At the age of 32, Paris will be the sixth edition in which the Christian swimmer participates. In total she has won 29 medals, 16 of them gold.

Paralympics are declaring to the world that social value and human dignity are not rooted in physical perfection. 

It is not all about me, what I can do, sometimes it is about standing back and watching, amazed, at what God does, and giving thanks to Him.

Together, we can help people who journey with children with additional needs to find the trusting friendships and community that they often so badly need.

If Isaac had additional needs or disabilities, what does that say to us today?

Charlie Catlett, an experienced computer scientist who explains Artificial Intelligence to non-experts, speaks to Evangelical Focus. “Chatbots are non-persons, and you shouldn’t be having a personal relationship with a non-person”.

I hope it highlighted the challenges, but also the joys, of our story, and echoed the stories of families like ours across the country.

Many of us have something that we started during lockdown four years ago… mine was to start ‘The Dads’ Fire Circle’, a place for Dads (or Dad figures) of children of any age who have additional needs, to gather.

Couples split up for all kinds of reasons, but let it not be because they didn’t get any  support from their church when they were feeling overwhelmed.

Once you start to journal your blessings it becomes not only easier to spot them, but easier to get into the practice of thanking God for them.

Let us follow Jesus’ example and notice people for who they are, and then ask God to help us to be Jesus to them in the ways they need it most.

They received the Ukraine's White Cross for evacuating over a thousand people with disabilities since the outbreak of war, and bring them in Germany and Austria.

Loud or echoey noise, bright or flickering lights, strong smells, too much clutter, all of these and more can affect children and young people with a hyper-sensitivity

Malchus’ story is a small footnote in the Gospels, but it is rich with impact as it contains so much that is easily overlooked in the history changing narrative.

We should do all we can to bring children and young people with additional needs into God’s presence and to rejoice with them when they make little steps of faith.

Over 350 participants from 32 travelled to Lloret de Mar, in Spain. “God has no limits and reveals himself to all who seek him, regardless of hearing ability, gender or nationality”.

Let’s work together to ensure that every child and young person is able to learn and develop in the way that works best for them.

Creating a place of true belonging for every child and young person with additional needs, church become better for us all.

Inclusion is about the church taking positive action, not expecting a child, young person, or adult, to ‘fit in’.

“I’ll only be five minutes…” or “I’m in a hurry…” are some of the justifications given.

Perhaps if we dig a little deeper, we might realise that we are only acting on a part of the story; we’ve missed some vital information, and our response needs to be very different.

Let’s  do all we can to be the difference for every child and young person who chooses to journey with us.

Pray that God will give you the faith, persistence and determination to keep on praying, even when we seem to be getting no response.

Due to his various additional needs, James doesn’t really ‘get’ birthdays, but that didn’t mean that we would let the day slip by unnoticed…

The event takes place every year to celebrate Pentecost. “We long for people to become familiar with who Jesus is”, say the organisers.