The Story Project
Shia and Gretta’s Story.
The Raymonds and Uhers formed a friendship in the early days of their pregnancies, because both Rob and Aaron were becoming first time dads—in their 40s. Post-church chats about energy levels and family planning expectations forged a growing friendship. They had no idea that soon they would have even more common ground.
On January 14th, 2024, Rob and Rachel sent an email to the Trinity staff and leadership team, which included Sydni, sharing the news that their unborn baby girl had a serious heart defect and a high risk of a chromosomal abnormality. The very next day, Aaron and Sydni went in for a 32-week ultrasound to clear them for their planned home birth. There they learned that their baby boy had soft markers for a chromosomal abnormality.
One of Sydni’s first thoughts was, ‘Well, if it’s true—at least our son will have a girlfriend!’
From the beginning, God was weaving our stories together for his glory and our good.
Shia and Gretta, born just six weeks apart, both have Trisomy 21, commonly known as Down syndrome. Gretta underwent a successful open heart surgery at five months old (read about that story here). And while it is true that the jokes about our children’s future betrothal helped with the initial news and years since, the reality is that receiving a medical diagnosis is painful, anxiety-inducing, faith-testing, and oftentimes, incredibly lonely.
In the span of just six weeks, our church became home to two kids with disabilities. There are children and students in our church with learning challenges and unique diagnoses, but this shift felt significant. How would our church respond and care for these two special children of the covenant? How would our church care for their parents?
One answer has been the Buddy Program. When Shia and Gretta turned one, Trinity’s Children’s Ministry Director and (Church?)Administrator, invited Rob, Rachel, Aaron, and Sydni to consider the best and safest ways to include their kids in the toddler classroom. With limited mobility, delayed speech, and delayed cognitive skills, Shia and Gretta need extra support to be able to safely participate. Trinity’s Buddy Program ensures that any child with extra needs has a one-on-one Buddy volunteer with them during class. In the toddler classroom, this Buddy helps the child safely move from the playground to the classroom (a big job for Shia’s buddy since he weighs over 30lbs!), brings them to the worship and story time gathering, and makes sure they are safe during playtime. When Shia and Gretta turned 18 months they joined Trinity Kids—and haven’t looked back!
On a Personal Note:
As parents, we’re so grateful for the dedication of our church leaders and Buddy volunteers who make it possible for us to have peace of mind about our kids’ inclusion and safety in the classroom. And we can’t wait to see the program grow to serve more children with extra needs and their entire families.
We wanted to share our thoughts on an important aspect of raising disabled children. In our case, children with not just physical delays, but intellectual disabilities.
Our most urgent prayer request for our children is not healing. It’s not the ability to walk, talk, or even inclusion—though those are all important and worthy of prayer!—it is that God would soften their hearts to be saved through faith in Jesus Christ. It can be easy to forget that our sweet “angel” babies are still sinners (actually as their parents, it’s not that easy to forget, because they remind us often!)
Shia and Gretta along with their typical siblings and peers need the gospel preached to them. We do them great harm to assume that because of their disposition they don’t need the gospel, or that because of their disability they are unable to understand the gospel’s power. Christ has called us to go and make disciples to the ends of the earth, we must not forget our disabled brothers and sisters in our efforts!
We’re so grateful to our church (leaders and volunteers) for believing that truth and partnering with us parents to ensure children with Down syndrome, autism, and other disabilities are able to participate in the children’s ministry to hear the gospel preached in community.
If you’d like to learn more about the Buddy Program or to volunteer as a 1:1 or in other classrooms, please click here.
