Mission and Vision Statements
The Disabilities Ministry of the RPCNA seeks to minister to individuals, families, caregivers, and congregations within the denomination that have been impacted by disability by
- Promoting ministry to, and by, the disabled.
- Providing counsel to families, deacons, and elders.
- Sharing their knowledge of available resources, educational materials, and potential support systems.
- Providing financial support in form of seed money for the renovation of church buildings and help with attendance at denominational family camps.
Meet the Committee
Martin has a B.M.E. from Indiana University School of Music, Bloomington, Indiana, a Master of Music from Arizona State University, and a Master of Divinity from Reformed Presbyterian Theological Seminary. He is clerk of the Presbytery of the Alleghenies and one of the pastors at the North Hills Reformed Presbyterian Church. Martin and his wife, Kathy, cared for their profoundly brain-injured and medically compromised daughter until her death in June 2021. Martin speaks annually at the Theological Foundations for Youth program and in the “Readiness for Pastoral Ministry” and “Diaconal Ministry” classes at the Reformed Presbyterian Theological Seminary on the topic of “Ministry to the Disabled.”
Testimony: The ultrasound technician fell silent. Our questions went unanswered. A doctor would need to speak to us. Our joy at expecting twins turned to sorrow, fear, confusion, and great uncertainty. Labels and medical counsel followed: “twin to twin transfusion syndrome”; “high risk pregnancy” and “your wife’s life is also threatened” started our adventure. Miriam Hope had died in utero. Blood clots travelled the umbilical cords giving her sister Mary, a number of strokes. During weekly scans, we watched as most of her brain was replaced by fluid (hydranencephaly). Ungodly suggestions from doctors and a family member followed: “If you go across state lines you can take care of this.” On October 4, 1999, Mary was born – profoundly brain injured with a huge list of medical issues. The learning continued with diagnosis of a leaking tricuspid valve, cortical blindness, renal dysplasia, cerebral palsy, osteopenia, eosinophilic gastroenteritis. These were just the tip of the iceberg. Mary required 24-7 care. Our lives changed. The lives of our two preteen sons changed.
In the 22+ years we were privileged to care for Mary, we came to know (and deeply appreciate!) the doctors and nurses in the Emergency Room and the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit at Children’s Hospital in Pittsburgh. Mary’s visits to the ER & PICU were numerous. A short visit was 10 days. The record was a back-to-back visit lasting forty days. We lived 24-7 at the hospital, rotating our time at home trying to keep up our work responsibilities.
Our beloved Mary passed into glory in June of 2021. What were God’s purposes? In some small way God used her life to
- Testify to others regarding the value of all human life.
- Change us to be more like Christ.
- Teach us that life is not about our desires/comfort. In other words “to help us die to self.”
- Humble us by learning to receive help.
- Teach us the importance of the church, whose help was integral to our ability to survive.
- Teach us to “simply be faithful” where we are planted and to embrace His providences. His purposes for us are far more important than our perceived goals or expectations.
The story comes full circle. Did I mention Mary’s middle name? Mary JOY. Yes, it was a joy and privilege to love and serve our beloved Mary. My wife and I would take her back in a nanosecond, but in God’s providence “we shall go to her, she will not return to us.” (2 Samuel 12:23 – adapted)
Richard N. Johnston is the Chairman of the Disabilities Ministry of the RPCNA. In 1972 he earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Industrial Sciences and a Master of Education degree in 1975 from Ball State University. From 1972-1992, he taught various vocational courses at Lawrence North High School and McKenzie Career Center in Indianapolis, Indiana. He served 1980-2015 as a youth pastor. In the years 1990-1993, he attended the Reformed Presbyterian Seminary in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. From 1993-2019, he served as Pastor of Second Reformed Presbyterian Church, Indianapolis, Indiana.
Pastor Johnston is the husband of Beckie and father of three. His son and son-in-law are Reformed Presbyterian pastors in Kansas. His third child, Stephen, was born with Down Syndrome and, so Beckie and Richard learned many lessons that resulted in ministry to adults with disabilities. Friendship Bible Study began in 2013 and serves about 25 adults with disabilities.
Testimony: In 1972 I began 20 wonderful years of public-school teaching in Indianapolis. In 1993 I began 25 meaningful years of work as a pastor. In the midst of that, in 1990, God did a horrible and wonderful thing for me. God gave us a third child born with Down syndrome. It took me many years to discover the beauty and significance of Stephen’s life. Personally, every day, I thank God for this son, and my dear friend. He is talented, loves God and loves people beyond what I am capable! God used this avenue for me to be involved in the lives of many, many adults with disabilities! I could not have engineered this, but God did it!
Since 2010, Karen Olson has worked as a freelance editor and small business owner. She has a Credential in Editing from the University of Washington Professional and Continuing Education program and a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from the University of Washington. She coauthored two books. Prior to that, Karen worked for a nonprofit adoption agency, where she facilitatied the adoption of children in Colombia, Ecuador, and Thailand by American families. She has served on the RPWA Board of Directors since 2004 and is a longtime member of the Seattle RPC.
Testimony: After my husband and I adopted our two daughters, I was hired to coordinate the agency’s Colombian adoption program, a job I shared with another adoptive mother. Later my work expanded to programs in Thailand and Ecuador. Visiting orphanages there, I witnessed the plight of children with a wide variety of disabilities, including deafness, heart defects, loss of limbs, and severe burns. The orphanages lacked the resources to help these children. I had the privilege of facilitating the adoption of many of the children by families throughout the United States who were able to provide the love and medical care they needed.
Debby received a Bachelor of Science in Physical Therapy from the University of Kansas and a Master of Education in Special Education from the University of Washington. Throughout her 45 year career as a Physical Therapist, she specialized in treating premature infants and children with developmental disabilities. She was fortunate to work in a variety of settings, including hospitals, university affiliated programs, private nonprofit clinics and public schools. Debby is a member of the Shawnee Reformed Presbyterian Church in Shawnee, Kansas.
Testimony: Throughout my career as a Physical Therapist I was blessed to work with some wonderful families. These caregivers taught me so much about the rewards and challenges of caring for a child with special needs. Personally I experienced some of these challenges when caring for my mother who was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease. Although retired from clinical work as a therapist I would like to think that I can continue to serve people with disabilities by helping congregations support and involve individuals with disabilities.
Bill has worked in health care administration all of his 44 years of employment including 38 years as Administrator or Chief Financial Officer at the Reformed Presbyterian Home in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He has a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from Geneva College. He serves as an elder in the North Hills RP Church and serves on the Board of Directors of the RPWA. He and his wife, Rose, have two daughters and seven grandchildren.
Testimony: One of Bill’s greatest pleasures is to be of help and encouragement to others in need, particularly to seniors and those with disabilities. Christ calls us to demonstrate compassion in practical ways, and serving others is one way to live out this command. When meeting a person with a disability, in recent years Bill has been challenged to see the person before the disability. He encourages all to try to follow this principle.
Valerie was an infant when her family came to the RPCNA in Phoenix, where she still is a member. She received her degree in Music Education from Geneva College and has been teaching music and many other subjects ever since. She is married to Kevin Willson, and they endured many years of trial trying to grow their family. The Lord led them to foster care, where they met two future daughters and then were blessed to birth three more daughters. The Lord has entrusted these daughters in their care to bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. She delights in keeping home and homeschooling her children, of which only two are left as students. The oldest three are young adults, and Valerie continues to advocate for their needs.
Valerie has experience with sign language and continues to study the needs of the deaf community through her friends. Through fostering, adopting, and friendships made through their daughters, she and her husband have significant experience with a variety of needs, some physical, but mostly cognitive and psychological.
Testimony: Being “born into” the RP church, it was easy to rest on my parents’ faith, and RP knowledge and distinctives, but it wasn’t until God answered my prayers of granting me children that He brought me to my knees before Him. Raising our adopted children tested me in ways I didn’t know I needed testing. I came face to face with sin that I didn’t know was there. My failings in my faith became glaringly evident. My adopted children’s trauma and resulting behaviors were too much for me. There were far too many unknowns, far too many “professionals” not listening. There was so much isolation, as others looked on, not truly understanding why things were so difficult. The fight for services and understanding, in addition to extensive studying and search for resources while still trying to parent, was utterly exhausting much of the time. Since I thought I had to have perfect control, it all came crashing down. My loving Father reminded me to rely FULLY on Him and cling to Jesus Christ instead of trying to lean on my own understanding and illusion of strength. HE is in control and loves all my children even more than I do. My job is to teach them of the Creator and Savior and minister to them the best I can, even in the unknowing, and the overwhelming list of issues, the isolation. He continues to sanctify me through my frailty and inadequacies. I have learned to rely on the Lord for every breath and the Holy Spirit for every thought and decision.
As a registered nurse, her experience has been in critical care nursing both in a Coronary Care Unit in Pittsburgh and a Medical ICU in Philadelphia. After moving to western Pennsylvania, she was happy to be employed as a home health care nurse. For several years, she served on the Board of Directors of the Reformed Presbyterian Home in Pittsburgh as the Chairman of the Quality Care Committee. Nola is a member of the Rose Point RP Church in New Castle, Pennsylvania.
Testimony: Nola’s passion has always been to help others when needed, whether visiting family, friends, or church members in their homes, nursing homes or in hospitals. She often goes with individuals to their doctor appointments when they request her help. Occasionally, she is asked to change dressings for people in their homes. Nola was so blessed to be able to help a family acquire much needed medical equipment locally at no cost for a loved one.