Main YWAM Page, or to YWAM Communications, or to Main News Digest PageIn a country where the handicapped have traditionally been ignored, Marta Sloan commands respect when she tells people that physical limitations don't need to stop them from reaching for their dreams.
For she is fulfilling hers - sharing God's love as a missionary, despite having been blind for more than half her life.
With a cane and the help of a Mongolian Christian friend, the 27-year-old is a familiar sight around the capital, Ulaan Baatar, where she teaches English to blind students aged nine to 60. The Youth With A Mission worker has been in the country for a year as part of the Joint Christian Services consortium of ministries.
As well as teaching her classes a new language, Sloan wants to encourage them and others to recognize that being disabled doesn't have to disqualify them from life. "Very few blind Mongolians work or even believe they have the ability to because of the way society has traditionally viewed the handicapped," she says.
She is undaunted by living in a city that doesn't have the handicap access aids of her American homeland. "It can be difficult to get around alone. The sidewalks are very broken - where there are any - but I do quite well. If I were in a wheelchair, it would be virtually impossible, so I am fortunate."
Nor is she concerned about being overseas in a situation where many sighted single women might think twice. "My friend knows where it is safe to be, and as a foreigner I am less of a target. But the most important security comes from knowing that God wants me to be here."
Sloan eventually plans to work with street children in Ulaan Baatar, where the number of homeless and abandoned youngsters has grown over the past few years. "I feel that they are one of the most unloved groups around, and I want to show them God's love."
She felt God calling her to become a missionary from the age of 12, a year before she lost her sight. From that time she applied herself to preparing for service, earning a degree in inter-cultural studies. She finally arrived in Mongolia after three years with YWAM that saw her working with Brazilian street children, unwed mothers, and helping cook for staff and students at the mission's training center in Lindale, Texas.
She joined YWAM after two other mission agencies had turned her down, unable to offer her a place to serve because of her blindness. An accomplished musician who credits her parents' support with helping her achieve her goals, she believes that more room should be made for handicapped people who want to serve God full-time.
"So far I haven't met one other handicapped person in missions. I believe there is a need for people of different handicaps. Each person has a unique way of looking at life and when that is taken away, or not allowed to be part of missions, then this takes away from the whole," she says.
"There's not a single person that God can't use in some way. It is not only handicapped people who sometimes feel that they can't be used. Others may feel disqualified because of something that has happened to them or an experience they have had, but we all have something to offer."
(Photo available on request)
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