REDEEMER CHURCH

It takes a lot of trust to drop your child off with someone you don't know," said Family Director Bekah Herron.

And that trust is opening doors far beyond a monthly program.

rEcess at Redeemer Church has grown into a relational community where children with disabilities and their families are consistently seen, supported, and welcomed.

Through a partnership with Texas Tech-specifically the Student Occupational Therapy Association-over a dozen college students show up month after month to volunteer. Many now attend church on Sundays, serving as one-on-one support so parents can fully participate in services, and step in throughout the week when families need an extra set of hands.

"It's been so cool to see God's blessing on it. To see, on both sides, families feeling so cared for, but then also our college students wanting to jump in and care for these families and feel connected like they have a family away from home." - Bekah

One student, Carly Davis, even completed her doctoral capstone project with rEcess.

Over 14 weeks, she led the program, surveying families, developing new resources and trainings, and implementing buddy bags to help children with disabilities thrive in Sunday school classrooms.

What's unfolding may have started with rEcess, but it has become something more: a network of belonging, where small acts of care grow into genuine relationships. And it has changed the posture of the entire church.