Vision

The Engage Disability movement was catalysed through a national conference held in 2014, which was an historic event for disability in India, creating powerful dialogue and unity across several sectors. The second national conference was held in November 2017 at Chennai and the third National Conference in November 2022. Reports of all conferences may be accessed here

Objectives of the Network

1. To create a Christian network to share information and resources at local and national level.
2. To equip the Christian community to evolve in their accompaniment of people with disabilities and their families.
3. To be the voice for its members in dialogues and consultations with the government, health sector, NGO community, institutions and general public.

Key Strategies

• Formation and strengthening of regional Engage Disability hubs
• Development and deployment of training teams in each region
• Publication of disability inclusion toolkit for Christian communities
• Development of best practice examples for Church disability inclusion

Values

1. Honor God: We will know we are living by this value when,

• We are intentional in doing everything as we would do for Christ
• We take all decisions in the light of His Word, following time spent in prayer and in discussion with the community
• In a non-supportive external environment, we display God’s grace and forgiveness and boldly live out God’s message

2. Build relationships: We will know we are living by this value when, within teams:

• We practice vulnerability and openness
• We practice the discipline of praying as teams
• We intentionally develop leaders within our teams
• We pursue active communication and feedback within the teams

We will know we are living by this value when, outside the organisation:

• We encourage cross learning by building partnerships among different organisations
• We develop relationships between all believers displaying the spiritual unity in our Lord Jesus

3. Focus on the poor and marginalized: We will know we are living by this value when,

• Services planned and delivered actively seek out the poor and marginalized, irrespective of caste, creed, religion, gender
• Decisions are made with an intentional focus on the impact on the poor
• We respect the poor and marginalized we serve

4. Demonstrate integrity: We will know we are living by this value when

• We regularly assess our actions against our purpose statement
• We practice good stewardship in utilizing time and resources (recognizing that we are about the poor in all that we do)
• We practice honesty in all our relationships
• We demonstrate financial accountability with all our stakeholders
• We are guided by the Bible in designing our services and materials

5. Strive for the highest possible quality of work (materials developed, training programs and health care services): We will know we are living by this value when

• We actively seek feedback for constant improvement
• We provide best standards of care in the context of the resources available
• We develop evidence-based models of care and actively build knowledge base for partners across the country

ENGAGE DISABILITY NETWORK DECLARATION 2017

ENGAGE DISABILITY CONFERENCE DECLARATION 2022

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