“To get people interested in the Paralympics is a stretch”
I received a joke online this morning. Since it was insulting to competitors in the Paralympic Games, I won't repeat it, but I can tell you that the punch it packs is a pretty low blow.
As a fervent fan of both the Olympic and Paralympic games, I've never ceased to be surprised just how indifferent many people are toward the second part of the sports extravaganza.
Even though the Paralympic games are featured with equal prominence on the Vancouver2010.com website and take place in the same Olympic venues, there does seem to be a attitude out there that sporting competitions for physically disabled and visually impaired athletes are inferior to those for able-bodied ones.
Canada won 13 Paralympic medals in 2006. We captured the coveted first-ever gold medal in wheelchair curling, beating out world champion Norway.
In 2010, we will also be defending our gold medal position in sledge hockey—a dangerous, fast-paced game where players use spiked hockey sticks while maneuvering atop a thin metal sled, supported by two skate-sized blades. 2010 is a groundbreaking year for the sport as it is the first time women will be allowed on the roster.
But who cares about our Paralympic gold champions? Really? Recently, a blogger named "Tommy" wondered why the Paralympics are garnering so little Internet buzz.
"Most people do not give a (expletive) about them," replied someone named "Jean." "People don't care," agreed "NK." "Mild Mannered" added, "Most people are not interested, they tend to look down on people with disabilities."
Thank God the Canadian church does not share this attitude, eh?
Or does it? Recently, we reported on the "radical hospitality" that Christians were rolling out for the Olympic Games through More Than Gold (MTG). But when I contacted MTG to ask what was planned for the Paralympics, the lacklustre response implied a certain indifference on the part of churches.
"We at More Than Gold are currently up to our eyeballs in preparation for the Olympic Games," wrote Bob Kraemer, director of operations for MTG, to me in an e-mail. "Since this is the first time anything like this has ever happened in Vancouver there is a steep learning curve….To get people interested in the Paralympics is a stretch, even though we have emphasized from the beginning that we are interested in ministry during both."
Getting people interested is a stretch?
Is the same organization that praises the interest and commitment Canadian Christians have shown in reaching out to Olympians now saying that churches are largely uninterested in its less physically-abled counterparts?
Kraemer says MTG will have a chaplaincy program in the Paralympic athletes village, along with "a few refreshment stations" and materials for distribution. "I believe we will learn a lot in the weeks of the Olympics that will help us in our ministry during the Paralympics. We are trusting God to use us in both situations," he wrote.
Missing are any references to the concerts, children's programs and unprecedented evangelistic efforts with which our churches are preparing to greet those attending the more favoured games.
Paralympians are used to being seen as inferior in the world's arenas. Don't they deserve better from our churches?
I should add that there is a stirring testimony by Paralympic skier Bonnie St. John, in the Olympic New Testament that MTG is distributing at the games, in partnership with the Canadian Bible Society.
St. John, a one-legged skier, says she was once so concerned with appearing normal to the outside world that she rebelled against using crutch-like 'outrigger' ski-poles designed specifically to provide stability for amputees.
"I was trying to be cool, to succeed in the world without the right support," St. John says. "Not by faith and prayer, but by fitting in, looking good, and competing socially…(I) struggled to find my balance in a two-legged world."
St. John likens her gradual acceptance of the special poles to embracing God's support and presence. She went on to win three Paralympic medals and says, "With God as my outrigger, I was able to step out in faith, use my skills and talents to their limits and then even push myself a little beyond anything I thought possible."
Perhaps I am wrong in implying that our churches' lack of interest reflects the world's prejudice towards those with disabilities.
Perhaps many, like St. John, are even now preparing to step out in faith and be used by God beyond their comfort zone.
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