October 14, 2002
Ministry to blind helps Texans see Graham's mission
___By George Henson
___Staff Writer
___FORT WORTH--The blind will be leading the blind when Billy Graham's Metroplex Mission comes to Texas Oct. 17-20.
___Christian Education for the Blind, based in Fort Worth, has prepared discipleship and counseling materials in Braille for the evangelism event at Texas Stadium.
___"We have seen from past missions that there are quite a few Christians who are vision-impaired and who want to participate in the Christian Life and Witness Course," explained Billy Graham associate Wanda McCurdy. The Christian Life and Witness course is a multi-week training program for those who want to serve as counselors at the mission services.
___McCurdy's task it to make the mission accessible to all people--whether they are sight- or hearing-impaired, have a language barrier or have mobility problems.
___"We've had several people inquire about the Braille materials for the Christian Life and Witness Course, and we've been able to get them what they have needed," she reported. "That's been a blessing for them and us."
___About 550,000 Texans are legally blind, according to Roger Dyer, executive director of Christian Education for the Blind. Also, only about 7 percent to 10 percent of blind people are Christians, he added.
___With those statistics always at the front of their minds, employees and volunteers at the Fort Worth agency were thrilled to help out with the Billy Graham mission.
___The Braille books printed for the discipleship course are much larger than those handed out to sighted people who attend. While most of the books are customarily only about eight inches tall and six inches wide, Braille paper is 11 inches high and 11.5 inches wide. Braille books also require twice as many pages as standard books, explained Tim Gil, Dyer's administrative assistant.
___In addition to discipleship and counseling materials, Christian Education for the Blind also publishes a Braille edition of Decision magazine for the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association.
___For many years, Christian Education for the Blind has published Braille Sunday School materials for the Southern Baptist Convention's LifeWay Christian Resources and for Standard Publishing.
___They also make audiotape recordings of the Baptist Standard that are mailed to about 100 people weekly and maintain a lending library of non-fiction Christian books in both audiotape and Braille.
___The organization works closely with a coordinating agency in Mississippi to ensure they don't prepare books in Braille that another group in the country already has available.
___"We're not interested in competing with other ministries, but if we can fill a need, that's what we want to do," Gil said.
___While Braille is an efficient way of communicating with the visually impaired, only about 10 percent to 15 percent of blind people read Braille, Dyer said.
___Increased use of audio tapes and voice programs with computers have made Braille less of a priority in some schools, and many people lose their vision at a later age when learning Braille is more difficult.
___Braille books also can be cumbersome. For example, a Braille encyclopedia would require a small room to house it, Dyer said. Since a Braille Bible is generally between 20 and 27 volumes, Dyer and his wife, both of whom are sightless, only carry to church the book they are using in Sunday School unless their pastor at Wedgwood Baptist Church in Fort Worth, Al Meredith, previously has announced his text for the morning.
___For some though, Braille remains the best way to put the gospel down on paper, and Dyer and Gil are praying it penetrates all the way to their hearts.
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