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About Us

Here's what you'll find on this page:

• Who is Friendship Ministries?
• What does a Friendship group look like?
• What are the benefits of Friendship?
• Testimonials that will touch your heart!

Who is Friendship Ministries?

Our Mission

To share God’s love with people who have cognitive impairments and to enable them to become an active part of God’s family.

Who We Are

Friendship Ministries is a not-for-profit organization that exists to help churches and organizations around the world share God’s love with people who have cognitive impairments.

We can provide you with:

• a model for ministry
• help getting started
• materials you can use to learn about God together
• the only Bible study available in Spanish for people with cognitive impairments.

What We Believe

Society and the church often ignore the spiritual needs of people who have cognitive impairments. At Friendship Ministries, however, we believe that:

• Everyone is created in God’s image and is deserving of love and justice—both in our society and in our churches. People who have cognitive impairments deserve a chance to know about God and feel God’s love. They also deserve to be treated with respect, and to have friendships with others who know and love God.
• Redemption is a gift to all. It's a gift from God that is not dependent on a certain level of intelligence.
• Our church is complete only when it includes all of God’s children and when all people are seen as equals—in God’s eyes and in our own eyes.

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What does a Friendship group look like?

Groups and One-On-One Relationships

Friendship is all about building relationships between mentors and friends. It’s not always clear who is learning from whom! It is a process of bringing the family of God together to learn more about God’s love. Friendship groups typically meet on a weekday evening or as a Sunday morning class. Here’s how it works:

• Sessions often start in a large group with singing, sharing, praying together, and hearing a Bible lesson.
• The lesson is told by a storyteller and usually includes group participation, often in drama format.
• This is followed by one-on-one time, where mentors and friends meet to go over materials related to the Bible lesson; often this time includes crafts, activities, prayer, and memory work.
• Finally, the group gathers again for snack and social time and a closing prayer or song.

If you're thinking about starting a Friendship program, you should know that Friendship is not a ministry to people who have cognitive impairments. Rather, it is a ministry with them. We refer to them as “friends,” not as “students.” While we teach them about the Bible and God’s love for them, they teach us about caring and compassion, and about what it means to be fellow members of God’s family.

Starting a Friendship group will enable you to reach out to people who have cognitive impairments, their families, and their communities.

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What are the benefits of Friendship?

Benefits to Friends

Through your Friendship program, people with cognitive impairments will be able to

• Experience the joy of knowing they are of value to God and to God’s people.
• Grow in their relationship with Jesus Christ, claiming him as their Savior and Lord.
• Grow in their relationship with Christ’s church, making a public profession of their faith and participating in the church’s life and work.
• Be truly accepted and loved by the Christian community.

I wish all people with mental impairments could be in a Friendship class and experience God’s love for them. Students know that they are special in more ways than one. It is wonderful to see the confidence grow in them. It is like watching a flower bloom in the spring time.
—Carroll Otberg, Cadillac, MI

I love our class because I get to know Jesus better and learn to live the way he wants me to live. —Patty, Friend, Warrensburg, MO

Benefits to Families

If someone you love is cognitively impaired you’ve most likely felt the frustration of struggling to find a church where you feel at home. With a Friendship group you’ll experience:

• A sense of belonging, knowing that your church family cares about and understands your particular needs.
• A feeling of acceptance, that your entire family is welcome at church.
• The joy of seeing your loved one flourish. Through Friendship he or she can become an active part of the congregation, doing things like serving as a greeter.

My brother cannot read any better than a five-year-old, but he can sing loud and praise the Lord. He has a passion for the Lord that is truly beautiful. —Lisa Van Kalker, Grand Rapids, MI

Benefits to the Church and the Community Beyond

A Friendship program can bless your church and the surrounding community in many ways. It’s a terrific opportunity for an outreach program for both adults and youth. Getting people of any age involved in a Friendship group helps them become more committed to their church. It opens their eyes and allows them to see their faith in a whole new way. Getting young people involved builds a solid foundation of faith and a lasting bond for ministry.

My previous two churches had Friendship programs, so I knew what healthy spiritual life Friendship infuses into a church. —Pastor Ken Nydam, Grand Junction, CO

Our daughter Karyn has attended a Friendship class for several years. Her caregiver gave her life to Christ as a result of the testimony of Friendship students. —Honderd family, Grand Rapids, MI

People who don’t belong to a church need Friendship too. Often, they live in a community group home or institution where nobody makes their spiritual needs a priority. Who will teach them about Jesus Christ if the church community neglects this ministry?

Churches that host Friendship programs can invite residents of group homes into their fellowship and bring the gospel not only to the residents but also to the residents’ caregivers.

Most of our students do not have their own churches and Friendship is their church…Henry beams the whole time at our meetings. Andrew just couldn’t wait to be in our Christmas play. We had to do the play two times. —Joan Oosterman and Lucille Adams, Whitinsville, MA

Benefits to Volunteers

Serving as a mentor is truly a rewarding experience. It’s great for anyone—from age 9 to 99—who wants to make a difference. And there’s no training or particular level of education required.

When you present Friendship [materials], you really have to think about your own faith. Friendship makes profound faith simple and simple faith profound.
—Evelyn Westmaas, Cadillac, MI

…the folks who do this get a real sense of accomplishment, joy, and a sense of relationship that you don’t get anywhere else.
—Rev. Richard Mahlmann, Tiffin, OH

What beautiful people! So loving, so appreciative! I feel blessed to be able to work with them and to have them enrich my life.
—Marilyn Tacoma, Lake City Friendship Club, Lake City, MI

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Testimonials That Will Touch Your Heart

I came into the meeting guarded and self-conscious, yet these people seemed to be free of the ‘hang ups’ and baggage that I carry around. I saw something that I long for in worship. That is, laughter and dancing and rejoicing without any obstacles in the way…The nature of worshipping God was truly being expressed…I saw myself wanting to be involved in the future. I am sold on Friendship Ministries. —Randy Beumer, Calvin Seminary student, after a visit to a Friendship event.

To hear more testimonials like this one—and to get classroom tips and current events—sign up to receive Extras, the quarterly newsletter of Friendship Ministries. Click here to find out how.

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