Tuesday, May 12, 2015

Autism - Not too hard for God!

I wanted to take a moment to share with the readers of this blog something that God has done!
 
Sammy, a 14 year old boy from our church was recently filled with the Holy Ghost and baptized in Jesus' Name! Sammy has a disability - He is autistic. Though Sammy has trouble learning and understanding certain things, he has an amazing, photographic memory.  He has prayed really good multiple times over the years, but hadn't spoken in tongues until more recently! Since it had finally happened, he needed to be prepared for baptism in Jesus' Name. (Like the Bible says - Acts 2:38!)
 
 My mom came up with the idea of making an Acts 2:38 track on Salvation into a puzzle for Sammy to complete. Sammy can put a puzzle together SO fast with such great concentration! It was amazing to watch. Once he completed the puzzle, we went over the different sections of the puzzle: Death (Repentance), Burial, (Baptism in Jesus' Name), and Resurrection (Infilling of the Holy Ghost with the evidence of speaking in other tongues as the Spirit of God gives the utterance).
After Sam finished, mom moved some puzzle pieces away that made up a part of the Gospel. She explained that just as the puzzle wasn't complete without the missing pieces, the plan of Salvation isn't complete if part of it is missing! We explained that in order for Sammy's puzzle to be complete, he needed to be baptized in Jesus' Name.

 Sam did a great job attending to the Bible study! I love hearing him pray during pre-service prayer. It's amazing how God can work with any learning disability. While there are people out there who are heaping to themselves teachers, having itching ears but never able to come to the knowledge of the truth, God is revealing Himself to people like Sammy. God can work with anybody who is willing to be worked with!
 
 Sammy was baptized in the lovely name of Jesus and was praising God after he came out of the water! This was a beautiful victory for our church and such an answer to many, many prayers over the years.

 God is faithful!
 The man with his hands lifted in praise is Sammy's dad. So happy for Bro. Ty now having both of his sons filled with the Holy Ghost and baptized in Jesus' Name!
Have you been praying for someone who has a disability to be saved? Do you have a child who has a learning disability? Don't stop! Don't give up --  It's not too hard for God! God can heal the mind, and He can also work through a learning disability to bring glory to His Name! His wonderful salvation is to whosoever will!
"...With men this is impossible; but with God all things are possible." Matthew 19:26

11 comments:

Mary Frances said...

That's SOOOOO awesome Jen!!! Thank you for sharing this!!! I'm going to share this link with one of my friends in another church, she has a son with Autism so I know she will LOVE reading about this!!!

We had a young man in our church with Down Syndrome get the Holy Ghost!!! It was sooooo AWESOME!!! God is sooooo GOOOOOOD!!!

Kathy McElhaney said...

This is an awesome testimony! There are two young brothers in the church we attend in Hawaii who are autistic - what an encouragement to read this!

Jennifer Connell said...

Mary - That's great news about the young man with down syndrome receiving the Holy Ghost! Thanks for sharing!

Sis. McElhaney - So good to hear from you! I'm glad Sammy's testimony could be an encouragement. Miss ya!

Puzzle Me In- Tools 4 Autism said...

Jen!!! That is soo awesome!!! That testimony increases my faith! I loved your mom's idea! You know my love for children with autism and i more than anything would love to see God feel them with the Holy Ghost!

Jennifer Connell said...

Glad it could increase your faith! :) Would love to hear about some of the kids you work with getting filled with the Holy Ghost! Thanks for commenting!

Jennifer said...

Love it! My son has autism and I'm praying... one day!

Jennifer Connell said...

Sis. Jennifer - Keep praying! God will bring it to pass! Thanks for stopping by.

R. Keith Nix said...

Beautiful and encouraging report! Thanks for sharing the details of this...

Jennifer Connell said...

You're welcome - Thanks for reading! Praying for Peru!

Lauren Bundy said...

Just now reading this post.-it definitely brought tears to my eyes! God is so good to us, isn't He?

Jennifer Connell said...

Lauren,

Yes, God is so good to us! Thanks for reading.