Jim De Hoog's enthusiasm for his work comes through loud and clear, just like the loving responses he gets from the people he serves. "I'll walk through a room and get greeted with boisterous cheers. 
People call out 'Hi, Jim!' I'm accepted, and they're excited to see me. I may have seen them just an hour before, and still, they're excited to see me again."
De Hoog serves full-time as chaplain with Mission Road Developmental Center, a home for people of all ages with developmental disabilities in San Antonio, Texas. "The children, adults--the customers we serve--are so warm and welcoming and accepting," he says. "They accept someone for who they are, not what they are or how important they are."
Mission Road Developmental Center is part of Mission Road Ministries, which serves nearly 700 children and adults with mental retardation and other developmental disabilities with residential and day services and vocational programs.
"I serve the children, adults, and staff," De Hoog says. "I am pastor, counselor, and encourager for our kids; 
I organize worship services and network people into community churches; I make sure those churches are warm and welcoming and able to provide programming for our clients."
De Hoog says the most rewarding aspect of his work is interacting with the center's clients and seeing them know, experience, and share God's love. "I'm the Bible and song-time leader," he says. "I play guitar. The kids or adults have rhythm instruments and we sing songs, and then I give a message. Right now we're talking about time--that's our theme. It's based on the passage in Ecclesiastes about there being a time for everything."
Over the years he has performed two weddings for Mission Road clients. "Our mission is to enhance the lives of persons with developmental disabilities, helping them to be independent, productive, and included members of the community as best as they can be," says De Hoog. 
"We work with them to help them achieve their potential for independence. Some are able to have jobs in the community, others work in a workshop setting, and still others are learning skills."
De Hoog has served with the center for 15 years. All those years ago, he had searched for a chaplain's position for a year and a half before Mission Road hired him. "I was supposed to be here," he says.
Resource Spotlight
The Beginner's Bible: Timeless Children's Stories
, by Karyn Henley, is a "picture Bible" with 95 Bible stories rewritten in simple language. ISBN: 0945564317
National Organization on Disability (www.nod.org) has resources that help churches look at their accessibility and programming.
Friendship Ministries resources for disability ministries (available through Faith Alive Christian Resources)
That All May Worship: An Interfaith Welcome to People with Disabilities. Ginny Thornburgh, Ann Rose Davie, authors. Ginny Thornburgh, editor. Washington, DC: National Organization on Disability, Religion and Disability Program, 1997.
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