Lessons from an Arc Ambassador

Approaching our three-year anniversary of moving to the Barnum neighborhood (just North of 6th Ave near Church of the Advent), this also marks the time that my friendship with Sabrina began. My husband, Huck, and I relocated to the Westside of Denver shortly following Church of the Advent’s departure from the Baker neighborhood to our current church home in Villa Park. We hoped, along with the founder of Church of the Advent, Father Rob Paris, that we would love our neighbors well by living alongside them. Father Rob supported our one and only motive for the move wholeheartedly—which was to  engage in relationships of reciprocity with those around us.

I spent those first years in our new neighborhood walking around Barnum parks, gulches, and local businesses, one of which was a favorite only blocks from our house—the Arc.

Parents of people with developmental disabilities formed this organization in the 1950’s. The Association for Retarded Citizens of the United States adopted it’s most recent name in 1992 to eliminate the pejorative associations with the name “retarded.” Arc serves the intellectually and developmentally disabled with issues like helping them find jobs and assisting employers with adjusting places of employment to specific individuals’ needs. It also serves the community by reselling used clothing and many other household items at an affordable price for those on a tight budget.

Sabrina describes herself as a person who struggles with learning. She has lived independently for over twenty years and has been employed by Arc for the last five years. During one of my first scouting trips to Arc to find a winter coat for my grandson, I met Sabrina. She is practically incapable of squelching enthusiasm and struggles to withhold hugging people she cares about, yet her greatest inability comes about in sharing her love of Jesus—she cannot stop herself from telling others of His great love and rescue of the lost.

We have developed a deep and abiding friendship over the years. Sabrina often feels hurt and judged when people react to her and misunderstand her. I can tell you that it has been a gift for me to know Sabrina. She reads voraciously and while her genre is strictly Christian devotionals and the Bible, her wisdom spills over to all that requires care and compassion. Sabrina’s unrelenting focus on the love of Christ has been a beacon of light in these tumultuous times.

Recently, I have felt disoriented as social interaction has become more polarized. I observe that issues like wearing masks or not, or staying home versus going back to work, stir up strong reactions. In this environment where words and behaviors can be easily misconstrued, I admit that I don’t as readily share with others. Even so, God is always working. I am surprised by how He has worked in me through my relationship with Sabrina. Things that challenge me in our friendship, He uses to anchor me in the midst of all of this disturbance. I overlooked the value of Sabrina’s pattern of emphasizing certain themes in our conversation. She often repeats the same words, the same thoughts. Now I realize that these spoken truths, coming from her heart, pour over me like an anointing oil to soothe my anxious soul. These are the words she has said to me over three years every time we talk: “I just want to be close to Jesus, to know him more and more.”

I get it. I thought that I was sent to this neighborhood for those like Sabrina. All the while, God has used her to save me for such a time as this. Surely, we have achieved reciprocity in our friendship. Sabrina prefers voice-to-voice communication if meeting in person is not possible. She is faithful to call, and I am faithful to return her calls.

“How are you doing gal?!” I ask.

“Is this Loyce? I love you Loyce!!” Sabrina shouts.

“How are you friend?” I ask.

“Oh, in the Word and being thankful.”

- Loyce Burns