“People with disabilities don’t get the recognition and fellowship they deserve,” Lundgren said. “We are supposed to be the hands of Jesus here in the world and we are not doing that.”

Lundgren has been involved with various disability ministries over the years, including time serving as director and a volunteer for Wings. Founded in 1984 to advocate and assist churches to adapt their facilities and programs to reach people with disabilities, Wings now serves as a spiritual connecting point for fellowship and encouragement for adults with disabilities.

In October 2007, Wings became an independent ministry after years of serving as an affiliate ministry of the Greater Minnesota Association of Evangelicals. Wings has ministry branches in the Twin Cities, Rochester, and LaCrosse, Wisc.

“I have nothing but appreciation for the board and the leadership [at GMAE] for helping us, encouraging us as they did for all those years,” Lundgren said.

With Lundgren serving as volunteer director of the Minneapolis/St. Paul group, Wings will continue many of its outreach and ministry efforts. Volunteers from the group are available to visit with people with new spinal cord injuries or those facing surgery.

“Many times able-bodied people, no matter how well meaning they are, cannot identify with them or don’t know how to respond,” Lundgren said. “Being a chaplain means that any time a person with a disability needs such a service, for funerals or even spiritual counseling, we are pleased to do that service as well.”

Wings also hosts spiritual retreats, two summer picnics, and various other fellowship and teaching activities throughout the year. The group’s next activity is a Valentine’s party with Christian League for the Handicapped on Feb. 15 at First Christian Church. The evening will feature refreshments, a time of teaching on the subject of love, and a performance by the woman’s trio The Higher Call.

“Getting a chance to meet new people who have things in common with a person with a disability is a great advantage,” Lundgren said. “We often challenge our people to do the same things as able-bodied people are called to do, by showing the love of the Lord in their worlds’ as well.”

“Wings is important to me because in spite of what I might look like to some people, I am always accepted with these people, my peers. We understand one another,” said Arlene Uejima, a Minneapolis woman with multiple physical disabilities. “This organization has been a haven to me among people who love me in Christian love.”

In addition to group events, Wings also distributes daily e-mail devotionals, offers a cassette Bible study course, has a prayer team, and works to educate churches on how to work with people with disabilities.


Call to churches
Lundgren praised some large local churches such as North Heights Lutheran Church and New Hope Church for offering disability ministries. But both Lundgren and Katy Thuleen, program manager for the Minneapolis/St. Paul office of Joni and Friends, agree there is much room for improvement. Wings and Joni and Friends often partner to spread that message.

“What we aim to do is accelerate Christian ministry to those with physical disability,” Thuleen, whose son Zach has cerebral palsy, said.

According to Thuleen, less than 15 percent of local churches have a disability ministry, and of the 54 million people in the U.S. with a disability, less than 15 percent “have a church home.”

Most church activities are not planned with considerations for those in wheelchairs, on crutches or the blind or deaf. Lundgren said he has been told there is a “fear level” toward approaching those with disabilities in the church.

“We are just people who are ‘differently abled,’ but who God wants to use as part of individual bodies of Christ, and overall as well,” Lundgren said. “Anytime people do not understand something or someone, there can be division.”

Mark Davis, a Wings volunteer, said Christians need to view those with disabilities as part of the body of Christ.

“What the world sees is the hardware. They are missing the whole point—they’re missing the person,” he said.

“Disability is not identity, it’s just something that affects the person,” Thuleen said.

Moving forward, Lundgren said Wings hopes to raise enough funding to hire a full-time director, cover ongoing expenses, and reach more people and churches.

“Years ago, many churches helped support us financially and opened up their doors for us to meet and even involve their members,” Lundgren said. “Today, we would love to see churches doing that as a local ministry again.”

Wings also hopes to start a weekly support group in 2008 in the Minneapolis area.

“We have come this far by faith after many trials and many years of being in operation, trusting in the Lord,” Lundgren said. “We are trusting in him to keep us meeting the needs of people.”


ACTION POINT
The Wings Valentine’s party will take place at 7 p.m. on Feb. 15 at First Christian Church in Minneapolis. For more information on the event and/or Wings ministry, contact Dale Lundgren by e-mail at dalelundgren@frontiernet.net or by phone at (651) 402-6277.

To learn more about the Minneapolis/St. Paul branch of Joni and Friends, visit www.minneapolis.joniandfriends.org, or contact Katy Thuleen by e-mail at minneapolis@joniandfriends.org or by phone at (763) 533-3473.