Celebrate International Day of People with Disability with your Church!
International Day of People with Disability (IDPwD) is a United Nations (UN) recognised day held on 3 December each year to celebrate the contributions and achievements of people with disability.
The UN theme for IDPwD this year is ‘Leadership and Participation of persons with disabilities toward an inclusive, accessible and sustainable post-COVID-19 world.’
By acknowledging this important day, we can take action to remove barriers for the
4.4 million Australians and 1.1 million New Zealanders with disability and contribute to positive change in our communities.
The Bible tells us that every person is made in the image of God; we are all wonderfully and fearfully made. We also know that the Body of Christ, the Christian community we know as the Church, is made up of many different parts, and none is more important than the other – we all have a role to play, and God has given us each a gift to share to build up and encourage the church and serve the world.
This year, as part of the Christian Care Sunday project, the LCANZ is providing additional worship resources to celebrate International Day of People with Disability on or around 3 December. We also remember and celebrate the care workers who support the community participation and inclusion of people living with disability – particularly our staff at Lutheran Disability Services and Lutheran Care in SA/NT, Lutheran Services and Anuha in Queensland and all our aged care services.
We encourage everyone to get involved and join the celebration! Together, we can all take action to challenge stereotypes, remove barriers and promote inclusive and respectful attitudes and behaviours in our Lutheran church community.
For more information about Christian Care Sunday resources, go to http://www.lca.org.au/ccs or contact the project officer, Anna Kroehn via email anna.kroehn@lca.org.au. You can find the IDPWD Christian Care Sunday resources on the “More Resources” page, under the dates and focus days tab.
For more information about IDPwD, including resources, stories, videos and social tiles, visit www.idpwd.com.au or follow @idpwd on Facebook and Twitter.
You can also help spread the word and join the conversation online using #IDPwD!
Messages of Hope (from Lutheran Media) to share on your Social Media sites:
A story about the gift of a child, an unexpected miracle: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8vIptKzNC_k
Did you know it is estimated that more than 340,000 Australians and almost 70,000 New Zealanders live with dementia? As the population is ageing, these numbers are likely to increase to more than 900,000 in Australia and 170,000 in New Zealand by 2050. For people aged 65 and over in Australia, dementia was the leading cause of disability burden in 2011 and in 2013 it was the second leading cause of death. Learn more about living with dementia from Messages of Hope.
Misconceptions about people with Dementia: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-djKjhkgJ6A
Living with chronic pain is often an invisible disability. Hear about Stephen’s story: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gLtQ6tSyi34
Living with addiction is living with disability. Hear how Darryl beat alcoholism:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sK1EveJXyzs&list=PL9HiAgLBoDmieo_xpQZwka6c4C7ISc1l_&index=6
Learn about Lutheran community services working with people with disability:
Learn about Lutheran Services, and their Hip Hop Inclusion program in partnership with the Endeavor Foundation, the Keystone Centre dance crew and Loganlea State High School in QLD. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KZgosRPrKSY
Learn about Lutheran Disability Services and two of their clients – Bruce and Justin – living in SA.
READ MORE STORIES ABOUT Christian Care, Resource
