Special teachers minister to special friends at West Texas church

Updated: 7/20/07

Special teachers minister to special
friends at West Texas church

By George Henson

Staff Writer

CISCO—Corinth Baptist Church sits almost exactly halfway between Cisco and Eastland on an unpaved road. While it’s quite a way from any town, distance has not stopped the church from reaching arms of love to developmentally challenged adults throughout the region.

Martha Thompson and her husband, Benny, had taught a class of young couples for several years before they started a special friends class for developmentally challenged people five years ago.

A young man with learning disabilities began attending the Sunday school. Since there was no other place for him to go, he was directed to the Thompson’s class. Soon, a couple of more adults with similar difficulties began attending, and they also were brought to the class.

Howard White (standing) helps lead the Sunday school class for the mentally challenged at Corinth Baptist Church near Cisco. He works alongside Martha and Benny Thompson, who started the ministry. (Martha Thompson photos)

Mrs. Thompson began to struggle with the newcomers being in the class, because she knew they did not comprehend the Bible-reading or the discussion. She prayed, “God, I’m trying to teach them, but I don’t know what I’m doing.”

The number of couples in the class continued a decline until it was the Thompsons and one other couple. Mrs. Thompson continued to pray until she said God told her clearly, “You’re trying to teach the wrong people.”

It was at that point that she went to Pastor Benny Hagan and told him she wanted to start a special friends class. Hagan, who has a grandson with special needs, was very receptive to the idea.

“I knew there were a lot of people out there whose needs were not being met,” he said.

Since then, the church has bought a mobile home that was placed behind the church for use by the special friends class. Now the class averages seven and has had as many as 16 in attendance. In addition to the Thompsons, Howard and Letty White lead the class.

Class members range in age from 28 to 74, but their understanding is more basic than that.

“Our bunch, not matter what their age is, except for one, all are about kindergarten or first grade developmentally. We do have one who can read a little bit and is probably at about a third-grade level,” Thompson said.

Because of that, the teachers tell the story each week rather than reading them straight from the Bible, because some of the words are too hard for class members to understand.

The class has been studying the “ABCs of Bible People,” starting with Adam and Eve and ending with Zacchaeus. Each person’s work is being compiled into a book they will take home at the end of the series.

On a typical Sunday, one of the teachers tells the story, using a flannelgraph board or video as a visual aid, followed by a solving a puzzle, coloring a picture or making a craft. Prizes are awarded each month for perfect attendance.

Each class member also has a box of crayons with his or her name on it. “That way they know that each one has something that ties them here,” Thompson said.

Once a month, the flannelgraph board is used to demonstrate the plan of salvation. Thompson said most of the class has heard the presentation enough that they say the words along with the teacher.

To date, seven members of the class have made professions of faith, and three have been baptized, including one person who was 70 years old. The others want to be baptized, but a fear of water has kept them from following through with that desire.

The success of the class rests primarily with the Thompsons and Whites, Hagan said.

“We teach special people, but it takes special teachers, not just anyone could lead this class,” he said. In addition to teaching the class on Sundays, the Thompsons visit Northview Development Center in Eastland, where most of the class lives, each Wednesday.

“Our main purpose is to meet needs, and these people have a lot of needs. It’s a blessing to see these people ministered to, especially when you have a relative that’s been affected by it. It makes it that much more special,” he continued.

He is quick to point out that the class members are accepted and ministered to by the entire church.

“Our people just consider them to be part of the family,” Hagan said.

Members of the congregation buy Christmas gifts for members of the class, and two cookouts are held each year. Also, class members’ birthdays are recognized during Sunday morning worship services.

“We’re giving recognition to them as human beings and persons of worth,” Hagan said.

Benny Thompson said he enjoys his part of the ministry a great deal.

“I know that God don’t make junk, and he loves them just as much as I do,” he said. “And besides, we’re all handicapped in one way or another.”