One-on-One with Joel Dillon on ‘Jill’s House: The Gift of Rest’

The Body of Christ isn’t complete without people with disabilities and their families, but in our experience, the vast majority of them are cut off from the Body of Christ.

Ed: Why did you write this book?

Joel: We wrote this book for one simple reason: The Body of Christ isn’t complete without people with disabilities and their families, but in our experience, the vast majority of them are cut off from the Body of Christ. There are just too many barriers between them and being a part of a local church.

Most Christians understand this and they want to do something about it. But often, they just don’t know quite what to do or how to do it. Our hope in writing The Gift of Rest is to take the story of Jill’s House and use it to inspire and equip churches to make their congregations places of true belonging for people with disabilities and their families.

Ed: Who is it for?

Joel: This book was written for every church and every Christian interested in digging deeper into the call to love all our neighbors—particularly people with disabilities and their families. If a church is just getting started on this journey, it is my hope that The Gift of Rest will encourage them to take those all-important first steps and to provide them with some very practical tips for doing so.

And even if they are already well on their way to being a community where people with disabilities and their families belong, I think The Gift of Rest can encourage them to think even bigger and more broadly than they have before, and give them some guidance along the way.

Ed: Why do you think the church needs the message of this book right now?

Joel: Next Sunday morning, I’d encourage you to take a look around the sanctuary and count how many people you see who have a disability (of course, not every disability is visible, but that is a discussion for another time). Similarly, walk through all the Sunday …

Continue reading

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.