The Elisha Foundation is an outstanding ministry to children with special needs. To help readers get a better understanding of this ministry, I’m re-posting an interview with Justin Reimer, who together with his wife Tamara established The Elisha Foundation in December 2005. Here is part I of our interview:
Can you please tell us how the Lord called you to Himself?
I grew up in a Christian home with two parents who love the Lord and raised us in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. We were immersed in Christianity. I remember kneeling next to my bed at the age of 4 full of fear that hell was real and asking Jesus to save me. At the age of 16 I found myself really challenged to evaluate what exactly I believed and why. My oldest brother, Matt, would have me visit him while he attended The Master’s College and inevitably I would end up cornered by 4 or 5 youth ministry majors “encouraging” me to read the Word and know Jesus more intimately. By the age of 18, through much time in the Word, there was a turning point in my life of going from some form of uninformed yet convicted obedience to a joyful, Christ-enamored intimate obedience as an act of worship and delight.
To answer your question, I don’t have a specific event/experience to look back to but a present and supremely sweet reality of Christ in my life moved by the Holy Spirit.
How did you come to meet your wife?
Here is the short version…
Although I never officially attended The Master’s College I spent enough time there to apparently warrant being afforded the opportunity to be part of a summer missions trip to Provideniya, Russia. My bride to be attended Master’s and was on that trip but I hadn’t met her prior to the trip. We met in Alaska on the way to Russia and 14 months and one more trip to Russia later we were married and moved to Alaska.
Before your son Elisha was born, did you ever think you would work with a ministry for special needs children?
I didn’t but Tamara had an “inkling” we would as she was a special education major in college and worked in the special needs Sunday school program at Grace Community Church in California. I grew up as a missionary kid in Africa and always thought I would end up back on the mission field. Tamara and I had our sights set on going back to Russia as missionaries in some capacity.
What work were you pursuing when Elisha was born? Talk to us a bit about any redirecting God did in your lives.
We were living in a remote Alaskan village where I was working as an apprentice aircraft mechanic and we helped with the ministry that took us to Russia as opportunities presented themselves.
About 45 minutes after Elisha was born he was diagnosed with Down Syndrome and a couple hours later he was admitted to the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit due to medical complications. During the early hours of this new and blessed addition to our family we were overcome with the moment. God saw fit to make us stewards of such a wondrous and enigmatic blessing of a special needs child. The enormity of this responsibility was only made more sweet by the grace of God. The only tears we shed that morning were brief and were solely tears of experiencing the rich blessing of this stewardship all through His Grace.
This was a defining moment in our young lives with profound impact on our faith, goals and dreams. He redirected us in such a tangible way – a child. We knew in a very short period of time that this blessing was purposeful and that our calling was to a new field, that of the special needs community. It has not been without challenge and real lessons of patience but it has been a merciful bounty of spiritual lessons.
What has God taught you personally through having a special needs child in your family?
That is an excellent question that is hard to succinctly answer. It has brought more reality to those attributes of God we hold so dear, sovereignty being the key to our comfort. The most immediate affect on me personally has been patience. I have always tended to be a really on-time and ready-to-go kind of person but with Elisha things happen more slowly. He learns at a different rate. He moves at a different pace. His body, early on, was very fragile and travel was difficult. It slowed me down and caused me to see some sin in my life and to invest that nervous energy in Eli’s growth and development or to just simply sit still and listen. There have been many other things the Lord has taught us as well that are deep and treasured.
How would you comfort and/or counsel someone who has just learned their child has a severe disability?
It depends on the situation, sometimes you simply listen while other times you speak to the specifics of the disability. But at some point it should always come back to the Word and prayer and usually a combination of all these things. A foundational principle to understanding the scope of any disability/need is to understand that that person is no less created in the image of God than you or I. It is a difficult concept but is essential to a God-honoring perspective. Equally important is that whatever the situation, circumstance, challenge, need, etc. much is to be made of Christ in and through them. John 9 is particularly helpful with this as a quick reference.
Let me share this brief story. Just a couple of months ago I received a call late at night from a friend whose wife just gave birth to a baby girl with Down Syndrome that morning and the familiar voice on the other end said, ”I don’t understand what is going on and why God would do this to us? I would run away if I could right now. I am angry at God, why would he do this?!”
I will tell you that no matter how close you are to understanding the plight of a person with special needs you are never prepared for how it affects people so deeply and how suffering can so spiritually distract and reek havoc on a soul that is under attack. I was taken aback for a second but the Lord gave me the words to say as I talked with this Brother while driving to the hospital to be with he and his wife. Our home Bible study had just started going through 2 Corinthians and Chapter 1:3-7 came alive and I was able to share the God of ALL comfort and purposeful comfort with this Brother. Three hours and a lot of Psalms and prayer later this Brother embraced me and had been encouraged and strengthened to what extent he could be in his exhausted state – all by the Word and soul searching/baring prayer.
Update: Part 2 of this interview.