The Haven hosts ‘Good News’
Ministry offers safe place for people with disabilities
by Mankaa Ngwa-Suh | Staff Writer
Games, crafts, food and fun are coming to Mount Airy on Sunday in the form of a Good News event hosted by The Haven ministry of Damascus Road Community Church.
The Haven is a place where people with disabilities and special needs and their families are welcome to worship in a setting that accepts their abilities. Sunday’s event is an outreach of the ministry, said Juli Feissner, a founder of The Haven and the parent of son with autism.
It is open to everyone and will take place rain or shine from 2 to 5 p.m. at the Mount Airy Volunteer Fire Company’s activity grounds on Twin Arch Road.
‘‘Last year was our first go at it and we’re going to give it a go again,” Feissner said, adding the event is held ‘‘in honor of individuals of all ages with special needs⁄disabilities.”
The Haven draws worshippers from a broad geographic area who seek a place where families can comfortably attend church together.
On Sundays, the congregation gathers for service at Damascus High School, 25921 Ridge Road. The Haven holds a contemporary music service for the first 30 minutes, and then from 11 a.m. to noon the ministry has programming while the main service is in session.
The programming includes active games such as kickball and volleyball, and quieter options such as Connect Four and crafts, before breaking into small groups to talk and have short Bible lessons.
Feissner said, ‘‘It’s great because it’s adaptable fore all ages,” adding that The Haven averages about 50 people each week.
Kristen Travers of Mount Airy remembers when her son, Curran, now 18, first went to The Haven about two years ago. ‘‘He was just immediately welcomed,” she said. ‘‘It’s very different. He didn’t have to meet an expectation. They actually revel in the children’s differences.”
Rather than asking participants to conform, they are ‘‘being met where they need to be met,” she said.
Travers found that Curran’s brother Jamie, 21, and sister Caroline, 15, are also able to be involved in The Haven, adding Caroline started helping with ministry.
Sunday’s event will include inflatable moon bounces, slides, bubbles, prizes, live music, food and T-shirts for the first 600 people.
Representatives from the Carroll County Sheriff’s Office and the Mount Airy Volunteer Fire Company are expected to attend and provide safety information and apparatus displays.
A sumo wrestling station where participants can don large round suits and crash into one another will be an added feature this year, Feissner said. ‘‘So that’s going to be really fun.”
The day is ‘‘an opportunity for people to really come out and to provide some support and love,” she said. ‘‘Often families of people with special needs don’t always have stuff to do.”
Karen Brentlinger of Sykesville and her family have attended The Haven for about two years and she said, ‘‘It’s absolutely a place for the family.”
She has a 20-year-old son, the oldest of four siblings, who is autistic and The Haven gives them the opportunity to go to church together and be surrounded by people who aren’t judging, she said.
‘‘I think The Haven is a safe place where both the child and the parent...it’s a support.” Finding an accepting place to worship together was important to her family, Brentlinger said, and she knows of others who feel the same and come from even farther to attend. ‘‘People travel because...it’s a unique ministry.”
The Clark family has no qualms about traveling the 45 minutes from Falls Church, Va. on Sunday mornings to get to Damascus High School, where the church meets until its building is constructed on land it owns in Mount Airy.
They find the car ride is calming for Andrew, 18, who has autism and is prone to outbursts.
‘‘We’ve tried so many different churches,” said Andrew’s mother, Terry Clark. ‘‘We would walk into a church and then three minutes later, we’d walk out.”
At The Haven, it was different.
The activities keep Andrew’s attention and the people in the ministry understood him, Clark said.
‘‘I was really surprised and I felt good about it,” she said. ‘‘If these kids have something on their mind they’ll blurt it out and they understand that. It’s just really, really neat.”
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