pastors to bring about awareness and train them on how to respond to this need.

Many have testified about the powerful impact the camp had on everyone involved. Our heart is that each Special Needs camp will accomplish these three goals:

• To bring the Gospel to children with special needs and their families.
• To give special needs children and their families the love and care of Christ, showing them that they are valuable and unique.
• To create awareness, and to educate and train parents and guardians on how to care for children with special needs.