March 1, 2000
Special needs class brings JOY to Tomball
___By Reagan Graham
___Regional Correspondent
___TOMBALL--Adding one new Sunday School class has changed the lives of parents, children and teachers at Graceview Baptist Church in Tomball.
___The class is called JOY, an acronym for Jesus' Opportunity for You. Its members arechildren with autism, cerebral palsy, mental retardation and developmental disabilities.
CLAYTON BRILEY
___Volunteer teachers are trained to care for the children, explained Denise Briley, one of the founders of the class, which is much more than a class.
___"It's not just a Sunday School ministry; it's a family ministry," she said. "We help families who wouldn't normally be able to participate in church while their JOY kids are getting loved on."
___This kind of opportunity is worth the 40-mile trip for Channelview resident Cherie Hoffman.
___The JOY ministry offers a sense of freedom where in the past she never felt quite secure taking her child to church, she said. Other churches offered a place for handicapped children separate from the nursery, but it left children bored. And the fear on the caretaker's eyes was difficult to bear.
___The JOY ministry began in 1995 after Briley moved to Tomball. Like Hoffman, she had searched for a church home where her entire family could feel accepted.
___Her son Clayton, then 12, has congenital cytomegalo virus, which has caused severe cerebral palsy and vision impairment. Clayton was continually confined to the nursery.
___Then there was Graceview. Graceview was the only church that called the family and asked how they could help, Briley said.
___For a while, Clayton learned with the kindergarten class, until one night Briley had a dream where she saw Clayton in a classroom making friends of his own. The dream inspired her to speak to Lori Jones, education director at Graceview, and Pastor Bryan Donahoo. Both were delighted with the idea.
___Donahoo came up with the JOY name and preached a sermon that challenged the congregation to serve.
___"The JOY ministry reminds me of Jesus. Those who serve in this ministry are seeing special people through the eyes of faith and the promise of God that, 'With God, all things are possible' and they are making a difference that counts in the kingdom. Reaching out to people with special needs, after all, is what the gospel is all about," Donahoo said.
___Volunteers lined up to help. For the first year, Clayton was the only student along withfive volunteers. Steadily, the attendance rose to an average of 20 students weekly, with students' ages ranging from 5 to 50.
THE JOY CLASS at Graceview Baptist Church in Tomball
___Millie Bass, who is in her 70s, was one of the first to volunteer. "Four years ago, when I began helping in the JOY class, I felt awkward and unskilled," she confessed. "I did not have a child who was disabled, so I wondered what exactly I was supposed to do."
___She learned from watching and listening. And she found herself richly blessed.
___"Each child is so precious," Bass said. "They respond to your voice and smile, and that's worth everything to me."
___Bass, a writer and a painter, keeps the smiles coming. In February, she finished a painting of the JOY children inspired by a dream, where the children are in Jesus' arms free of handicaps. She calls the painting "Joy Comes in the Morning."
___"Each child has perfect hands. One child, who is unable to smile, is smiling because his mouth is right. Jesus is standing in the middle. You can tell they're in heaven."
___From its start with one child in one Sunday School class, the JOY ministry now reaches parents through support groups, quarterly volunteer training sessions and a parents' night out.
___The effort has expanded to include three JOY classes specialized for students' needs. The program also includes an adult JOY ministry class for those who live in their homes or in group homes.
___"One mother in her 80s had to visit because her son had been learning about honoring his mother," Hoffman said. "She worried why he had been calling (so often). She thanked us for him finally being accepted in his 50s."
___Volunteers at Graceview have written a training manual for churches interested in starting a program similar to the JOY ministry. For more information, call Denise Briley at (281) 351-4979.
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