The folloiwing highlights areas of progress in Elim's Outreach Network, through which we provide support and encouragement to 16 Christian schools domestically and to 6 ministries/organizations nationally as they seek to equip people with disabilities to achieve their highest God-given potential.

 

Local Christian Schools

Local Outreach provides educational consultative services to local and domestic schools within Elim’s Outreach Network (EON).  At the onset of the school year, Amy Flynn, the Outreach Education Coordinator, and Kim Amos, the Outreach Development Coordinator, met with school administration and in some cases, support staff, to learn about the school community, discuss the development of potential goals for a more inclusive educational environment, and to communicate Elim’s shift from testing services and reinforcing the Discovery Program Model to the provision of holistic consultative supports and services.  These services include: Meeting and goal-setting with school administration, regularly scheduled school-wide on-site support, access to monthly “Professional Development and Collaboration Meetings,” ongoing phone and email consultation, meeting with teachers to discuss targeted student interventions and programming, collaborative development of forms and processes, and individualized student evaluation through a defined referral process. 

Some specific outcomes developed through administrative collaboration are:

 

International Christian Schools / Ministries

 

Ashish Centre for the Differently Abled, Delhi India

Elim reviewed several completed assignments from participants of the ASD Learning program and provided feedback. Eighteen of the original twenty students completed the program and received an AFDA / Elim ‘Certificate of Completion’. Elim also supported part of Geeta’s travel expense to do training for an agency that supports children with autism in Bangalore.  Per Geeta’s request Elim developed two topic trainings specific to the professional development needs stated by this school in Bangalore. Geeta presented these topics and other resources to 31 parents and staff.

 

Tesoros de Dios, Managua Nicaragua

Outreach staff are meeting regularly with lead program staff via Skype to discuss specific programming concepts and how best to implement for further development. One aspect of the Transition Program growth is that five young adults in Tesoro’s vocational program started going on regular community trips with staff to the grocery store where they are practicing community engagement, social skills and life skills. In addition, Outreach staff and Michelle have recently started a conversation about providing training support to an orphanage serving over one hundred and forty children and adults with disabilities in El Salvador. This ministry was discovered through a conversation between Outreach and Sports Ministry (who is seeking to offer more support to disability ministries in the communities they serve).

 

Chenga Ose Association, Harare Zimbabwe

The Mambure’s and Outreach worked together to draft a COA Support Team process document. This document helped provide a guide for gathering together several of the Mambure’s friends and potential supporters. During the first meeting Davis described their vision for opening a school / vocational program which will expand over the next five years. The annual and overall five year fundraising goals were also discussed. During the second meeting the group will talk about potential individual roles and commitment for serving on the team long term (5 years).

 

En-Gedi Children’s Home, Athi River Kenya

Margaret spent three days observing Elim programming and an additional day with Outreach staff debriefing on several programming training tools which Margaret took back with her to use as professional development for her staff.  During her time observing programming she gained ideas from staff providing direct instruction and therapy. Margaret brought back a folder with templates for how to write goals, several hard copy trainings, curriculum and two suitcases filled with items donated by Elim staff.

 

Chara Center, Jakarta Indonesia

After meeting Evelyn two years ago she has now joined the Elim Outreach Network.  Evelyn is working as a special education consultant while also setting up the Chara Center to launch early 2016. Evelyn has described her vision to Outreach staff and identified / requested specific resources which Elim could share that can be useful in the program set up. Several administrative documents such as school policies and procedures were shared in addition to insights regarding assessments and other programming tools.

-Evelyn is more equipped to set up and open the Chara Center through 5 programming and administrative resources shared by Outreach

 

 

Wizara School, Kehancha Kenya

Pastor Thomas was invited to join the Elim Outreach Network as a new Ministry Leader. Outreach is meeting with Pastor Thomas bi-monthly to further develop a Memorandum of Understanding which will attempt to define the working relationship with Elim this coming year. The following is a list of the draft outcomes in this MOU:

One very noteworthy resource Outreach will utilize to gather information regarding assets and community development opportunities is through consulting with Margaret Njuguna (founder of En-Gedi). Margaret has over thirty years of community development experience in several African countries and has agreed to spend time with Pastor Thomas in February to learn and provide ideas for how we can most effectively serve together.

 

Summary Note

As Outreach focuses on further developing our primary MOU relationships (locally and globally) we are exploring two additional relationships in Egypt and El Salvador. Outreach has been collaborating with Trinity Christian College regularly to discover ways to work together in co-developing educational resources with Ministry Leaders. Carolyn Buma has also been working hard to increase communication and participation between Outreach and Elim program staff. Outside (therapist) consultants are also being utilized to assist Outreach with the development of a webpage which offers a wide variety of trainings and other resources to the Elim Outreach Network members (local Christian schools, global ministry leaders and Elim staff).