A Winnipeg ministry is passionate about helping people with disabilities grow their faith, as well as support caregiver parents.
"We are an organization right here in Winnipeg and we are all about spiritual care and belonging for people with disabilities," says Shellie Power, the Executive Director at Hope Centre Ministries. "That means we facilitate as many different opportunities that will give individuals with disabilities a unique offering of places and times where they can connect with God, their faith, build relationships with other people, and also learn about the gifts they've been created with."
The ministry organizes numerous programs, including one that runs the length of a school year, called Friendship from Home.
"It's an online, interactive Bible study. We're creating Bible study kits for people who've signed up. We wonder, explore, and then remember God's word together."
Power worked as a special education teacher in Ontario before taking this job in Winnipeg.
"I was invited to participate in a youth with disabilities mission trip and just completely fell in love with what it means to share God's word with people with disabilities. A job opening at Hope Centre Ministries became available right around the same time that my husband was looking for work and so we took the plunge. We felt very called by God to this ministry and to this community."
Power shares that this work is fulfilling for her and it helps her faith in God grow at the same time.
"I say I do this because those are the people who teach me who Jesus is. It's not necessarily what I bring to the table at all but they reflect back to me the very heart of Jesus and His ministry on earth. I do this because I want to know Him more and more."
Hope Centre Ministries is hosting a viewing party at Riverwood Church Community for parents and caregivers of children with disabilities called By the Brook 2024. People can register here for the event happening June 21-22.