November Volunteer of the Month: Liquid Church

We had the pleasure of sitting down with Campus Manager Phil Falke from Liquid Church to tell us a little bit about the great work Liquid Church has been doing with GiGi’s Playhouse Hillsborough and beyond.

Q: How did Liquid Church get involved with GiGi’s?

A: Around March or April when I started we had a small group of our staff go to one of the Fantastic Friends events. From there we discussed what it would look like to do something monthly, especially since working with people with special needs is one of the two main causes we’re passionate about.

Q: What do your volunteers take away from spending time at GiGi’s?

A: We’ve had almost 30 volunteers serve since we go to Fantastic Friends once a month, and some of the things I’ve heard people say when they come back is that they walk away with so much joy. They’re getting to hang out with these adults when they can be themselves- they love pizza and karaoke! They are so full of joy and laughter, it’s contagious! I think sometimes we miss what it means to just be ourselves. They don’t have any walls up between anyone and it just creates this community that is so full of freedom and joy and laugher. We have volunteers who haven’t had the opportunity to interact much with people with special needs, and this helps normalize interactions with those who are differently abled. During our training for the Clean Café, something that was simple that really stuck out to me is to remind people that you speak to people with special needs just as you would anyone else. Don’t talk to them differently like you would a baby. That is a learning that some of our volunteers who haven’t had as much experience have taken away. We recognizer that everyone will have certain limitations, but we shouldn’t assume those limitations.

Q: If someone is considering volunteering at GiGi’s or another organization working with the special needs community, what would you say to them?

A: Take a leap of faith. We grow the most when we are uncomfortable. We grow when we’re stretched and God uses these opportunities to teach us. Whether it’s GiGi’s or somewhere else, we need to realize this is a demographic of people that are often overlooked, under served, and under cared for. If we really believe that God is for and loves everyone and everyone is created in God’s image, then they’re not a special needs adult, they’re an adult with special needs who God really loves and cares for and wants us to do the same. We are called to serve the most marginalized and I would say whether you’re a person of faith or not, we all want to care for those who are on the margins of society even if we are not quite sure what to expect.

Q: Why is Liquid so passionate about the special needs community and Down Syndrome?

A: As Christians and as a church, we believe that every person matters to God. We understand that in the world that we live in, often times those with special needs are defined by what they can’t do rather than who they are and who God says they are. We’re always careful to say ‘adults with special needs’ because we understand that they’re not special needs adults; whatever they have, Autism or Down Syndrome or so on, is not their primary identity. We’ve also hosted Tim Tebow’s Night to Shine prom. We did our own thing last year and it might be one of our biggest events all year. We have hundreds of teens and adults with special needs come and experience a prom. For many of them it’s their first time getting to. On Sundays we have a buddy system where if a family brings a kid, teen, or adult with special needs, we take someone from our family ministry and partner them together to make sure they have someone to help them with any of their needs and be with them. We try to live out what we believe God has called us to- to loving those who are differently abled but are not seen differently by God.

Q: Tell us more about the Clean Water Café.

A: It is a café that is fully staffed by adults with special needs. For many of the people who work here, it’s their first time at a job and earning money. It’s really exciting for them and for our community who gets to see them operating and being treated in a different way than is often times seen in society. The public grand opening happened on Monday, October 3^rd. We’ve always had the café on Sundays during church services in Parsippany, but over the last month we’ve been working with staff on training and giving them opportunities to get used to working; they’ve been working really hard. Now it’s open Monday through Thursday, 8-2 so anyone can come and hang out, get their coffee, and even select Chick-Fil-A items. Right now we have around 16 or 18 adults with special needs working at the café, but we’re always looking to hire more!

Q: Why is it called the “Clean Water” Café?

A: As I mentioned earlier, we have two big causes we focus on. Supporting people with special needs is one and then the other is clean water. We have committed to providing clean water for countries like Rwanda and some in Central America. As a church I think it’s been almost 2 million dollars put towards that, and we have people who go to those countered to help dig wells and stuff like that. It’s one thing to give money to something or hear about something, it’s another to actually be there. Clean water affects every part of our lives.

If you want to lean more about Liquid Church, the Clean Water Café and their clean water mission, visit: https://cleanwatercafe.com