THE VISION:
A National Special Touch Ministry Operations Center designed to house…

• Individual and Family Support Services
• Disability Ministry Training Center
• Special Needs Adult Day Care
• Residential Housing for People with Developmental Disabilities
• Retreat Center
• Crisis Intervention Support Teams
• Weekly Chapel Services and Spiritual Support
• National Disability Counseling Center
• Assisted Living Facilities for People with Physical Disabilities
• Administrative Offices
• Master Plan for Future Growth

THE OPPORTUNITY:
The potential purchase of an existing facility well suited to meet these needs, including…

• 9 accessibility buildings…new in the year 2000!
• Student housing facilities
• Commercial kitchen and dining facility
• Beautiful woodland chapel
• 28 wooded acres providing future sites for residential and assisted living facilities
• Ample room to grow
• All surrounded by 3400 feet of pristine, spring fed lake frontage!

GOD HAS GIVEN US AN INCREDIBLE OPPORTUNITY TO PURCHASE
THIS BREATHTAKING SITE AT A BREATHTAKING VALUE!

We can’t afford to let this opportunity slip through our fingers! Your financial support
is needed and genuinely appreciated in making the vision a reality.

Please join us in creating a bright and fulfilled future for people with disabilities and their families.

Give today! Click here.

Twitter is an online application that is part blog, part social networking site, and part cell phone/IM tool. It is designed to let users describe what they are doing or thinking at a given moment in 140 characters or less. Twitter has also become a great way for providing real-time information updates, either online or to mobile devices.

Notices from Twitter, also referred to as tweets, can be viewed either online by logging in at twitter.com or can be delivered automatically by instant message (IM) or text message (SMS).

Here is a three-minute introduction to Twitter:

Click here to follow Special Touch Ministry on Twitter! And, if you are a Facebook user, you can find us on Facebook as well.

Thomas & Angelia Carpenter
STREAM Directors
Rev. Thomas Carpenter has been associated with Special Touch Ministry since 1999. What started out as an invitation to be a chapel speaker has sparked a desire to make everyone aware of the great talents and gifts God has given to extraordinary people who happen to have a disability. He travels with his wife Angelia, and children Jenel, Alexa, and Buck proclaiming hope and encouragement to those who have a disability and their families.

In the summer of 2007, the Lord spoke to Thomas’ heart about the need for Emergency intervention for those who have newly entered the world of disability. After sharing his vision with the National Leadership Team in December of 2007, he was asked to come on board at the National level and implement the STREAM Concept. STREAM is an acronym for Special Touch Ready Emergency Assistance Mission.

STREAM is a three-fold mission aimed at aiding in the process of securing the right agencies and physicians to best help our guests and their families, to network with others who are going and have been through the same difficulties, and to create an accessible place for living to those who need it. STREAM is a referral ministry and all request need to come through the Ministry Office of Special Touch and STREAM.

Contact Information:
870-799-9656 (phone)
tcarpenter@specialtouch.org (email)

Jesus told a story about a man who was severely beaten by a gang as he traveled from Jerusalem to Jericho. Fortunately, a priest came his way and looked but failed to reach out. Another religious man came along later and decided the cost was too great to truly make a difference in another’s life. These two men were content just to look as this man laid on the verge of death.

A Samaritan came by the man who was attacked, and was moved with compassion. He began doing something by disinfecting and bandaging the victim’s wounds. The Samaritan took him to a hospital and paid his bills. This act of courage saved the man’s life. At Special Touch, we enthusiastically get involved in situations that look hopeless and watch God do amazing things.

My friends told me how, like the Samaritan, some Christian ladies came over to watch their child with Autism, giving them a much needed break. Providing respite care is a wonderful blessing to young parents. In coming over, these ladies also reminded this couple of their value and how much God loves them.

After a recent surgery, while I was still recovering, a group of people came over to do some spring cleaning around my house. They did many things like change storm windows, change light bulbs, fix closet doors, and lay carpet on my ramp. The only problem was that they cleaned all of my sweets! However, they were there helping me in my time of need.

People facing the possibility of spending their lives in a wheelchair, due to an accident, need your help with obstacles such as home improvements. They often can’t go home from the hospital until a ramp is built and they can navigate their house. If a doorway is too narrow for their wheelchair to maneuver, it will need to be widened. Closets and cabinets will likely need to be adjusted. They may now require bars in the bathroom to assist them in using the commode or bathtub. These are a few things you can do as an expression of God’s love.

Like the Good Samaritan, we open the door to the supernatural when we do the natural and God does the super. In connection with your local Special Touch Chapter, look for others .in your neighborhoods that need help from a Good Samaritan like you.

- Bradley A Mattrisch

May 22nd at 7:00PM
Chestnut Assembly of God, Vineland, NJ

Doors open at 6:30PM

Tickets are $12 in advanced and $15 at the door.

Reserve your seats now by clicking here or by calling 800-965-9324.

Jeff Deyo, former lead singer of SonicFlood with multiple #1 hits including “I Could Sing of Your Love Forever” and “I Want to Know You.”

Hear the music that will compel you to reflect upon the God who will find your right where you are.

Come to this unforgettable night of music that will touch your heart and strengthen your soul.

All proceeds benefit Special Touch Ministry’s New Jersey Summer Get Away, a premier retreat experience for people with Disabilities.

DIRECTIONS TO CONCERT
Chestnut Assembly of God
2254 Chestnut Ave., Vineland, NJ

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Don’t think you can "camp out" with a disability?

Special Touch Ministry partners with Sonshine Music Festival to provide Disability Camping & Support Services July 15-19, 2009 in Willmar, Minnesota.

Free tickets for people with permanent disabilities

• If you have a Physical Disability: A free ticket to the entire 3 days of the festival is available to you and one attendant ONLY if necessary for your care.
• If you have a mild cognitive disability, and require no supportive care: You may be eligible to receive a free ticket.
• To receive this free offer, you MUST register through Special Touch Ministry.
• Person with disability and attendant receiving free ticket MUST check in together.
• Tickets are non-transferrable

Disability Camping Suggested Donation: $20 per reservation
These monies will help offset expenses incurred by Special Touch Ministry to provide Disability Camping Support Services at Sonshine Festival. Click here to make suggested donation online.

Disability Camping Includes:

• A reserved prime location and parking for one vehicle
• Adjacent accessible toilet
• Reservable on-site accessible shower
• Equipment support (ie: wheelchairs, hoyer lifts, bedside commodes, shower chairs)
• Limited wheelchair recharging
• On-site 24 hour Special Touch staff

Disability Camping Details

• Bring your own tent, van, or motor home for sleeping.
• Maximum 6 people per site, must include one person with a permanent disability.
• Each site will fit one camping unit (tent, camper, and motor home) and a vehicle. Limit 1 vehicle per site.
• Your reservation for camping will only be held for 24 hours past your requested date of arrival.
• No campfires permitted. Temporary campsites do not have electricity, running water, or picnic tables. Bring what you need.
• No tobacco, no drugs, no alcohol, no torches or fireworks, no glass bottles, no pets (service animals only).

Alternative Accommodations
If this doesn’t work for you, there are permanent campgrounds and hotels nearby. Communicate with them directly to reserve a room. They are filling up fast! See the Sonshine website at www.sonshinefestival.com.

Reservation Deadline
To reserve your place in the disability camping area or to obtain free tickets, reservations must arrive at the Special Touch Ministry office no later than July 3. No reservations will be taken at the Special Touch Ministry office after this date.

• Click here for DISABILITY CAMPING REGISTRATION with FREE TICKET
• Click here for FREE TICKETS ONLY
• Click here to DOWNLOAD PRINTABLE REGISTRATION (PDF)

Further registration for disability camping and free tickets will be handled at the event and available on a first come, first served basis.

Cancellation Policy
As space is limited, if you need to cancel your reservation, please do so before July 3, so we don’t turn others away.

Disability Parking
Disability parking will be available. Disability sticker/tag must be visible from outside vehicle.

Directions & Map

• From Hwy 12 east or west: county road 9 north about four miles. Run right into it!
• From Hwy 71 north or south: Hwy 71/23 bypass to civic center exit. Right there!
• Best option for directions: stop at any gas station in the area, you are only five minutes away!
• The address is 2707 Arena Dr. in Willmar, MN 56201. Click here for an enlarged map.

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Additional Information
For more information on festival events, nearby hotels, food, bands, or to purchase tickets for other people, check out the Sonshine Festival website at www.sonshinefestival.com or call 1-800-965-9324.

For more details about the Galesburg Locomotives Chapter, logon to www.galesburglocomotives.specialtouch.org

The Purpose of the Fundraising Campaign: The Special Touch Bowl 1000 campaign will help underwrite the cost of our Summer Get Away Program. Although guests are charged a fee to attend, the actual costs for facilities, supplies, and administration of a Get Away far exceeds the revenue from fees. Without significant financial assistance from the Special Touch national ministry, fees would double. This campaign will allow us to continue to provide a wonderful Get Away experience to our many friends.

The goal of our Bowl 1000 campaign is $30,000.

The Special Touch Bowl 1000 will be held on February 28, 2009 at Waupaca Bowl.

Please consider sponsoring one or more of the following bowlers:

Click here to make a pledge in support of a bowler using our secure online donation form. Thank you in advance for your support!!

The scriptures state in the Gospel of Matthew, chapter 28 and verses 19-20, the words Jesus spoke to His disciples for the last time before He ascended into Heaven - He said to them: “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, even to the very end of the age.”

It’s said that the very last words quoted by someone leaving the company of someone else are most likely the most important words said by that person. That truth becomes so prevalent here in the scriptures. How magnificent our Lord and Savior is. He gives His final charge or direction to the disciples. It’s called “The Great Commission”. In essence this is what He said: Ok, I’ve done everything I was supposed to do and it was done to perfection. Now it’s up to you! GO and share the GOOD NEWS to EVERYONE! BAPTIZE them! And TEACH them how to live. Don’t be afraid, I’ll be with you, helping you, all the way to the end of time.

On the morning of August 26th, 2008, a young lady by the name of Shawn heard the beautiful words from Pastor Larry and Carolyn Campbell that would change her life forever. They told her, and others at the Special Touch Summer Get Away in Florida, about how much God loved them personally, and that nothing could separate them from God’s love. Nothing! Even the varied disabilities each one of them had could not separate them from the love God had for each and every one of them.

Well, after that morning chapel Shawn had a litany of questions for her caregiver Jill and others at the Get Away as well. She would ask questions like: “How can I believe in Jesus if I can’t see Him?” And, “How can God love me - look at me?” and, “How can I love God - look at me?” Then, during the evening praise and worship service the Holy Spirit touched Shawn’s heart and mind about His love for her. The guest speaker, Pastor Kerry Mauldin told her: “Shawn, you don’t have any more questions do you.” Shawn said “No sir I don’t.” It was then that she came to the front of the auditorium with so many others to be prayed with. It was then that she accepted Jesus Christ as her personal Lord and Savior. Shawn’s caregiver, Jill, was quoted that evening saying; “I’ve been in church since I was 8 years old and witnessed many come to Christ, but never have I seen such an immediate transformation. It was obvious; you could see it by the pure, honest expression on her face.”

After the evening service she asked if Pastor Joe Trementozzi would baptize her the next morning, because the Bible said that Jesus told the disciples to baptize the new believers “in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.” And so that very next morning, obeying what Jesus had said in His final words to His disciples, Pastor Joe and Shawn, with so many other new friends as well, traveled to the Lake at the Lake Aurora Christian Camp. As Shawn was helped to the shore by her new friends and a beach wheelchair Pastor Joe explained to her the importance of what she was about to do. He told Shawn what her actions were saying to the people looking on; that as of last night she was now a follower of Jesus Christ, a Christian, and that the Lord would never leave her side. He told her that she was illustrating a picture of what Jesus did for her to the others who were looking on. She understood completely and through obedience to what God said in His Word she was baptized. What a day!

Shawn had one more question that day after her emotional baptism. While she was being dried off and spending some quality time with Ann Trementozzi, the Coordinator of the Florida Get Away, she looked up and asked; “Miss Ann, please tell me more about heaven?” Ann took her by the hand and as tears of joy streamed down Shawn’s cheeks she shared with her about the “streets of gold” and that she would no longer need her wheelchair as she would run straight into the loving arms of Jesus.

What a day that was! So many came to the Lord that day, but one in particular stands out. The one who answered the question - what hinders you from being baptized? Shawn answered with a resounding - “Nothing, absolutely nothing.”

So I ask you: What hinders you from being baptized?

- Pastor Joe Trementozzi