Special Needs

For all participants, we ask that you please fill out an Individualized Worship Plan (IWP) to help us better know your child/family-member/participant and make sure their Sunday experience is as awesome as possible.
Click Here to fill out an IWP

FAITH-DYER

Reflectors Worship:
Sundays at 11 AM
*does not meet on the 5th Sunday of the month
Contact: Pam VanderMeer

We have multiple rooms that function similar to a special education classroom, but also promote inclusive activities. Volunteers are trained and have had a background check. Typical elements include: modified Bible lessons, crafts, games, singing, and other interactive activities.

• Orange Room – for children ages 3-5th grade
• Green Room – for teens, 6th grade thru age 18
• Red Room – for adults, ages 18 and up
• Blue Room – for adults, ages 18 and up (more 1-to-1 volunteer-to-participant ratio) 

FAITH-CEDAR LAKE 

Reflectors Worship: Sundays
*does not meet on the 5th Sunday of the month
Contact: Becky Gouwens

We have two rooms that function similar to a special education classroom, but also promote inclusive activities. Volunteers are trained and have had a background check. Typical elements include: modified Bible lessons, crafts, games, singing, and other interactive activities.

• Kids Room – ages 3-12  
  Sundays at 9:30 AM
• Teen & Adult Room – ages 13 & up
  Sundays at 11 AM

FAITH-HIGHLAND

Reflectors Worship:
Sundays at 11 AM
*does not meet on the 5th Sunday of the month
Contact: Amy Boshears

We have multiple rooms that function similar to a special education classroom, but also promote inclusive activities. Volunteers are trained and have had a background check. Typical elements include: modified Bible lessons, crafts, games, singing, and other interactive activities.

• Orange Room – modified Faith Kids classroom for children aged 3 – 5th grade
• Green Room – Jr. High thru age 18
• Red Room – for adults, ages 18 and up
• Blue Room – for adults, ages 18 and up with more volunteer support

For all participants, we ask that you please fill out an Individualized Worship Plan (IWP) to help us better know your child/family-member/participant and make sure their Sunday or Midweek experience is as awesome as possible.
Click Here to fill out an IWP

FRIENDSHIP MINISTRY AT FAITH HIGHLAND

Friendship Club is a group for teens and adults of all abilities. It’s a great time of fellowship, Bible study, prayer, music, and snacks. It meets on select Tuesday evenings during the school year from 7 – 8:30 PM.
Contact: Amy Boshears

• Highland Friendship Webpage
• 2022-2023 Friendship Schedule

SMALL GROUPS FOR FAMILIES

Tuesday Evenings (2x/month), 7-8:30PM, Faith Highland
Reflectors Parents Bible Study, respite for littles,  and Friendship Bible Study Group for Teens and Adults.

Wednesday Evenings (weekly), 6:30-8 PM, Faith Dyer
Wednesdays is a midweek discipleship and community night for Faith Church. There are men’s, women’s, and couple’s groups for any parent to join. There are Respite and Special Interest Groups available for Reflectors participants to be a part of.
If you’d like to learn more or join this group, click here.

YOUTH MINISTRY SUPPORT

We love facilitating inclusion within the youth ministries at Faith Church! To find out more about Faith Students, you can visit their page here. Let us know if you’d like to learn more about how to get your middle school or high school student plugged into Faith Students. For Cedar Lake, please contact Becky Gouwens. For Highland, please contact Amy Boshears. For Dyer, please contact Sean MacDonald.

FRESH HOPE @ FAITH Munster

Tuesdays | 7 – 8:30 PM | Faith Munster
Fresh Hope is a support group for individuals with a mental health challenge and their loved ones.

NEWSLETTER

We send out a newsletter at the beginning of every month to keep you up-to-speed on what’s happening in Reflectors. You can also follow us on Facebook and Instagram for news and updates.

“REFLECTORS IN ACTION” CARE REQUEST

The “Reflectors in Action” (Re:Act) serving team is a group of volunteers who serve Reflectors families outside the walls of Faith Church, tangibly bringing help and hope through meals, cards, visits, and many other methods. Are you aware of a family in need of one of these things? Click the button below to let us know!

CURRICULUM

Every Sunday, we adapt curriculum from Orange for Reflectors Kids and from The Gospel Project for Reflectors Teens & Adults. Whether you are able to be with us in person on Sundays or not, you can keep up with our weekly lessons on our curriculum page at wearefaith.org/reflectorssunday – or simply click the button below.

TRAINING VIDEOS

• Handbook Training Video
• 2015 Video Training 1: CPI Crisis Development Model
• 2015 Video Training 2: Escaping a Grab & Bite
• 2015 Video Training 3: Escaping Hair Pulls & 2-to-1 Policy 
• 2015 Video Training 4: The 5 Stages of Disability Attitudes
• 2015 Video Training 5: Leveraging Structure to Promote Engagement
• 2016 Behavior Training Pt. 1 (2/6/16)2016 Behavior Training Pt. 2 (2/6/16)
• PDF Handout for Behavior Training2019 Video Training 1: Handbook Refresher
• 2020 “Behavior Basics” Video from Trinity Christian College
• 7/30/20 Special Needs Planning Presentation with Gina VanBaren
• 1/21/21 Special Needs Planning Nuts and Bolts with Gina VanBaren

TRAINING HANDBOOK & POLICIES

Click on our “Serve” tab to find out more about serving with us!

LENDING LIBRARY

• View list here // If you would like to check out any of these books from the Dyer office, please email reflectors@wearefaith.org

GLOBAL PARTNER PRAYER CARDS

• Heshima (Kenya)
• Tesoros de Dios (Nicaragua)
• God’s Children(Haiti)
• Christian Horizons (Canada)

IN-HOUSE VIDEOS

• The 5 Stages of Disability Attitudes
• Doug Mazza Testimony at Faith Church (11/11/12)
• The Great Banquet Recap (5/1/15)

Individual worship plan (IWP)

We want to get to know each Reflectors Ministry Participant as best we can, and the information on this forms helps us do that. All information will remain confidential and will only be shared with Reflectors Ministry staff and applicable volunteers. *This is a requirement for all regularly attending participants

Parent Policies

We want to serve you, the parent, as best we can. Below is a link to a few expectations we have; mostly just FYI’s and ways to help us serve you well.

Care & Resources

For care & resourcing needs related to a family member with special needs, contact:
Reflectors@WeAreFaith.org

We also have a PDF resource to provide contact information for local resources. Please feel free to browse through it, and (1) let us know if you are aware of additional resources we can add, as well as (2) reach out if we can be helpful to you in any way.

PARENT TESTIMONIALS

“My daughter is treated as someone who needs the gospel. She is given structure and there are expectations of her. I love that people are excited to see her when she arrives.”

“We love Reflectors because they share our Lord’s love, His unique plan, and His value for all participants and families.”

“The best thing about Reflectors is that it allows our entire family to attend a church that we all love together and feel accepted and supported and loved by others. We don’t ever have to feel as if people are judging or wonder why we are here. We feel we belong, all of us.”

“Reflectors has provided fun, activities and social events specifically designed for my son. He has loved every one of them!”

Are you interested in serving with the Reflectors Ministry? We’d love to have you!

If you have any questions about being part of the team, please feel free to reach out to us (click over the the “Staff” tab to your right to reach one of us). Otherwise, here’s the step by step process.

1. If you’re interested in serving with our weekend or mid-week programming, please start by filling out the serving application:

2. Once you’ve completed the application, a staff member will reach out to you to set up a handbook & policy training; meanwhile following up with the references you gave in the application and sending you a digital background check via email (if you’re 18 or older).

3. Once those things are done, we’ll get you on the schedule and away we go!

IF you don’t have interest/capacity to serve on a regular basis, but would like to help out for a special event here or there, please click on the “Events” tab (to the left of this one). You can click on any individual event to find the volunteer sign-up link for that event.

Volunteer HANDBOOK

REFLECTORS IN ACTION TEAM

The Reflectors in Action Team (Re:Act) is a group of volunteers who serve Reflectors families outside the walls of Faith Church, tangibly bringing help and hope through meals, cards, visits, and many other methods. Use the buttons below to find out more about the team and to sign up!

VOLUNTEER TESTIMONIALS

“I am so thankful to have a church that supports special needs and has this wonderful ministry for me to serve. Our participants don’t even know how much they touch my heart and I can only hope that I am doing the same for them.”

“The best thing about serving in Reflectors is the opportunity to build multiple relationships. Not only with the families we serve, but with the other volunteers. I have loved getting to know the families on both ends of the participation of this ministry.”

“It blows me away how much everyone cares for and supports each other. It’s a place where we don’t tear each other down, we build each other up.  You don’t have to fit into an unspoken mold to be accepted here. This is what the church should look like.”

“The love and compassion I feel with each participant and the joy they so openly show us is amazing.”