Support Teams are the Hammer and Nails Behind Ministry
Writing has always been one thing I loved. Creativity always flowed wildly in my mind, like a river in the fiercest storm. However, as someone with very limited mobility who is legally blind and profoundly deaf, my writing projects come with additional challenges. In 2017, when God led me to begin writing my life story as a full-length memoir, this project seemed like an insurmountable obstacle. Yet, by the strength of God and his provision of many helpers along the way, he made this dream possible. I want to shine a light on my support team that the Lord used to make my story, Paige’s Pages, a reality.
God’s Provision for Paige’s Pages
God has used my supporters tremendously to spread the word about our ministry, proclaim the Good News of Jesus Christ, obtain resources to carry out our mission statement, and raise funds for putting together Paige’s Pages. One of the most important needs that I face in using this support is communication assistance. I can’t use my hands to navigate the computer, can’t view more than one or two words at a time on the screen, and can’t utilize technology like voice-to-text or auditory cues to dictate my words. Despite these challenges, God has always provided people willing to serve!
I lost my voice due to a tracheostomy procedure, so helpers must learn to read my lips. My nurses, family members, and others assist with communication by fingerspelling or signing to me when interpreters aren’t available. In size 150 font, a few words at a time, I’m able to read typed words as they float onto a Microsoft Word document. With patience and effort, my helpers read my lips and type what I want to say. When I see a mistake, they correct it. Sometimes, it’s hard for them to lipread me, but they graciously keep trying until it’s right. This is how my book was written.
Different people have assisted me day and night, tirelessly, to make sure my voice was heard, and my story was told. Without them, I wouldn’t have been able to write my memoir. Supporters have dedicated their time and energy to serving me and my ministry, and without God using them, it wouldn’t have been possible to publish Paige’s Pages. One person who really sticks out to me as a great helper throughout this journey is my friend, Summer.
Summer came into my life when I became more active in my nonprofit ministry and writing. She set up speaking engagements, acted as my sign language interpreter, and helped moved The Paige Project forward. She was my hands and eyes, typing what I dictated. With her, I felt confident in the work that I was doing. However, soon after starting my memoir, fear overcame me…
Feeling like a Burden
One day, as Summer was assisting me on the computer, I admitted how I felt guilty for making people help me; I felt like a burden to others.
She typed to me:
“Why do you feel that way? I’m here to help you. I’m here to see you fulfill your dream of finishing this book. I truly believe in you and see your desire to serve others.”
I was silent as she continued:
“You cannot do anything without a team. Let me give you this example: on a baseball team, a pitcher can’t do all the work alone. He must have a team behind him. That’s the same with you. You can’t do it alone, and that’s why myself and others are here for you. You’ve been blessed with more than what you need.”
Her words drove deeply into my heart. God provided Summer for me to write my book and continue my ministry, and I was reminded of this verse in Scripture:
“Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.”
Galatians 6:2, English Standard Version
The Blessing of Summer
Summer went beyond just typing and managing my ministry alongside me; she encouraged and motivated me to keep going, even when I wanted to give up.
When Summer moved back to her hometown, she made sure the right person would take her place. Truthfully, I wasn’t sure how to handle having a different assistant come into my life. Opening up and trusting a new person was tough, and I didn’t even know if I should continue writing without Summer by my side. Before she left, Summer asked,
“Paige, why are you afraid to finish the book? You can do it! Think this way: when you write, write like you’re writing a journal. The more personal it is, the more powerful it will be. There are so many times people have said a journal should be published. You can do just that! One day, I want to pick up your book knowing that I had the honor of helping you write it.”
With all that Summer has said and done, God used her to remind me that nothing is impossible and to cherish each person he brings into my life.
God’s Grace Through My Trials
There were still a lot of setbacks and hurdles over the years it took to finish my memoir… but guess what? With the assistance of many others along the way, I completed my book, which tells the story of how God worked through my life’s trials. My support team has selflessly given so much to The Paige Project. They are the reason my ministry is able to function.
God has given them hearts of devotion to serving others and helping my dreams come to fruition.
I have found such beauty and awe in how God uses other people to empower me to pursue my dream of serving others and pointing them to Christ. He led people into my life who figuratively became my hands and eyes. As we read in First Corinthians, all of God’s children make up the body of Christ, and all play an important part.
How can you appreciate those who support a ministry? I encourage you to recognize and thank God for the people he provides in your lives to help you face trials and move forward with hope. Supporters are the hammers and nails that build the walls of ministry work. And, if you’re like me, the supportive people around you are one of God’s greatest blessings to you.
God shows us that nothing is impossible without him, and to recognize the importance of those who work behind the scenes in every ministry.
–Written by Paige Snedeker
Paige’s Pages: A Story of God’s Strength in Impossible Circumstances
Paige’s Pages is the inspiring story of a young woman who has spent most of her life battling an undiagnosed disease that has threatened to take her life countless times.
